Durham Monthly Meeting Minutes, April 21, 2019

Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends convened in worship for the conduct of business on Sunday, April 21, 2019 with 14 people present.  Clerk Susan Rice opened the meeting by reading a verse from a hymn, “Christ Be Our Light.”

1.  The March 17, 2019 minutes were approved.

2. Ministry and Counsel:  Martha Hinshaw Sheldon reported for the committee. At their April meeting they discussed a proposal for a change in the order of worship: Hymns – Call to worship – Children’s message (1st and 3rd Sunday) – The message – Open worship – Joys and Concerns – Offering – Final Hymn – Handshake – Announcements.  They also discussed a concern shared from New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM).  More information will be posted in the Newsletter with further discussion planned in following weeks.  Pastoral care concerns were shared.  One was a report on the housing upgrades for Ralph and Twila Greene.  Nat Shed sent a second request to Obadiah Brown Fund for funds for renovations on the house the Greens moved to recently.  While it is better than the previous house it still needs a few repairs to make it more comfortable.  If you are led to help financially with this project or want to help with the renovation work, contact the team who have been working on this concern – Nat Shed, Edwin Hinshaw, Dorothy Hinshaw, and Nancy Marstaller.  There are other such pastoral care teams throughout Durham Friends Meeting who have been laboring tirelessly to share ministry and support for many who have been in need in the past few months.  “As clerk I am very appreciative of these individuals and groups as they shine the light and love of God to many in our meeting,” Martha added.  

    The meeting thanked Ministry and Counsel (M&C) for their careful consideration of our worship hour and suggested that we try their changed format during the months of May and the first two weeks of June, with further discussion on this new plan at the June Monthly Meeting.

3.  Christian Education: Wendy Schlotterbeck reported that an egg hunt was held this morning for Easter Day, and we enjoyed a delicious breakfast prepared by Katherine Langelier, Dorothy Curtis, and Kim Bolshaw, with other tasty donations by attenders.  They announced that the annual yard sale will be June 1.

4.  Peace and Social Concerns:  Four members of the committee met on April 9 at Brown Letham’s apartment: Linda Muller, Cush Anthony, Brown Letham and Ingrid Chalufour.  They discussed upcoming events.  Linda and Ingrid reported that the group planning the climate panel had their third meeting at the UU church, and Ron Turcotte, the moderator of the panel, attended.  The group outlined an agenda and talked through all the details of the evening.  Brown volunteered to get a climate change banner and to be on the clean-up crew. All will distribute posters.

  Ingrid reported on her first Brunswick Area Interfaith Council meeting, where she passed out a preliminary flier about the climate panel. 

   They discussed the April 27 Bath Iron Works vigil. They will car pool from Brunswick and hope others will join them.  Brown has printed a handout showing research on the costs of war.

   Plans were made concerning the message and potluck discussion on April 28.  Linda will deliver the message planned by the group and Ingrid will organize small and large group discussions. 

5.  Trustees: Kitsie Hildebrandt reported for the Trustees. Katherine Langelier has asked that parents of home school children schedule the meetinghouse and grounds for a regular Gentle Parenting Meeting. 

    Trustees have asked Rick’s Pump Service to make recommendations to update our water system; Dan Henton will carry out a “dump run” with trash from the horse shed; and they will begin having a trash pick-up at the meetinghouse.

6.  We approved the scheduling of the Gentle Parenting Meeting group using the meeting house social room area partitioned off from the library.

7.  Finance Committee:  Kitsie Hildebrandt handed out the first quarter financial report (attached) which we accepted with gratitude.  The parsonage pellet boiler damage was repaired, and the insurance payment received.  We were reminded that the Ralph and Twila Greene fund is a project of the NEYM, but that Durham Friends Meeting is a conduit of financial contributions received for their house repair.  More information may be gained from the ad hoc “Greene Care Team” mentioned above in the M&C report.

   We are very thankful for a generous donation from Janet Douglas’ gifts and memorials. It was suggested that 10% of this fund be added to the Charity Account, and that the remainder be used for the capital account for upkeep of buildings and grounds. 

8.  We approved the above use of the Janet Douglas Fund: 10% be added to the Charity Fund account, and the rest for buildings upkeep. 

   The meeting closed with a short period of worship. 

            Dorothy Hinshaw, Recording Clerk 

Please follow and like us:
Pin Share