CMM 2008-12-07
Minutes of Meeting for Worship for Business
Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
12th Month 07, 2008
Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting gathered in Meeting for Worship for Business at the Merrimack Valley Day Care Center in Concord, NH. Friends present were Mark Barker, Kathie Urie, Don Booth, Lois Booth, David Freeman-Woolpert, Greg Heath (recording clerk), Ruth Heath (treasurer), Sara Smith (clerk), Jay Smith, Rob Spencer, Chris Booth, Kate Daniels, Susan Chambers
The meeting was opened by the clerk with a brief period of worship.
12.1 Clearness Committees for Commitment: Rob Spencer reported for the clearness committees for David Freeman-Woolpert and Penelope J. Petkiewicz. The women members of the Clearness Committee met with Penny and the men with David. The committee subsequently met all together. It is with great joy that the committee reports to the Concord Monthly Meeting that it has reached unity in its discernment that David and Penny are well betrothed. They have moved into a new phase of their relationship and are clear in their commitment to each other. The committee asks the Monthly Meeting to join in its support of their engagement, holding the two of them in the light of the spirit as a committed couple. For financial reasons, unrelated to their spiritual commitment, they have chosen to postpone entering into a legal marriage for at least two years. The committee recommends the Meeting appoint a Clearness Committee for further discernment if and when David and Penny advise that they are ready to move forward with a legal marriage. In the meantime, the committee supports their request that the Meeting consider a minute allowing them to proceed with a Commitment Ceremony under the care of the Meeting in the absence of a legal marriage.
12.2 Commitment Worship Sharing: The meeting entered a period of worship sharing following the reading of a letter to the clerk from David and Penny. The Meeting accepts the responsibility of taking under its care their relationship and the meeting for worship to celebrate their commitment.
12.3 Commitment Oversight Committee: An oversight committee was appointed for the meeting for worship that will be held at Monadnock Meeting House at 2:00 p.m. on December 27, 2008. Members are Greg Heath, Ruth Heath, Kathie Urie, and Sara Smith. David Freeman-Woolpert will contact Monadnock Monthly Meeting to see if one of their members can also serve on the committee.
Respectfully submitted
/s/ Greg Heath, Recording Clerk
Accepted as the approved record when signed,
/s/ Sara Smith, Clerk
