Durham\nMonthly Meeting of Friends convened for the conduct of business on Sunday,\nNovember 17, 2019 with 12 people present. \nClerk Susan Rice read from the 1985 New England Faith and Practice, p.\n117: \u201cthe Search for Unity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. The October minutes were approved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Christian Education Committee and Youth Minister: Wendy\nSchlotterbeck sent their report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0Seven people from Durham and Portland Meetings are interested in Godly Play training which would involve a weekend in the spring. Please let Christian Education Committee know if interested in this training.\u00a0 The committee and the Finance Committee will consult concerning the cost of this training.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The committee made a slight change\nto the Sunday School plan. Parents may\ndrop off a child with Ashley Marstaller, our \u201cbaby sitter\u201d at 10:30 or bring\nthem into the meeting room for singing, then quietly go to Godly Play class\nwhich will begin around 10:40. Children\nwill stay in the class until meeting for worship is over. Middle and high school age youth will meet at\n10:30 in their space and return to meeting for worship at 11:15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wendy will be staffing the New\nEngland Yearly Meeting Junior High Retreat at Woolman Hill on the weekend of\nDecember 6-8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upcoming events include attending\nthe \u201cDay of Mourning\u201d event on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28) in Plymouth, MA;\nWreath making on Dec. l; and a Christmas gathering on Dec. 20. Details will be included in the Newsletter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Peace and Social Concerns Committee: Ingrid Chalufour reported that the committee\nis exploring a variety of ways that the meeting could reduce its carbon\nfootprint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Finance Committee: Attached is the third quarter\nfinance report. Our current budget income and spending has continued\nto be healthy and stable through the end of September 2019. Total regular income year to date was\n$43,968.72 which is 76% of our annual goal. \nOur expenses during this period were $33,900.89 which is 59% of our\nannual goal, resulting in a net difference of $10,067.83.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Items\nthat were higher than expected are fuel oil, and maintenance and supplies for\nthe meetinghouse. Trustees have overseen\nseveral important carpentry repairs and repainted the addition this year, and\nthey are still within their annual budget request. Unfortunately, the price of fuel oil is\nunpredictable. These additional\nexpenses, however, have been offset by lower spending by committees and various\nother meeting expenses, so on balance, we are in a good position to finish the\nyear without needing an annual appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sarah Sprogell completed the transfer of funds\nfrom the Bailey and Cox Funds to the Charity Account, as approved and requested\nby the Monthly Meeting in October. These\ntwo funds had been in low interest CDs, and have increased the balance in the\nCharity Account to $16,339.21<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nFinance Committee will be meeting very soon to draft a proposed budget for 2020\nand encourages committees to submit their requests for 2020 as soon as\npossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Ministry and Counsel: \nMartha Sheldon reported that there will be Christmas Eve candlelight\nservice at the meetinghouse facilitated by Jo-an Jacobus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At their\nretreat on November 2nd<\/sup>, they considered recommendations and\nsuggestions from a number of members and attenders concerning adding a paid\nposition of Meeting Care <\/p>\n\n\n\n Coordinator which would provide assistance and support to\ncommittees and volunteer activities. They\npropose that it be a quarter time position to be paid $10,000 a year,\nsupervised by a support committee. The Meeting Care Coordinator would include\npastoral care, ministry, outreach and coordination of activities. Other\ndescriptions mentioned for this position were: facilitator, encourager, and\nenabler. The full proposal will be in\nthe newsletter, and an informal discussion will occur after meeting on November\n24. Approval of the proposal will be\nconsidered at Monthly Meeting for Business in December. We discussed ways to advertise this\nposition. We expressed our appreciation\nfor the work of Ministry and Counsel, and accept their recommendation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. We recommended that the Finance Committee consider\nincluding charitable giving to Quaker organizations currently not included in\nour budget: Friends Committee on National Legislation, American Friends\nCommittee, and Quaker United Nations Organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We closed\nin a centering stillness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dorothy Hinshaw, Recording Clerk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends convened for the conduct of business on Sunday, November 17, 2019 with 12 people present. Clerk Susan Rice read from the 1985 New England Faith and Practice, p. 117: \u201cthe Search for Unity.\u201d 1. … Continue reading