17th day of Fifth Month, 2015
Present: Sorry, the Acting Recording Clerk forgot to note who was present.
We began with silence followed by a reading from Quaker Journals by Howard Brinton, in which Rufus Jones relates his childhood experience of family silence (p. 9-10).
The minutes from Fourth Month, 2015 were approved.
Committee Reports:
Meetinghouse Committee - accepted
The FGC Friends Meetinghouse Fund granted us $1,000 to replace the basement windows.
Because of unprecedented amounts of rain in May, there has been ongoing flooding in the basement. Furniture has been ruined and hauled away. Several Friends did a great deal of work day after day continually pumping out the water and handling the mess. For this, the Meeting thanks them all heartily.
The Meetinghouse Committee has gotten and assessment from a hydro-engineer, who recommends that we install a sump pump in the floor on the basement. Even though flooding may not happen often, it was felt this problem needs as long-term fix, as this is the second time it has flooded since we moved in. Quotes for the work will be gathered.
Plan for emergency response to meetinghouse issues: The Meetinghouse Committee is compiling a list of those willing to help in case of emergency. Help can be as simple as making phone calls to contractors or other Friends, being available to open the meeting house for people to work on the building, lending tools, organizing a work crew, or picking up a tool at the time of the emergency. If you are willing to receive a phone call to help out, please send tell Molly Wingate and tell her the best way to contact you and what you are willing to do.
Preliminary guidelines for use of the meetinghouse were presented (see Meetinghouse Committee minutes for details). We will consider approving them at the next Meeting for Business.
Ministry and Oversight Committee - verbal report accepted
A report from Ministry & Oversight about the Meeting's service to an elder Friend was shared:
This winter the Ministry and Oversight Committee was made aware of
the desperate needs of one our elder members. Accordingly, we
suggested that our Meeting participate in a service project to collect
monetary and food donations for our Friend, a long-time member of our
Meeting.
As a result, Friends in the Meeting brought designated groceries and
contributed what they could. By the end of April we were able to
deliver several items of food as well as $300.00. Two members of our
Meeting visited at different times to deliver these goods and enjoyed
the time with our elder Friend. She was very appreciative of our
donations and thoroughly enjoyed the Quakerly contact. One member has
driven our Friend on several occasions to various places that she
needed to go.
We will stay in closer touch with her and provide continued
assistance as we are able.
*In the Light, *
*[Ann Grant Martin][AnnGrantMartin] , Clerk of Ministry and Oversight*
The following annual State of the Meeting was approved and will be submitted to Intermountain Yearly Meeting:
**State of the Meeting, May, 2015**
The Colorado Springs Religious Society of Friends continues to
prosper in the search for the Truth. After more than 50 years as a
Meeting, we moved into our Meeting House in May, 2012. We remain of
modest size but continue to slowly grow and contribute to the greater
Quaker and Peace communities.
Presently we have 16 members, about 16 attenders and 3 junior members
and/or attenders. We are heartened that the number of visitors has
increased and a few of those have become regular attenders. Two
members transferred their membership and one withdrew.*
Children and Young Friends are infrequent attenders. However, we do
have a well stocked First Day School room and teachers ready to teach.
We look forward to the time when we have a more vigorous First Day
School program. Our adult Religious Education program recently began
studying *The Essential Elias Hicks* by Paul Buckley.
We have monthly work days and have continued landscaping our yard
during those days. Our corner is looking better and better.
Other activities include: supporting [Bill][BillDurland] and [Genie Durland][GenieDurland] sojourn
to Pendle Hill. They were invited to be Friends in Residence for the
spring term. [Bill][BillDurland] and [Genie][GenieDurland have also produced several plays for
reader's theater that have been well received by the community. The
latest play is a parody on Old Testament violence and how it fed into
modern Middle East conflicts. In November we enjoyed Soup and Sharing.
Held in a Friend's home, it was well attended. Our queries were *Why I
am a Quaker, Why do I come to Meeting and What has Quakerism
contributed to our community It was an evening that brought local
Friends closer together. Several participated in our 5^th^ Sunday
Occasional Book Club. In May we hosted a reader's theater performance
of "Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with America's Native
Peoples." Several members of our meeting took part. We are very
excited that our Meeting has come to unity about committing to the
first stage of the QuakerQuest, *a program developed by Friends General
Conference that is a A dynamic and transformative inreach and
outreach process based on the experience that the Quaker way is a
spiritual path for our time that is simple, radical, and
contemporary.*
We continue to prosper and benefit from the many talents and
contributions of Friends. We look forward to continued growth and
Spiritual Light in the coming year.
Nominating Committee:
John Robey was nominated to serve as a member of the Finance Committee. This nomination was approved with many thanks.
The Nominating Committee is seeking a Recording Clerk for the Meeting. In the interim, Genie has agreed to fill in.
Finance Committee - accepted
We welcomed John to our Committee.
The Cash Flow Report was discussed and gratefully accepted. We discussed our emergency reserve funds, and established that we should have sufficient funds set aside to handle repairs to the basement.
Several people verbally stated that they planned to donate to cover QuakerQuest costs. Please earmark this donation for QuakerQuest, and give it to Sarah or Lisa. You can also put the donation in the donation box.
Other Reports:
Old Business:
The police have asked if we wish to have input on the sentencing of the man who stole our checks from the front porch of the meeting. Bill Durland has followed-up on this issue and reports that he has passed on our hope that a suitable alternative to prison might be considered. Since there are multiple charges against him (not just our theft), we do not know how much weight our statement will carry.
Lisa has sent out a poll in an attempt to determine the best Saturday to hold our day-long QuakerQuest internal workshop. The following 3 dates as options for the day-long workshop Sept. 26, Sept. 12 and Oct. 3. Lisa will pass these on to the QuakerQuest team.
Announcements:
The adult education book study and discussion group is normally held on the 2nd Sunday at the rise of meeting. We are reading The Essential Elias Hicks. Bill and Genie are facilitating the discussion. Because of many absences during the summer, we plan to postpone the group until fall.
The Meeting now has a P.O. Box at the downtown station. If you are mailing checks or important letters, please use this box address:
Colorado Springs Friends Meeting
c/o *the name of the person here*
P.O. Box 2073
Colorado Springs, CO 80901-2073
Several people verbally stated that they planned to donate to cover QuakerQuest costs. Please earmark this donation for QuakerQuest, and give it to Sarah or Lisa. You can also put the donation in the donation box.
We are hosting the Colorado Regional Planning Committee Meeting May
Submitted in the Light,
Lisa Lister, acting recording clerk
Minutes from Finance and Meetinghouse.