Durham Friends Meeting will sponsor a benefit concert by Craig Freshley, “Neil for a Cause,” on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at 7pm. All contributions will benefit new immigrants and refugees in Maine. Click here for details.
“Returning to the Land” Webinars from Toward Right Relationship
Featured
UPDATE: Peace and Social Concerns is asking that Friends meet at the Meetinghouse to view these webinars together (and to do the readings suggested beforehand). .
The Peace & Social Concerns Committee at Durham Friends Meeting Invite you to a Webinar Series, January-February 2024:
“Returning to the Land” by Nia To Go There (Cree)
Nia To Go There, PhD will offer a series of four webinars that are co-sponsored by Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples and Decolonizing Quakers (both national Quaker organizations). Nia will recommend short readings for each program.
January 13, 3:30-5 pm: “Returning to the Land: Cultural Perspectives.” Readings for this first session are AT THIS LINK.
January 27, 3:30-5 pm: “Returning to the Land: Seeing with a Native Eye.” Readings for this second session are AT THIS LINK.
February 10, 3:30-5 pm: “Returning to the Land: Colonization.” Readings for this third session are AT THIS LINK.
February 24, 3:30-5 pm: “Returning to the Land: Decolonization.”
Durham Friends look forward to some collective thinking about how we bring the important messages from these sessions home to Maine.
We hope to see you for all or some of these sessions at our Meetinghouse, 532 Quaker Meetinghouse Rd, Durham ME 04222.
Please contact Ingrid Chalufour at ichalufour@gmail.com with questions or to ask to have recommended readings forwarded to you.
Woman’s Society Meeting Minutes, February 19, 2024
Present: Dorothy Curtis, President, Nancy Marstaller, Treasurer, Susan Gilbert, Secretary, Kim Bolshaw.
Cards: For Friends.
Program and Devotions: We brainstormed writing Memorial Minutes for Sue Wood and Charlotte Ann Curtis, ideas organized and typed up by Nancy Marstaller.
Treasurer’s Report: Previous balance $70.96. January offering $20. February 19 offering $45. Currant balance $115.96.
Prayers: For Friends.
Tedford Meal: Team C prepared chili, tortilla chips, cole slaw, cornbread, biscuits, ice cream, cookies and strawberries. March 4 meal team D contact person is Dorothy Curtis.Volunteers to contribute food or donations are welcome.
Susan brought a hymn to read as a prayer, with which we closed the meeting:
God Be In My Head
God be in my head and in my understanding
God be in my eyes and in my looking
God be in my mouth and in my speaking
God be in my heart and in my thinking
God be at my end and in my departing.
Respectfully Submitted, Susan Gilbert
Durham Monthly Meeting Minutes, February 18, 2024 (DRAFT)
Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met for the conduct of business on Sunday, February 18, 2024, with seven people in attendance at the Meetinghouse and five attending by Zoom. Nancy Marstaller clerked the meeting.
Meeting approved Nancy Marstaller as Clerk of this meeting for business. Meeting also approved flexibility in scheduling those who will serve as Clerk to conduct meetings.
- Meeting Opening
Clerk opened meeting with a reading from the Interim Faith and Practice, 2014, of New England Yearly Meeting.
“Friends express the importance of being patient, being willing to hear each other fully and openly. When we take into account our knowledge of one another in community, when we ask ourselves to listen deeply, to release our own individual opinion and surrender our individual will, we find profound connection with others and with the divine. We are all separate ingredients in a pot, each carrying our individual flavors, but simmering together until we create a flavorful soup. This unified creation can be a difficult but amazing process. It brings us closer to one another and to God.” – Mt. Toby Monthly Meeting, 2008
2. Approval of Minutes of January 2024 — Ellen Bennett
Meeting approved the January minutes.
3. Approval of Margaret Wentworth Memorial Minute
Margaret Wentworth’s memorial minute was read aloud. Recommendations were made to add more detail about Margaret’s life outside of Durham Meeting, including her service on the Board of Lisbon Area Christian Outreach, teaching local children, and serving as select person for Lisbon.
Meeting approved the minute with the above additions/changes.
The amended minute will be distributed to Meeting members before being sent to New England Yearly Meeting.
4. Reading of Sue Wood Memorial Minute
Clerk read the first draft of Sue Wood’s Memorial Minute. It was suggested that the minute include specific birth and death dates, note that she served as co-clerk for several years, and that Sue was very good at holding a group in prayer, possessing great depth of spirit.
5. Finance Committee — Nancy Marstaller
* 2023 End of year budget report
Summary: Operating revenue exceeded budget. Expenses were lower than budgeted, largely because the MCC position and youth minister positions were not filled. The Meeting is in good financial shape.
* 2023 Annual report
Please see attached report.
Meeting accepted the report with appreciation for the work of the committee.
6. Ministry and Counsel — Tess Hartford and Renee Cote
M&C asked for feedback regarding Leslie Manning maintaining the DFM Facebook page. It was suggested the page be maintained for special events and services notices only. Note the DFM website has a link allowing for transfer of information from the website to a variety of social media sites.
Some members lifted up the problem of using/supporting a platform built by an organization that has shown itself to be dishonest and corrupt.
Meeting discussed the support and oversight groups for Leslie’s roles as a recorded minister, as well as Meeting Care Coordinator. The sense is that there are/should be two groups: one for Leslie’s role as a recorded minister and her ministry beyond the meeting, and one for her role as MCC. The MCC search group will bring forward a proposal for creating an oversight committee.
Meeting approved the current ministry support committee take on renewed purpose for Leslie’s work as a recorded minister. The committee will report annually for Quarterly Meeting its sense of Leslie’s ministry work. Joyce Gibson agreed to join Leslie’s support committee for ministry. This was met with great appreciation from the Meeting.
7. Trustees Report — Sarah Sprogell
The Meeting was reminded that Trustees prioritized reducing moisture, evaluating supports under meeting room, painting the exterior of the addition, and weatherizing the exit doors as upcoming tasks.
Meeting approved Trustees using up to $3000, from the capital account, to purchase and install a commercial dehumidifier for the basement.
Meeting approved that the Clerk of Trustees initiate conversations with pertinent parties to bring the issue of Eileen Babcock’s bequest to resolution.
8. Peace and Social Concerns — Ingrid Chalufour
One addition to the submitted report was presented. A group met with Nat Shed, a Brunswick town counselor, to ask for assistance in bringing the renaming of the Brunswick park to honor the Wabanaki people back to the town council.
Meeting accepted the report with gratitude.
8. Library Committee Annual Report
Meeting accepted the report with gratitude.
9. Other Business
It was reported that our sister meeting in Velasco can no longer meet in their meeting room due to rotting beams. Friends from Falmouth Quarter will be headed back to Cuba in July. Between now and then, the Meeting is asked to assist Velasco Meeting in finding what can be done to ensure that their meeting space is safe and secure. Important, as well, to confer with FWCC as to the best way to be helpful.
10. Closing Worship
Clerk closed the meeting with worship and a reading from the Interim Faith and Practice.
“Spiritual discernment seems to flourish best from this contemplative, reflective, nonlinear state of mind, which is a wide, non-judgmental, almost non-attached but very alert attentiveness. Being in the Mind of Christ, however, does not mean being “spaced out,” for the analytic faculties are not suppressed; they are cushioned by a more vast mind which takes all things into account. Indeed, our analytical faculties are at least as sharp, if not sharper, in the Mind of Christ than they are at other times; the difference is that there we know that we are not just our surface mind, as we Westerners tend to assume, and the difference is that this surface mind is no longer the master, but the tool, of the more integrated person we become in the Mind of Christ.” — Bill Taber, 1985
Respectfully submitted, Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk
Letter Writing Party for Maine Gun Safety, via Zoom, February 29, 7pm
Portland Friends Meeting (and others) invite us to participate in a Zoom Letter Writing Party for Maine Gun Safety — to be held on Leap Day, February 29, 2024.
Here are the details:
- Thursday, February 29, 7 – 8ish pm
- To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvdu-grD0rHdXBsyoa-ISvKkY9BriDTNlk
(to avoid zoom bombing you’ll have to quickly take a moment to register)
- Not sure what to say in your letter? We’ll send you a template you could use, or you can write your own if you feel inspired! More materials HERE.
Come spend an hour with Quakers and others throughout Maine by writing letters to your legislators, Janet Mills, or the newspaper, to promote the four priorities of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition.
Make it even more of a party by invite friends to join you in person at your home, and then log on together!
Can’t make the party? That’s ok, you can write a letter on your own time. Attached is a Letter to the Editor Toolkit, and you can also use that to help you reach out to Janet Mills or your legislator. Find your legislators here: https://nrcm.salsalabs.org/mainelegislatorlookup/index.html.
Also, we’re attaching a list of high-priority legislators who could use more nudging on this issue. Most of them are outside of Greater Portland (although one is in part of Westbrook and Windham). But please take a few minutes with the list, and if you know someone who lives in one of these towns, please reach out to them to contact their legislator, and invite them to this zoom party. This is how the work gets done!
Hosted by members of Portland Friends Meeting and Durham Friends Meeting, open to all!
Rob Levin and Heather Denkmire and Valerie Todd and Leslie Manning
Questions: email rob@roblevin.net.
God Has No Hands But Yours, Teresa of Ávila
At the opening of worship at Durham Friends Meeting on February 18, 2024, Diana White read the following, from Teresa of Ávila
God has no body now on earth but yours,
No hands but yours,
No feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which he is to look out
God’s compassion to the world;
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about
Doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless people now.
Durham Monthly Meeting Minutes, January 21, 2024
Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met for the conduct of business on Sunday, January 21, 2024, with ten people in attendance at the Meetinghouse and two attending by Zoom. Nancy Marstaller clerked the meeting.
1. Meeting Opening
Clerk opened the meeting by reading a prayer by Douglas Steere.
“O Blessed Companion, place on our souls a holy bridle by which we may be held back when it is right to pause, and touched forward when it is right to move. And give us the grace to heed Thy gentle touch. Make us willing to leave gladly to others what are their tasks and to buckle on quietly and for the duration, those things that have been laid upon us to carry as far as we are able. May we carry these things with easy minds, knowing well that the giver of the task is also the giver of the strength to fulfill it. Amen.”
2. Approval of Minutes of December 2023 — Ellen Bennett
Meeting approved the minutes.
3. Finance Committee — Nancy Marstaller
Committee is asking for Meeting approval for the following two items:
That Doug Bennett and Sarah Sprogell have electronic access to Norway Savings for the purpose of approving the automatic payments of offerings to our checking account and producing a list that will be given to our bookkeeper to record in Quickbooks.
Meeting approved.
Adding Doug Bennett as an additional person authorized to sign checks, and approved keeping Sarah Sprogell as an additional signer. Meeting approved.
4. Charity Fund Request 2nd Approval — Nancy Marstaller
Second request for approval for $1,000 from the Charity Fund to be donated to Warm Thy Neighbor.
Meeting approved.
5. Ministry and Counsel — Tess Hartford and Renee Cote
Woman’s Society will be working on Memorial Minutes for Charlotte Ann Curtis and Helen Clarkson. M&C will reach out to Kitsie Hildebrand’s family to ask about writing and submitting a Memorial Minute for her.
Tess read a draft Memorial Minute for Margaret Wentworth. It was suggested that the Minute include her work with Falmouth Quarter and add some basic biographical material.
Covid protocol update: People are reminded to err on the side of caution. Mask-wearing is encouraged, and people are requested not to attend Meeting if ill. Current strain is not as virulent, but more contagious.
Meeting Care Coordinator will report to M&C monthly, which in turn will bring any concerns to Meeting for Business. Co-Clerks of M&C are responsible for bringing MCC report to Monthly Meeting.
The MCC Search Committee will bring a suggestion to Monthly Meeting regarding the composition of the oversight/support committee and it’s relationship to M&C. The Search Committee is asked to bring the recommendation in March.
6. Trustees Report — Sarah Sprogell
Annual Report was summarized. Please see attachment.
7. Peace and Social Concerns — Ingrid Chalufour
Annual Report was read. Please see attachment.
The Meeting expressed its deep appreciation to this Committee for the amazing work it has done, with respect to both education and outreach.
8. Website 2023 Report — Doug Bennett
Much of this annual report includes data on website use, visit and views. Note that the website is a form of outreach for the Meeting. People who would like to see something on the website are asked to submit what they would like to see in writing. People are also encouraged to link to the Durham Friends website from their own social media sites to add to the Meeting’s outreach.
Ease and accessibility of the site have been noticed and lauded by others. It was suggested that we revisit our Facebook page. Should we have one and have the focus be on events? Review this question again next month.
9. Nominating Committee — Linda Muller
The attached report was read. Note that Nancy Marstaller is stepping off of the committee. Please bring ideas for potential nominees to the Meeting. The committee is looking for one more person. The Meeting expressed its gratitude for the work of the committee, and for Linda as Clerk. Linda has stepped out of the role of Clerk of Nominating; a new Clerk has not been determined.
Tess Hartford will be Clerk of the Meeting next month.
10. Other Business
Craig Freshley is planning a concert to raise money for New Mainers. Meeting members agree to help with set-up and clean-up of space and refreshments, as well as the website.
Meeting approves sponsoring the concert, with support from Meeting members.
11. Closing Worship
Respectfully submitted,
Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk
Attachments:
Agenda and Materials for Durham Monthly Business Meeting, February 18, 2024
The agenda, reports and other materials for the February 18, 2024 business meeting of Durham Monthly Meeting can be found HERE
Agenda for DMMF Monthly Meeting Feb. 2024
Opening reading
Approval of Nancy Marstaller as clerk for meeting
- Approval of last month’s minutes
- Approval of Margaret Wentworth memorial minute
- Reading of Sue Wood memorial minute
- Finance Committee
- 2023 End of year budget report
- 2023 Annual report
- 2023 End of year budget report
- Ministry and Counsel report
- Trustees report
- P&SC report
- Library Committee Annual Report
- Other
Our Hearts Are Breaking Interfaith Service, February 28
Braver Angels Workshops at Curtis Library, Feb. 17 and March 9
Important Wabanaki Legislation, 131st Legislature, February 2, 2024
The following information, and more, can be found on the Wabanaki Alliance Bill Tracker website at https://www.wabanakialliance.com/131st-bill-tracker/ The bills listed below are currently being targeted for your support. They will be voted on by the House and the Senate in the near future.
TAKE ACTION: Contact your legislators. Contact your legislators and ask them to vote YES on LD 25 and LD 294.
To find your legislators go to www.maine.gov and type voter lookup into the search bar. Select Government: eDemocracy: Voter Information Lookup and enter the name of your town.
LD 25: An Act to Provide Indigenous Peoples Free Access to State Parks
Sponsor: Sen. Craig V. Hickman, D-Kennebec
The Wabanaki Alliance supports this bill.
SUMMARY
This bill provides that a member of a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or band is not required to pay a fee for admission to or use of any state owned park or historic site managed by the state of Maine. An amendment to the bill proposed in committee also waives camping fees.
STATUS: Vote coming soon.
The Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry held a public hearing on Jan. 25. The committee voted that the bill ought to pass as amended. It will go to the Senate next for a vote.
LD 294: An Act to Include a Tribal Member in the Baxter State Park Authority
Sponsor: Rep. Benjamin T. Collings, D-Portland
The Wabanaki Alliance supports this bill.
SUMMARY
This bill would add a Wabanaki citizen to the Baxter State Park Authority, which has full power in the control and management of Baxter State Park. The nominee would be appointed by the governor based on a joint recommendation by tribal governments of the Mi’kmaq Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkomikuk, the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik and the Penobscot Nation.
STATUS: The Legislature will vote soon.
The Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry held a public hearing and work session during the first half of the legislation session. An additional work session was held January 17 and the majority of the committee voted the bill ought to pass as amended.
“FCNL Approves Policy on Abortion” – from Friends Journal
From Friends Journal:
Friends Journal gathers Quaker news stories from around the world. Is something happening in your community we should know about? Send us tips at news@friendsjournal.org.
Leslie Manning Recorded in Ministry
At the January 27, 2024 gathering of Falmouth Quarterly Meeting, Leslie Manning was recorded in Ministry. She had been recommended by Durham Friends Meeting. The Quarterly Meeting acted after hearing the report of a visiting committee composed of Maggie Fiori, Fritz Weiss, Kim Bolshaw, and Mia Bella D’Augellia.
Recording of Ministers varies among Yearly Meetings. A useful history of the recording of Ministers among Friends can be found here.
Durham Friends Meeting has four other recorded ministers: James Douglas, Edwin Hinshaw, Martha Hinshaw Sheldon and Carol Marshburn.
“Two-Eyed Seeing,” Pejepscot Portage Mapping Project, February 12, 6-7:30 pm
Durham Friends Woman’s Society Minutes, January 15, 2024
Present: Dorothy Curtis, Kim Bolshaw, Sarah Sprogell, Dot Hinshaw, Ann Ruthsdottir, Nancy Marstaller
- In the absence of Susan Gilbert, Nancy will take minutes.
- We drafted a memorial minute for Margaret Wentworth. Nancy will type it up and send it out for suggestions, also send to Ministry and Counsel members for review and see if they want it brought to this Sunday’s monthly meeting.
- We wrote cards for friends.
- The treasurer’s report was read and accepted. Our current balance is $50.96. Tonight’s offering was $20.
- The January Tedford Shelter meal was ham, potatoes, green vegetable, drinks, and dessert. Team C, led by Sarah and Dorothy, will provide the February meal. We received a thank you card from the Tedford staff.
- We enjoyed working on the memorial minute as a group, and decided that next month we will draft one for Charlotte Ann Curtis. Looking ahead, we plan to draft ones for Helen Clarkson and Kitsie Hildebrandt.
Nancy Marstaller, secretary pro tem
Agenda and Materials for Durham Friends Business Meeting, January 21, 2024
Reports and Other materials for the business meeting can be found at this site.
Agenda for Durham Monthly Meeting Jan. 21, 2024 1. Opening 2. Approval of last month’s minutes 3. Finance Committee report with action items 4. Woman’s Society Charity Fund request for Warm Thy Neighbor - 2nd approval 5. Ministry and Counsel Margaret Wentworth memorial minute 6. Trustees Annual Report 7. Peace & Social Concerns Annual Report, updates 8. Website 2023 Report 9.Nominating Committee report Resignation of individual
Durham Friends Woman’s Society Minutes, December 21, 2023
Present: Dorothy Curtis, President, Nancy Marstaller, Treasurer, Susan Gilbert Secretary, Wendy Schlotterbeck, Kim Bolshaw, Tess Hartford.
We met at Dorothy Curtis’ home and combined our meeting with the traditional WS Christmas party and gift exchange, held for the first time since 2019. Surrounded by Dorothy’s collections of Christmas ornaments, and tree, we shared fun and laughter, conducted our meeting, signed cards to Friends, and enjoyed tasty Christmas cookies, hot herbal tea, grown and blended by Kim, and delicious fruitcake made by Dorothy from Clarabel Marstaller’s recipe.
Cards: For Friends. Wendy has cards to donate to the WS card ministry.
Program: We took turns reading from Blueprints, “Showing Up In The Neighborhood”, by Margaret Fraser an American Quaker now based in Northern Ireland. Scripture: Luke 6:37 -38. “ Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Margaret felt called to move to Ireland, and settled near East Belfast. In this area of religious and social divisions, poverty and unrest, drug gangs, Margaret volunteers at the Methodist Church’s East Belfast Mission which offers “An urban regeneration project in inner East Belfast providing shared space for community transformation and renewal… It’s about providing shared space for people from all backgrounds and communities in East Belfast.”
Minutes: Not available at the meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: November’s offerings were $18. Nancy paid the annual WS dues. We have $50.96. in our account. Our request for $1000. from the DF Charity Fund to be given to Warm Thy Neighbor passed first approval at the monthly business meeting.
Telford Meal: Team A, Kim and Wendy provided scalloped potatoes with and without ham, carrots, broccoli, and a big pumpkin pie. January, Nancy’s team B will be cooking. She suggested that some of her large active team could be moved to teams with fewer volunteers. Kim offered to help any team if she is called.
New Business: Nancy suggested that our January 15 meeting be spent writing the Memorial Minute for Margaret Wentworth and others who have passed.
Dorothy ended the business meeting with a traditional Shaker poem:
Respectfully Submitted, Susan Gilbert
Wabanaki Sovereignty Lecture, January 18, 2024
Peace and Social Concerns calls to your attention a lecture on
Wabanaki Sovereignty and Upcoming Maine State Legislation
- THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2024
- 7:00 PM 8:00 PM
- JESUP MEMORIAL LIBRARY34 MT. DESERT STREETBAR HARBOR, MAINE 04609 (MAP)
- GOOGLE CALENDAR ICS
options: in person or via Zoom. Register here.
Falmouth Quarter to meet Saturday, January 27th at Durham Meeting, 11:30 to 5 pm.
UPDATED 24.1.30 Minutes of the session can be found here.
UPDATED 24.1.24 Agenda and Materials for the Quarterly Meeting gathering can be found here
You are invited to attend the Falmouth Quarterly Meeting from 11:30 to 2:45 at Durham Friends Meeting.
We will have a simple Meal available 11:30 to 12:30.
Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business will begin at 12:40 and conclude by 1:25. The agenda and two proposed minutes are at this link.
To attend the business meeting by zoom, use this link: durham meeting zoom link. The password is 1775
We are excited to welcome Brian Drayton, who will lead a program and discussion, entitled “There is a Spirit which I feel… James Naylor’s Last Words” from 1:30 to 2:45.
“There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things, in hope to enjoy its own in the end. Its hope is to outlive all wrath and contention, and to weary out all exaltation and cruelty, or whatever is of a nature contrary to itself. It sees to the end of all temptations. As it bears no evil in itself, so it conceives none in thoughts to any other. If it be betrayed, it bears it, for its ground and spring is the mercies and forgiveness of God. Its crown is meekness, its life is everlasting love unfeigned; it takes its kingdom with entreaty and not with contention, and keeps it by lowliness of mind. In God alone it can rejoice, though none else regard it, or can own its life. It is conceived in sorrow, and brought forth without any to pity it, nor doth it murmur at grief and oppression. It never rejoiceth but through sufferings; for with the world’s joy it is murdered. I found it alone, being forsaken. I have fellowship therein with them who lived in dens and desolate places in the earth, who through death obtained this resurrection and eternal holy life.”
An opportunity to stay for the second session of the webinar, Returning to the Land, “Seeing with a Native Eye” from 3:00 to 5:30, a four part program that Peace and Social Committee of Durham Monthly Meeting is offering . Readings for this session are available at this link: returning to the land
EARLIER POSTING:
Falmouth Quarter will meet on Saturday January 27th at Durham Meeting.
The draft schedule follows.
11: 30 gather and simple lunch
12:45 opening worship and brief business meeting
1:30 – 2:45 Program focused on James Naylor’s last statement facilitated by Brian Drayton:
“There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things, in hope to enjoy its own in the end. Its hope is to outlive all wrath and contention, and to weary out all exaltation and cruelty, or whatever is of a nature contrary to itself. It sees to the end of all temptations. As it bears no evil in itself, so it conceives none in thoughts to any other. If it be betrayed, it bears it, for its ground and spring is the mercies and forgiveness of God. Its crown is meekness, its life is everlasting love unfeigned; it takes its kingdom with entreaty and not with contention, and keeps it by lowliness of mind. In God alone it can rejoice, though none else regard it, or can own its life. It is conceived in sorrow, and brought forth without any to pity it, nor doth it murmur at grief and oppression. It never rejoiceth but through sufferings; for with the world’s joy it is murdered. I found it alone, being forsaken. I have fellowship therein with them who lived in dens and desolate places in the earth, who through death obtained this resurrection and eternal holy life.”
Those who wish to can stay for the Program hosted by Durham’s Peace and Social Concerns Committee:
3:30-5 pm: “Returning to the Land: Seeing with a Native Eye.”
“Walking in the World as a Friend,” from QREC, 2nd Mondays in 2024 @7:30pm
an invitation from the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative:
Walking in the World as a Friend Discussion & Practice Group |
Please join us for a free Online Practice & Discussion Group sponsored by Quaker Religious Education Collaborative (QREC). We meet monthly to enrich adult Quaker Religious Education for ourselves and our meetings/churches.Each month will open with worship and a message from the book Walking in the World as a Friend: Essential Quaker Practices. Then we will hold worship sharing to hear from each person, followed by a discussion on any questions, reflections, or implications for us as Friends and our witness in they world, then close with worship. We may discuss practices, such as journaling, spiritual companions, and faith and practice or scripture study, that help us and our meetings/churches.We are using Walking in the World as a Friend for reference. You may purchase the book at CourageousGifts.com or download the PDF HERE for free. You may also watch the videos on YouTube. |
Monday, January 8, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time Experiences of Living in the Spirit and the role of a Minister (pp 27-30 or relevant videos) Monday, Febuary 12, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time Experiment with Spirit and the Role of the Steward (pp 35-37 or relevant videos) Monday, March 11, 2024 7:30pm Eastern US Time Essential Quaker Structures as an Ecology of Practices (pp 45-58 or relevant videos) |
In 2024, we plan to meet the second Monday of the month in January, February, and March and take a one-month break in April. We expect to continue this pattern of 3 months on and 1 month off through 2024. This is spiral curriculum. Every time we engage the themes, we bring more to the reflections and go deeper. REGISTER HERE |
M L King Day Reflections with Tom Hamm, January 15, via Zoom
Earlham Scool of Religion is making available, via Zoom, the lecture Quaker historian Tom Hamm will give: “Quakers and Race in the 1920s.” Registration is required to get the Zoom link.
Advent Message 4 to Velasco Friends from Falmouth Quarter Friends, December 2023
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Velasco,
This is the week we light the candle for Love and remember the family in the stable in Bethlehem. Then, as now, their homeland was occupied. Then, as now, their children were threatened. And yet I imagine that when Joseph and Mary held their baby, they felt their hearts filled with more love then they could ever have imagined being possible. Spirit holds each of us, rocks each of us, loves each of us with more love than we can possibly imagine. “For unto all of us a child is born, unto all of us …”
With love and great gratitude to share this season with the Iglesia de los Amigos en Velasco.
___________________________________________________________________________
Queridas hermanas y hermanos de Velasco,
Esta es la semana en la que encendemos la vela por el Amor y recordamos a la familia en el establo de Belén. Entonces, como ahora, su patria estaba ocupada. Entonces, como ahora, sus hijos fueron amenazados. Y, sin embargo, me imagino que cuando José y María cargaron a su bebé, sintieron que sus corazones se llenaban de más amor del que jamás hubieran imaginado posible. El Espíritu nos sostiene a cada uno de nosotros, nos mece a cada uno de nosotros, nos ama a cada uno de nosotros con más amor del que podamos imaginar. “Porque a todos nosotros nos es nacido un niño, a todos nosotros…”
Con mucho amor y mucha gratitud de compartir esta temporada con la Iglesia de los Amigos en Velasco.
Durham Monthly Meeting Minutes, December 17, 2023
Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met for the conduct of business on Sunday, December 17, 2023, with 11 people in attendance at the Meetinghouse.
1. Meeting Opening
Clerk played a recording of Peace of the Earth — a Guatemalan hymn, followed by silent gathering. There were no additions or corrections to the agenda.
2. Approval of Minutes of November 2023 — Ellen Bennett
Meeting approved the minutes of the November meeting.
3. Finances — Nancy Marstaller
a. Finance Committee: The committee brought forward the proposed budget for 2024 for a second reading and approval. Changes from the first reading include: increasing the income from weekly contributions; Peace and Social Concerns carry-over grant revenue was moved to operating income and then expensed out; money allocated for Wabanaki Reach was moved to an operating expense line and will be identified for land reparations, and custodian salary was increased. The result is a deficit budget now reduced to $544.
Meeting approved the 2024 budget.
b. Woman’s Society: To continue the tradition of annual support to area organizations, Woman’s Society would like the Meeting to consider giving $1,000 from the charity account, to Warm Thy Neighbor, administered through Tedford Housing in this area.
Meeting approved this first request.
4. Ministry and Counsel — Tess Hartford and Renee Cote
Visiting committee is considering Diana White’s transfer of membership from Portland to Durham.
Renee read the minute from M&C concerning Mey Hasbrook’s resignation:
“At Monthly Meeting on October 15, 2023, Mey Hasbrook’s letter of resignation was accepted. The final meeting encouraged by Monthly Meeting did not take place when Mey objected to the number of persons that would be present and refused to meet. During her time with Durham Friends Meeting, at the time of her resignation, and in an email in November, Mey made a number of allegations of harm that were circulated within and outside the Meeting. Ministry & Counsel investigated these allegations and found that they have no basis in fact. We are very sorry for the distress that these allegations have caused and ask that we continue to hold all involved in prayer. We remain available to respond to questions and concerns, as confidentiality allows.
Meeting accepted this report with gratitude for the hard work of Ministry and Counsel.
5. Trustees Report — Sarah Sprogell
Update report available on the website.
6. Nominating Committee — Linda Muller
Highlighting updates on DMMF committee assignments, please see attachment. The Committee will be considering a Music Committee.
Meeting expressed its great appreciation for the committee and for the work that it, with Linda as clerk, has done.
7. New Business
Approval of Positions in lieu of Officers: Clerk recommends that the duties traditionally done by the Clerk and the Treasurer are delineated and assigned, regardless of who is occupying those positions. Specifically, “that the Clerk of Trustees be named as Acting Clerk for the purposes of contracts and other Meeting business and that the Clerk of Finance be named as Acting Treasurer, as needed…”
Meeting approved this proposal, with an effective date of January 1, 2024.
Meeting Care Coordinator: Clerk left the room. Tess Hartford was approved as interim Clerk for this portion of the meeting. Renee read the report of the MCC search committee.
Meeting approved Leslie Manning as MCC beginning January1, 24, a position described in the document dated February 2023.
The question of oversight and support will be taken up in concert with Leslie. The Search Committee for this position will make a recommendation as to the composition of the support/oversight committee for the MCC at the next meeting for business.
8. Closing Worship
Respectfully submitted,
Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk
Attachments: Reports and Other Materials