{"id":8567,"date":"2026-03-16T12:01:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=8567"},"modified":"2026-03-17T09:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:57:22","slug":"durham-friends-meeting-minutes-march-16-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=8567","title":{"rendered":"Durham Friends Meeting Minutes, March 16, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>DRAFT<\/strong> v2 26.04.17<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends Business Meeting Minutes<\/strong>, <strong>March 15, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met for the conduct of business on Sunday, March 15, 2026, with fourteen people in attendance at the Meetinghouse and two by Zoom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Meeting Opening<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clerk opened the meeting with the Lord\u2019s Prayer adapted by Peter Bishop:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\">Father and Mother, Creator of the Universe, Ground of Being,<br>whose True Name is beyond knowing,<br>may all the Earth feel Your presence<br>            and be filled with Your Light.<br>May we find what we need for this day,<br>            for ourselves and one another.<br>May we find it in our hearts to forgive<br>            and to accept forgiveness<br>Having eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil,<br>            may we choose the good.<br>We ask all this of You<br>            for all that is, is of You<br>            and You are more besides.<br>                                                   Amen.<br><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Approval of Minutes of February 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Meeting approved the minutes of the February meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3<\/strong><strong>. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><strong>Ministry and Counsel \u2014 Renee Cote<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please see report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Regarding the Meeting\u2019s \u201cState of Society\u201d report, Renee provided a first reading aloud. Members made suggestions that will be considered and included in the draft that will be brought back to the Meeting in April for approval. Suggested edits include:<ul><li>\u201cIndigenous people of this region\u201d will be added to describe the Wabanaki people with greater clarity.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Replace \u201ceshew\u201d with \u201cdo not use it\u201d in the paragraph pertaining to the use of Zoom.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>The Maker Cafe idea came to fruition by a group of Meeting members, not just one. Please send editing suggestions to M&amp;C<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Woman\u2019s Society description received suggested edits.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Peace and Social Concerns entry was edited by including the exact number of schools reached.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>An entry for the&nbsp; Monday Morning Prayer group needs to be added.<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use \u201cDurham Monthly Meeting of Friends\u201d as our name in the first paragraph. It is our legal name.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The suggestions was also made to add something about our worship life \u2014 our experience during Meeting for worship, the quality and depth; the kinds of issues that are raised for our spirit-lifting, the kinds of messages we bring, and how we deal with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The committee appreciated all of the input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Meeting accepted the Ministry and Counsel report, with gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clerk noted that the MCC report is available every month on the Meeting website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Finance Committee \u2014 Nancy Marstaller<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NEYM Pooled funds guidelines are available in print with copies in the Gathering Room and a copy posted to the website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5<\/strong><strong>. &nbsp; Rachel Carey-Harper gift \u2014 Nancy Marstaller<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nancy read the paragraph from Rachel Carey-Harper&#8217;s letter that expressed hopes for the use of this gift. Conferring with Wendy Schlotterbeck, Nancy recommended the Maine Solidarity Fund. Information about the fund was distributed and will be posted on the website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The gift of $3,000 will come through the Charity Fund. The suggestion was made to disburse funds to both MSF, $2,000, and to a Meeting family, $1,000, who has borne great cost in support of refugees and LGBTQ+ communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Meeting approved dispersement of gift funds as described above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>6.<\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>Peace and Social Concerns \u2014 Ingrid Chalufour<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please see report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regarding associating with the Wabanaki Alliance Coalition, members expressed reservations about joining and thereby endorsing Coalition positions. The Coalition works to further the agenda of the Wabanaki Alliance agendas for tribal sovereignty, autonomy, and related legislation, and is steered by Wabanaki leadership. Friends Committee on Maine Public Policy is already a member of the Coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is an opportunity for an individual, who has the interest and time, to represent the Meeting in this Coalition. An individual with such interest should reach out to P&amp;SC committee. This opportunity will also be added to the newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How active do we want to be in pursuing this question during the election season here in Maine? This question provides a topic for the April 12 Friends Committee on National Legislation conversation to help set legislative priorities for this year.  Additional information in preparation for discernment for the April 12 meeting will be circulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7.&nbsp;&nbsp; Request to Endorse a Minute from Shepherdstown Friends Meeting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meeting members voiced the concern that this minute didn\u2019t reflect the leading of spirit of God, feeling that the text arose from issues surrounding government positions and hierarchy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What would we say, as a Meeting, to our elected officials? Might we consider this as a direction this Meeting would like to take and share with FCNL as a priority?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meeting agreed to allow time for people to read the materials, return to the FCNL priorities discussion next month, and continue further discussion at April\u2019s meeting for business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>8.&nbsp;&nbsp; Trustees \u2014 Sarah Sprogell and Doug Bennett<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please see report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Doug reviewed the progress of the resolution around the Babcock estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>9.&nbsp;&nbsp; Use of the Meetinghouse March 27 and 28<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Young adult friends who plan to attend the Living Faith conference have asked to stay overnight at the meetinghouse on Friday and Saturday.\u00a0 Trustees have approved the request.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>10. 2025 Statistics Report \u2014 Sarah Sprogell<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please see report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Meeting accepted the report, with gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>11. Other Business<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please hold Leslie Manning in prayer between April 1st and 4th as she travels to Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meeting thanked Sarah Sprogell for serving so ably as Clerk for the past 3 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>12. Closing Worship<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong>From Taize:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\">With love and reverence, have we met.<br>With love and reverence do we part.<br>With love and reverence shall we meet again.<br>Our circle is open,<br>But never broken.<br>Blessed be.<br>Amen<br><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Respectfully Submitted, Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=8550\">Attachments<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DRAFT v2 26.04.17 Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends Business Meeting Minutes, March 15, 2026 Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met for the conduct of business on Sunday, March 15, 2026, with fourteen people in attendance at the Meetinghouse and two &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/?p=8567\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-report","category-monthly-meeting-minutes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9rLvf-2eb","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8567"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8570,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8567\/revisions\/8570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durhamfriendsmeeting.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}