Durham Friends Woman’s Society Meeting Minutes, March 16, 2026 Hybrid Meeting
Present: Dorothy Curtis, President, Nancy Marstaller, Treasurer, Susan Gilbert, Secretary, Sarah Sprogell. On Zoom: Dorothy Hinshaw, Qat Langlier, Martha Sheldon.
Cards: For Friends.
Program and Devotions: We took turns reading from USFWI Blueprints Volume 82, Lesson 6 “Love in Many Languages” by Hilda Shikhubari. Scripture: Ephesians 4:2 – 3, John 15: 12:13, Peter 4: 12 -13, Luke 15: 4 – 7. Hilda, working in Dubai, met and became friends with a young Arab woman. Open and thoughtful with one another, common ground in Christian and Moslem faith was found through discussion and hospitality. Our reflections on Hilda’s program included: Martha: “Let your life speak.” She has lived in Palestine and worked at the Ramallah Friends School for two years. Later, working as an ed tech in Maine, greeting a student in Arabic was “a joyful experience”. Qat: “Genuine love is found in familiar exchanges, and actions matter more than speech. Building relationships is not a power dynamic.” Dorothy Hinshaw: “Shared understanding is felt even without knowing the language.” Sarah: “Slow down, make eye contact, listen open heartedly, without judgement, accept help.” Nancy, “A simple act of kindness, or friendship, with listening, can change our mood.” Dorothy Curtis: “live your own truth, and set an example.”
Treasurer’s Report: Nancy paid $20. to LACO. We had a $20. donation, bringing our balance to $120.20. We decided to send $100. to Ramallah Friends School. Nancy presented her 2025 Woman’s Society Annual Report and noted that it includes ‘24 and ‘25 silent auction proceeds.
Minutes: Susan read the 2,16,’26 minutes.
Tedford Meal: Team D brought dinner to the new Tedford location, which now houses roughly twice as many people we cook for. The menu was 6 quiches, Caesar salad, roasted potato and carrots, rolls, grapes, oranges and bananas. The April 6 Tedford meal will be prepared by Team E, leader Nancy Marstaller. Durham Friends provide dinner for Tedford House on the first Monday of each month. Contributions of prepared food or money for Tedford meals are always welcome.
Next Meeting: April 20, 7 PM.
Other Business: Marion Baker of USFWI sent Dorothy Curtis the minutes of the Annual NE District Meeting. She asked if we would invite NE District USFWI members to join our monthly Woman’s Society meeting. Dorothy will contact Marian and say we are willing to offer the use of our zoom account at another time, if she or others wish to organize the meetings. Nancy’s daughter gave her a notebook she had received when in college, that was prepared for young women with pages created by older women at Durham Friends. We have a copy of this in our library, and will pass this copy around.
Dorothy closed with this Irish Blessing:
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine strong upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Respectfully Submitted, Susan Gilbert
