DQM 2010-10-31

DRAFT MINUTES

Dover Quarterly Meeting

X.31.2010

Presiding Clerk: Marian Baker

Recording Clerk: Sara Hubner

Dover Quarterly Meeting gathered at Weare with Friends from Weare (7), Concord (2), Dover (6), and Gonic (1).

Before we gathered for business at approximately 2:20 p.m., Brian Drayton led us in a conversation about Global Climate Change, based on FWCC queries.

Monthly Meeting News

Marian Baker attended West Epping Meeting’s annual meeting and reported that it members and attenders of the meeting and their relatives made up most of the gathering.

Dover Monthly Meeting recently received a $250 grant from Befriending Creation, which they used to purchase a more efficient refrigerator. Three members of Dover Meetings Peace & Social Concerns committee are also members of NEYM Earthcare Witness.

Weare Friends met at Pittsfield on Tenth Month, 3, with members of the Pittsfield Community to clarify their relationship as well as get to know each other. Weare Meeting appreciates the continuing presence of a young married couple and their child. They have been touching up paint at the meeting house and attending to some other maintenance items. They have had up to 12 children attending “Children’s Sunday” once a month. They hope to have these children meeting children from other meetings, and Quarterly Meeting seems the logical place for this to happen.

Gonic participated in the Church World Service Crop Walk; a total of the funds raised wasn’t yet available.

Concord Friends have been using their new meeting house for three weeks, and will have the dedication on Eleventh Month, 7.

Treasurer’s Report

There was no report from the treasurer.

Minutes of Eighth Month were accepted.

AFSC

Arnie Albert reports that they have a new General Secretary, Shan Cretin, who uses words like “prophetic” and among other things want to integrate work in the U.S. with international efforts.

The national board is considering downsizing and consolidating regional offices. The organization has shrunk approximately 50 percent. While Martha Yager in the Providence office and Arnie are both back to full-time employment, NH-AFSC has lost its Youth Program.

Among the issues the New Hampshire office is working on are housing and poverty, death penalty legislation, and immigration issues, as well as countering a legislative effort to link draft registration with drivers licensing. Maggie and Arnie are available and willing to visit meetings.

Next Meetings

Our next meetings will be First Month, 29, 2011, at Concord; and Fifth Month, 29, at Dover.

We discussed possibilities for the program at our First Month gathering, which we agreed would be youth-oriented. Abe Drayton volunteered to help coordinate planning and will ask others for help; Marian will be serve ex officio.

As a follow-up to today’s program on climate change, the FWCC queries will be sent out with the minutes for consideration by our Monthly Meetings.

The Clerk also asked for ideas for our sister relationship with Holguin Church of Friends in Cuba.

After a brief period of open worship, meeting arose at approximately 2:50 p.m., purposing to meet First Month, 29, 2011, God willing.

Respectfully submitted,

Sara Hubner

Recording Clerk