DRAFT
Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends Business Meeting Minutes, October 18, 2026
Ellen Bennett — Recording Clerk
Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met for the conduct of business on Sunday, October 18, 2026, with thirteen people in attendance at the Meetinghouse and three via Zoom.
1. Meeting Opening
Clerk opened the meeting with a poem from the book “Church of the Wild” by Victoria Loorz:
“In 1902, Opal Whiteley was five years old and living in a logging town in Oregon. She kept a journal filled with old-soul intimacy with the natural world. And she knew this intimacy as the Holy Presence:
‘Morning is glad on the hills
The sky sings in blue tones
Little blue fluers are early blooming now
I do so like blue.
It is glad everywhere…
The earth sings in green…
I did stop by some grand fir trees to pray.
When one does look looks up at the grand trees
growing up almost to the sky,
one does always have longings to pray.’”
2. Approval of Minutes of September, 2026
Meeting approved the minutes of the September meeting.
3. Ministry and Counsel — Renee Cote
M&C report was read aloud. Please see report for an attachment of the notice discussed.
Meeting approved posting the notice prohibiting ICE from entering the Meetinghouse.
Meeting approved the two individuals who are named in the report to draft the memorial minute for Cush Anthony
Request was made that we rehang the sign noting that adult education starts at 9:15 a.m.
4. Meeting Care Coordinator Oversight Committee — Renee Cote
Committees are asked to answer questions relating to the role of the Meeting Care Coordinator to help inform the nature of the role and the work. Please see the report for specific wording of the questions Meeting committees are being asked to discuss.
5. Trustee Report — Sarah Sprogell
Please see report.
Conversation ensued about where the Meeting currently stands with respect to vaccines and use of the building. The policy drafted at the height of Covid and posted on the website needs to be updated. Thoughts and input were given.
It was suggested that in drafting a new policy, that Trustees review CDC, state, and Friends’ camp policies with respect to vaccines. We are a vulnerable demographic and need to take particular care of our members and attenders. We should also follow the information about wastewater analysis. Any policy, whatever it may be, should apply to everyone.
Trustees will take these considerations and return to Monthly Meeting with a draft policy.
6. Peace and Social Concerns — Ingrid Chalufour
Please see report.
In considering participation in the project “Quaker Connect,” the committee believed that our Meeting would benefit from a process of some kind that would lead to greater discernment, deeper prayer, and connections with one another, rather than a product.
Reports from committees in response to MCC questions will give Peace and Social Concerns information about any process work for the Meeting as a whole.
Need to determine how we will be using the funds from the gifts committee of NEYM (?), that have been earmarked for support of local indigenous people … (need clarification) P&SC will bring a recommendation back to Monthly Meeting.
The committee is eager for ideas people may have for issues P&SC can take up in 2027. The focus has been on local issues. This focus might shift to larger issues, such as earth-care/climate. Look at local and national systems that we may influence through their presence in local communities. Writing queries might be a way of thinking about this.
It was encouraged that we continue to support members and attenders who have a wide and impressive array of interests. Follow individual leadings and use the ministry of P&SC to support those initiatives.
7. Other business
Representatives to quarterly meeting: Wendy Schlotterbeck, Leslie Manning, and Sarah Sprogell.
Women’s Society asks for approval for a silent auction in November or December.
Meeting approved the silent auction.
8. Closing
Clerk closed the meeting with another poem included in “Church of the Wild”. This poem was written by Catherine of Siena, 14th century CE.
All has been consecrated.
The creatures in the forest know this,
the earth does, the seas do, the clouds know
as does the heart full of love.
Strange a priest would rob us of this knowledge
with the ability to make holy what already was.
Respectfully Submitted, Ellen Bennett. Recording Clerk