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NOTES: The next Meeting for Business will
be August 7.
Poetry Sundays will resume in the Fall.
Silent Worship will move to the Second
Wednesday and rotate.
The Final Report of the Nominating is at
the end of the Minutes.
ATTENDING:
Judy Brown, Bob Major, Carla Zimmerman, Virginia Hoyte, Jan
Prichard-Cohen, Kathryn Keve, Erik Hoyte, Tracy Vancura, Dorothy
Rana-Meadows, Jim Rana-Meadows, Michael Moore, Diane Carle, Patty Damento,
Paul Larsen, Lisa Down, Lucy Johnson.
OPENING:
The Clerk read from the book “Prayer”
by Mohandas K. Gandhi based on Gandhi’s attendance at Quaker Meetings,
followed by a period of silence.
Communion of
Silence (by Pyarelal)
from Prayer, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Berkeley Hills
Books, 2000, p. 93
Last week I referred to the Sunday silent prayer
meeting of the Quakers which Handy has attended. He has been attending it
every Sunday since his arrival here [in Delhi].
Quakers believe that “in corporate silent
waiting, God does speak to us and we can understand His will in the common
walks of life.” As Sri Ranjit M. Chetsingh explained at the beginning of
the service last week quoting and early Quaker, “The thinking busy soul
excludes the voice of God. Be still and cool from thine own self.” Said
George Fox, “The silence of a religious and spiritual worship is not a
drowsy unthinking state of mind but a withdrawing of it from all visible
objects and vain imaginings.”
Gandhiji described how his own experience tallied
with that of the Quakers, “Emptying the mind of all conscious processes of
thought and filling it with the spirit of God unmanifest brings one
ineffable peace and attunes the soul with the infinite.”
MINUTES:
The minutes were distributed and approved with a minor correction.
TREASURER’S
REPORT:
We are currently about even with income and expenses. The next
significant expense is six months rent for Seabold. The Meeting and
members donated $1385 to Avery Welkin for the Metta Mentors Nonviolent
Training Program. We revised the Seabold schedule for July 1 and August
26. The safe deposit box has not been reserved yet.
CONCERNS
AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
A concern was raised about
what is called “Faith Formation” and “Clarification of Thought” in the
Catholic Church. This practice seems to be missing at APFM, especially
for newcomers.
Comments were made as
follows: This has been a topic that emerged during the nominations
process. A Pendle Hill booklet called: Guide to Quaker Practice
by Howard Brinton, was circulated with the suggestion that we keep copies
on hand for newcomers and all others who would like to have a copy.
Ministry and Counsel could
sponsor a regular discussion group just on this booklet. Others Friends
said we need to discuss preparation for worship and other issues of Quaker
self-discipline, that we could be more welcoming to new people, there is
a need to deepen our practice; we could distribute Faith & Practice
to all members and attenders, and provide a welcoming basket of Quaker
pamphlets for newcomers.
A note from a
Friend Nancy Dodson was read
outlining her travel plans from now until fall when she will return to
Washington to sell her home in Westport and move to the Everett area.
NOMINATING
COMMITTEE REPORT (Full report is below)
The recommendations of the
Nominating Committee for all the positions, for the Clerk Committee with
Ed Sheridan serving as interim Clerk for one year, while taking a look at
deepening our Quaker practice, peering into the future, and plan some
community outreach, were accepted by the Meeting.
Two suggestions came from the nominating
process: 1) to be more visible
in the community through informational meetings on topics such as
nonviolence and the difference between pacifism and passivity. 2)
Increased emphasis internally on introduction to and deepening Quaker
practice.
Peace and Social
Concerns: We’re continuing
with our plan to support the troops and families. On July 1, Harry and
Diane Carle will be available after Meeting to talk about their
daughter and two nephews in Iraq. We are also gathering items to send to
her family which will be mailed after July 1. We anticipate sending more
than one package. We agreed to use the extra donations from the
Ground Truth showing ($45) for mailing packages and established the
“Ground Truth Fund.”
Deborah (Anderson) Petzal also supplied
information on what the soldiers like to receive and what doesn’t work.
She also recommended a book about the families’ concerns titled “While
They’re At War”
It was suggested that a news article be
submitted to the Bainbridge Review on our Support the Troops activities.
Kathryn volunteered to follow up.
We still plan to hold a community meeting
in the fall on violence and teaching nonviolence.
A request was made to see if there is a
phrase we could use other than “Supporting the Troops” due to the
political implications. No suggestions were made.
Clipboard
Discussion: The suggestion was
made again that the Opener act as the Closer at the rise of Meeting and
that the instructions be changed accordingly. The Opener can also remind
the Meeting that the Hall must be left locked and back in the condition we
find it. We’d like to have a person designated to track the Clipboard but
this was not resolved.
Mid-week Silent
Meeting Change: Dorothy R-M
said that the Larsen’s have offered their home for the mid-week silent
worship. We changed the regular date to the second Wednesday.
Judy B. and Jan P-C also offered their homes. It appears we will
rotate the place of meeting and Dorothy offered to coordinate and
communicate.
The Meeting for Business
for Worship closed just before 1pm with a short period of silence.
Kathryn Keve, Alternate
Recording Clerk
June 17, 2007
Agate Passage Friends Meeting
Final Report of the Nominating Committee
June 17, 2007
Theme: Sharing Responsibility
Transitional Clerk: Ed Sheridan, one year (see Clerk Committee details
below)
Recording Clerk: Patty Damento
Treasurer: Michael Moore
Ministry & Counsel: Clerk-Judy Brown, Lucy Johnson, Virginia Hoyte, Judith
Larsen,
Peter Damento
Peace & Social Concerns: Clerk-Kathryn Keve, Craig Jacobrown, Lisa Down,
Bob & Millie Royce, Norman Keegel, Bob Fermanis
Intergenerational Education: Lisa Down, Barbara Morrison, Millie Royce,
Dorothy Rana-Meadows, Roberta Wilson. This Committee will select its own
clerk.
Friends Bulletin liaison: Lisa Down
Seattle and BI/NK Interfaith Council: Leyla Welkin
Website: Bob Royce
Poetry Sunday: Judy Brown (also Friends Journal Poetry Editor)
Hosts/Coordinators: Second Tuesday Silent Meeting: Dorothy & Jim
Rana-Meadows
Clerk Committee
We are very grateful
that Ed Sheridan has agreed to be the Clerk of the Meeting for the next
year as we recognize that this is a transitional period during which we
will look to the future in many ways. We also thank Judy for her term as
Clerk and her continued dedication to the well-being of the Meeting as she
has agreed to serve as Clerk of Ministry and Counsel.
The nominating process
has been very interesting as discussions and suggestions have arisen about
the needs of Agate Passage Meeting, both internally and externally. We
have talked about proselytizing versus taking steps to being more visible
in the community. We have talked about understanding our role as Quakers,
again within Meeting and in the community. We have reminded ourselves
that Quakers are busy people and many of us are getting older. We asked
what about families with children which naturally raises the question of
education.
Here is our proposal for
how the Clerk’s responsibilities will be shared:
·
The
previous Clerk, Judy, Michael, and Ed have agreed to provide guidance to
others who are interested in any of the “Clerk” positions. We will hold a
potluck to talk about “Clerkships” and also to begin to address the
questions mentioned above.
·
The Clerk
of the Meeting has three responsibilities:
-Planning the agenda and
conducting the Monthly Meeting for Business.
-Working with Ministry and
Counsel regarding the welfare of the Meeting.
-Maintaining contact with
the wider Quaker Fellowship Quarterly & Yearly Meetings, Friends Committee
on Washington Public Policy (FCWPP) and so on.
·
We still hope to find three
people to work closely with the previous Clerks in order to learn more
about the business of Meetings and who might consider being a Clerk or
Treasurer in the future.
-Ed Sheridan, Judy Brown,
Michael Moore: Possible clerks-in-training yet to be decided.
·
Member(s)
or attender(s) who open the Meeting hall, may serve as the closer at the
“rise” of the Meeting in the absence of any otherwise designated “Clerk”
being present or wishing to close.
Submitted by: Kathryn
Keve, Lucy Johnson, Judy Brown and Ed Sheridan |