CMM 2019-12-08

Minutes of Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting of

the Religious Society of Friends

Twelfth Month 8, 2019

Fourteen Friends gathered and entered into quiet worship.  We accepted the minutes of Eleventh month as posted on the website.

12.1  Ministry and Counsel Committee brought the final version of our memorial minute for Lois Pitkin Booth.  The Friends who wrote this have shared with us a wonderful testimony to the grace of God as illustrated in her life.  It was accepted subject to an addition about her joyful welcoming of people coming to our Meeting, minor grammatical corrections and other small wording changes.  It will be forwarded to Quarterly and Yearly Meetings.  It is attached to these minutes.

There were no other items reported from Ministry and Counsel committee.

12.2  Youth Religious Education Committee reported about their community outreach fundraising Make and Take crafting event. Individual members of the committee will be holding each of the Meeting's children in prayer and sending them notes through the coming year.

12.3  Budget/Finance Committee:  We received the budget committee report.  Income and expenses from June through November of the current fiscal year, we have received $14,849 which is 54% of projected income half way through the fiscal year. Expenditures for the six months were $10,561.  The balance sheet was updated with no significant changes since the last report.

Budget committee reported that it will be starting in February to collect information for the coming year's budget that will start on June 1, 2020.  They also reported about items that they are exploring, including the need to review where our reserve funds are held and how to decide appropriate levels of funds to hold for major replacements such as a new roof or heating system.

Budget committee requested that their name be changed to Finance committee.  There was brief discussion of the reasons and this was approved.

12.4  Peace, Social and Earthcare Concerns Committee reported about their recent program on mass incarceration and their intention to pursue further work on this with the local NAACP and other groups.

12.5  Nominating Committee reported that it will be working soon on discerning with members and attenders regarding their gifts and leadings.

12.6  Peace Light:  We noted that we have today a special peace light brought from Bethlehem in the West Bank to be shared through lighting of more lights to take home and to others.  It is hoped that it will inspire Friends to consider how we relate to people around the world who are striving for true peace on earth.

12.7  Arnie Alpert Action Fund:  Sara S asked that the Meeting allow the treasurer to accept donations this year for the expenses of the upcoming fundraiser for the AFSC event that Meeting is hosting at the Meetinghouse for the Arnie Alpert Action Fund.  Finance committee convener has agreed to allowing directed donations to the Meeting to go to support this fundraiser.  The mechanism for doing this will go back to Finance committee to consider the best means to do this and other special projects now and in the future and bring their thinking back to business meeting.  Meeting approved.

Meeting was concluded with a brief moment of worship purposing to meet again on the second First Day of First Month 2020.

NB. The Income & Expenses Sheet was created with two decimal points, which were removed for readability, the cents being unimportant to the overall understanding.  This can have the effect of throwing off any given sum by a dollar due to compounded rounding.  —  Prepared by Greg Heath and Chris Haigh.

NB. The Balance Sheet was created with two decimal points, which were removed for readability, the cents being unimportant to the overall understanding.  This can have the effect of throwing off any given sum by a dollar due to compounded rounding.

Do we have the resources to support our obligations? YES

Variable Assets Less Current Liabilities and Replacement Reserve = $3,837

Ministry and Counsel Committee Report, Twelfth Month 2019

Lois Pitkin Booth Memorial Minute

Approved by Concord Friends Meeting 12/8/2019

[Slightly adjusted text by M&C 2019-12-13]

Lois Pitkin Booth, born in 1922, passed away in September 2019, having lived a long, inspiring life.  She was raised in a Methodist family and in the 1950s she became an early member of the newly-formed Concord (NH) Friends Meeting.

Lois was the fire that kept Concord Friends Meeting warm with her core belief in Love’s power and her indomitable optimism.  She was joyfully welcoming to all.  She had a wonderfully inclusive ability to draw out strengths and gifts of service from others. In her humble way, she was able to step aside and let others assume leadership once they showed interest.  She led by example and through her countercultural life modeled the change that she wanted to see in the world.

Lois started the Meeting’s First Day School program with the central value that every child feel loved.  The Meeting grew as families were drawn to the culture of love and respect that she cultivated with her gentle compassion.  She promoted music and hymns as an important way for children to connect with the Spirit, believing that these songs would provide a resource they could draw upon for the rest of their lives.  Thus, singing became a regular part of First Day School.  This led to the whole Meeting singing together before unprogrammed worship which has become an important Spirit-building part of our Meeting.

Lois was a strong supporter of families; in the Meeting and in her extended family she was an advocate for communication and expression of feelings as a way to strengthen family relationships.  Ever sensitive to the feelings of others, she made sure that people felt welcome in Meeting regardless of their ability to contribute financially, reminding us that we all bring diverse gifts to the community.  Don and Lois’ commitment to their 65 year marriage was an inspiration, as was her patient care for her father in her home in the last years of his life.

Lois’ witness in the world grew out of her compassion for others, her belief in the transforming power of love, and her keen awareness of inequality and injustice in its many forms.  Her deep faith in a loving God centered her actions and witness. Her commitment to peace led to war tax resistance, starting with the Korean War.  She was a person willing to speak truth to power, and a gentle yet persistent force for peace and justice. From the Nuclear Test Ban movement through the steady stream of wars and military actions since then, Lois was there organizing and educating.  She believed that citizens would respond well to good information and that education would lead to positive change.  She also was Clerk of Peace and Social Concerns Committee for years.

Lois was a key force behind opening a New Hampshire office of the AFSC in 1978; she organized Canterbury Citizens for Peace and Justice in 1981; and she helped found New Hampshire Peace Action in 1982.  For over two decades, Lois focused her energy on NH Peace Action as a full-time volunteer and lead fundraiser.

Lois concentrated on the root causes of problems rather than on the symptoms.  She had a keen sense of how to motivate and organize people in order to not only achieve a purpose but also build community.  We learned from her the lesson of the importance of food, music, and fun to engage us in community as we work for change.

Lois raised six children in their no-frills country home built by her husband, Don, who conscientiously opposed war and performed Alternative Service during World War II.  Their yearning for deep relationships with others led them in the 1950s to try living in several intentional communities around the country.  To our great benefit they always returned to Canterbury to deepen their roots there where they lived from 1951 until 2003 when she and Don moved to the Havenwood Retirement Community in Concord.  “Living simply so that others may simply live” was her way, not just a motto.

Lois loved to garden. It was a natural part of living simply.  She grew a large portion of their vegetables, baked her own bread, and was committed to healthy eating, feeding her family whole grains and sprouts and vegetarian meals long before it was fashionable or common.  She maintained an extensive flower garden and regularly brought a beautiful array of flowers to Meeting, another way of sharing God’s bounty.  She offered wholesome meals and a bed to many who came to the Concord area trying out lifestyles that earned them little money.  She and Don joyfully shared their cars, their tools, their labor, and the fruits of her garden with others in need.  The way they so freely shared was an expression of their love and sense of community.  This generosity was a deep inspiration to many.

Although Lois was highly intelligent and a college graduate, she put her family, the Meeting community, and her peace work ahead of paid work outside the home.  She did become a realtor and, as such, gave special attention to the appropriate use of the land, making wise purchases and then reselling to good people for good purposes whenever possible.

Lois and Don’s generous spirit was also evidenced in their gift of land on the Merrimack River to the town of Canterbury to become the town beach and the Riverland Conservation Area.  Our Meetinghouse would not have been built without their generosity. First Lois’s offer of land reignited a languishing meetinghouse project.  Then when that plot proved too small, an organization to whom the Booths had previously donated another larger tract of land, gifted a portion of it to the Meeting which is where the Meetinghouse now sits, a powerful demonstration of the ripple effect of Lois and Don’s witness of love and generosity.

One of Lois’ greater gifts was her tolerance in the face of conflict.  Many learned about Quaker ways from her creative responses to interpersonal conflict and her loving acceptance toward all people, particularly difficult people and those with mental illness.  She fully embodied the concept of “let peace begin with me,” in her interpersonal relationships and within the Meeting, the community, and the world.

Lois trusted in the power of prayer; for example, she suggested that members of the Religious Education Committee pray for Meeting children individually.  Wisdom born from difficulty and hardship in her own life attracted others to seek her counsel.  They were always met with compassion and prayers.  She believed completely in a loving God, and often said that God is Love.  Even as her body and mind weakened in her last years, she gave vocal ministry of the loving words of Jesus.

Lois was never frustrated or bitter as her body and mind aged.  She remained cheerful to the end.  Lois’ understanding of the importance of spiritual education for children, her leadership in peace and justice issues, and her personal warmth helped to make the Concord Friends Meeting a welcoming place that has attracted other Spirit-led people for generations.

Lois Booth’s example continues to shine brightly in the lives of those who knew her.  Many of us have asked ourselves, “How would Lois deal with this problem?” finding Light and courage in the answer.

Budget Committee Report, Eleventh Month 2019

Budget Committee met on Friday, the 22^nd day of 11^th Month.

1. We reviewed the budget timeline for next year
   
   1. In February Business Meeting we will remind committees to consider their planned budget for the following year, with particular attention to the replacement reserve budget from Property committee
   2. No later than March, we hope to bring a plan for the replacement reserve to the Business Meeting in consultation with Property Committee
   3. In April we intend to bring a draft budget for the Business Meeting to review and give feedback on
   4. In May we intend to bring a final budget for the Business Meeting to approve
2. We are aware that there has been discussion of the Meeting taking on the cost of the wifi required to support the solar array.  As no proposal has been brought forward, we do not expect to take any action at this time
3. We considered the replacement reserve, some of which is currently stored in the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, earning interest but not immediately liquid
   
   1. We noted that assets in the loan fund become accessible at intervals of $2,000 each year
   2. We expect that when a more detailed proposal for the replacement reserve is brought forward, there will be times where those investments will not be reinvested in the loan fund, but will be held in the bank in preparation for replacements.  We do not recommend any change to the current investment schedule
   3. We noted that Property Committee is also looking at the replacement reserve needs for the building.  The preparation that the budget committee has done in looking at possible future replacement needs will be sent over to Property Committee for their review.
   4. We ask that Property Committee present a draft of their expectations for when and how the replacement reserve will be needed no later than Third Month 2020.
   5. We considered whether there will be a future need for investments other than the loan fund.  We note that there may come a time when a more formal investment policy is required because the replacement reserve is fully funded, or the Meeting’s bank accounts grow so large that there is reason to consider other investments, but did not discern a need to bring such a policy to the Meeting at this time
4. We reviewed the description of the Budget Committee, and it’s two officers (the Treasurer and Bookkeeper)
   
   1. We believe that the descriptions of the officer and committee duties and responsibilities are accurate.
   2. We note with pleasure that there is a separation of duties between the Treasurer and Bookkeeper, and that in practice the Treasurer’s duties to receive and disburse funds are delegated to the bookkeeper.  This works well for our Meeting, and we appreciate that the Meeting has enough engaged members to have two financial officers
   3. We recommend that the Committee name be changed from the Budget Committee to the Finance Committee, bringing us into closer alignment with the way that this committee is described in other monthly and yearly meetings.  We do not recommend any changes to the duties described other than the committee name