CMM 2017-02-19

Minutes of Meeting for Worship for Business

Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

Second Month 19, 2017

Attending:  11

2.1  The meeting opened with a reading [of ‘Advices on Corporate Discernment’, numbers 5, 6, and 3] followed by worship.

2.2  Support for Refugees and Immigrants:  Friends corrected the First Month 2017 Minute 2017.1.4 to explain the Hanover minute as “urging our government to reaffirm our country’s founding values”.

2.3  Membership:  We accepted Chris Haigh’s transfer of membership from Chena Ridge Monthly Meeting, Fairbanks, Alaska with much joy and gratefulness.

2.4  Finance Committee Report:  Our treasurer reported that as of January 31, 2017 we have expended $15,250 with income of $17,190 with $1,940 net income.  However, that includes $2,000 of income that is a gift that we may put into a special fund.  Nevertheless, we seem to be on target with income and expenses.

2.5  Social Justice Fund:  We gratefully received a $2,000 gift from a New England Friend for the purpose of advancing the cause of racial and social justice and earthcare concerns.  We will put this $2,000 into a special fund held in reserve and ask Ministry and Counsel to decide on a process for how to expend this.   We will refer to this as the Social Justice Fund.

2.6  “Closing the Racial Wealth Divide”:  At the request of members who are attending a Reparations Working Group, we agreed to a $200 sponsorship of a March 28 “Closing the Racial Wealth Divide” train-the-trainer program.  Attenders will be trained to educate people about the relationship of class, race and gender inequities as it relates to economic trends.  We hope that some people in the Meeting will attend this training.  We directed the Treasurer to use the newly established Social Justice Fund for this purpose.

2.7  Solar Committee Report:  The Solar Committee has been working very hard with our attorneys [on] the financial intricacies [of the solar project].  They will continue to work on this. 

2.8  Time-Sensitive Public Statements:  The clerks asked how they should respond when asked to sign onto letters which have time sensitivity.  Recently they were asked to sign on a letter of support for refugees and immigrants and had only three days to respond; they had a sense that the Meeting would approve, but there was not time to take this to Business Meeting.  It was noted that the Yearly Meeting has a process for leaders to write letters and sign onto letters.  Many questions were raised such as:  If the clerks had this authority, how should they let the Meeting know something was done in the Meeting’s name?  Who should be consulted before the clerks make a decision whether to sign?   We asked M&C to thresh this and bring a recommendation and process back to us.   

2.9  The meeting closed with worship.

Submitted by

Acting Recording Clerk, Ruth M Heath

Presiding Co-Clerk, Mark Barker