DRAFT Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends Business Meeting Minutes, September 20, 2026
Ellen Bennett — Recording Clerk
Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met for the conduct of business on Sunday, September 20, 2026, with ten people in attendance at the Meetinghouse and four via Zoom.
- Meeting Opening
Clerk began meeting with a moment of silent centering, followed by reading an excerpt from
“Principles of the Quaker Business Meeting,” by George Selleck. The text of the reading is
included as an attachment. - Approval of Minutes of July, 2026
Meeting approved the minutes of the July meeting. - Finance Committee — Nancy Marstaller
Please see report. Overall, we are in good shape. Note that electricity costs are high; we are
getting used to our new heat pump system and will now be able to budget accordingly in the
future. A suggestion was made that we think about joining a solar farm, which has the effect of
lowering monthly expenses. It was recommended that this proposal be taken up by Trustees to
consider and then brought back to the Meeting as a whole.
Questions were raised about how we can best support our sister Meeting, Velasco Friends, Cuba,
via Puente de Amigos, given the extreme challenges that are being faced in that country. Puente
de Amigos oversees all of Cuba sister meetings in New England and will be giving an update on
their work to NEYM permanent board on September 26. Kim Bolshaw will gather information
on Velasco and Puente de Amigos and make a presentation at next month’s meeting for business. - Ministry and Counsel — Tess Hartford
A letter of gratitude for the Meeting, written by Lidia and Allison, was read. They are the young
women being fostered by Shelley Randall. A guardian ad litum has visited with the family.
Shelley would like her fostering status to be recognized as permanent; the current temporary
status will be reviewed October 7.
4 of 10
Please see report for a request monetary support for Shelley and her expanded family. It was
noted that such requests ask for seasoning, but seasoning usually accompanied requests for
support of organizations, not individuals. This request is for an individual.
Therefore, Meeting approves $1000 from the charity account, an emergency request from
Ministry and Counsel, be given to Shelley and her family.
An Afternoon of Gratitude in honor of Cush Anthony, a member of DFM who passed away on
August 12, takes place October 10th at 1:00 p.m. at Portland Friends meetinghouse. It was noted
that the obituary for Cush on the Durham Friends website has seen a great number of views.
Durham Friends has care of this service.
Note that the M&C report also includes information about World Quaker Day, October 4th, and
continuing book group discussions on “Healing the Heart of Democracy”. - Trustee Report — Sarah Sprogell
Please see report.
Conversation took place regarding renting the meetinghouse for a home-school enrichment
program. When meeting with home-school parents, we let them know we recommend vaccines
and have a masking policy. Parents agreed. The organizer of this enrichment program estimated
about 20 children, aged 7 – 13 years old. In reviewing our website, the organizer felt that our
meetinghouse was more than simply a space — the Meeting reflects the values that align with her
and the curriculum she proposes. She asks that we clear our tabletops each week. Sounds like a
valuable relationship and a good use of space. Recommend that after a month or so, have a
meeting with the lead teacher and talk about how things are going. This endeavor may result in
encouraging young families to attend Durham Friends Meeting.
Meeting approved the use of the space for the home-schoolers for this academic year.
Question: will what we receive in rent have an effect on our property taxes? May be an issue if
the rental situation continues indefinitely.
Regarding the Eileen Babcock estate: $127K is the amount the judge determined has been
misappropriated by Sheila Babcock from the estate. What is finally due to the Meeting is likely
larger. We don’t know exactly how much of this money we are going to receive. We are now in
an enforcement phase. There is about $65K held in escrow by Sheila’s attorney, which is money
we may receive soon. Note that very little of the Meeting’s money is restricted. Any money that
comes to us from this judgement will be unrestricted and it is up to us to decide where to put it
and how to use it.
Enforcement of this issue will incur some legal expense, but we can decide how far we want to
proceed with enforcement.
The Meeting expressed its gratitude for Trustees and all of the hard work in keeping us whole,
physically and financially.
5 of 10 - Thee Quaker video consideration
Please see attachment. Meeting is encouraged to view the videos that have been done so far. It
was recommended that more than one standing committee bring its thoughts about the video
project to the next business meeting. We want as many people as possible to talk about and
consider this before next month. The request for people to look at the videos done thus far and
consider our joining the project will be put on the website. - Klara Tammany request for membership.
Klara Tammany has submitted a letter for membership. A Clearness Committee, including Dot
Hinshaw, Tess Hartford and Kim Bolshaw, will schedule a visit with her. The membership
request will be brought to the October meeting for business for approval.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ellen Bennett
Recording Clerk Attachment