CMM 2022-02-13
Minutes of Meeting for Worship with Concern for Business
Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting of
the Religious Society of Friends
Second Month 13th, 2022
Fourteen Friends gathered both in person and by Zoom connection and entered into quiet worship. We accepted the minutes of First Month as posted on our website.
We opened with a brief period of Worship.
02.01 Treasurer’s Report: We’re in good shape as far as contributions and expenses; our property committee spending and rental income are both slightly above budget projections. The Finance Committee is still exploring new investment options for our meeting. One point of interest is that our mortgage loan is nearly paid off – we currently owe less than $13,000. There is one correction to the Income & Expenses – we currently have $23,123 in the Community Loan Fund. The Income & Expenses report and Balance Sheet are attached.
| Total Income: | $19,353 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Expenses: | $15,558 | |
| Net Income: | $3,795 |
02.02 Ministry & Counsel recommends the transfer of Elaine from Smithfield (RI) Meeting to Concord Friends Meeting. We joyfully approve her membership. The full committee report is attached.
02.03 The Right Relationships working group shared the proposed land acknowledgment. We heard concerns from some Friends regarding the third paragraph regarding our willingness to share our land. Do we really mean it? Do we have policies in place now for meeting house use that would need to be amended? Is this a commitment or a statement of intention? Could we commit to identifying ways to share the land with all people? What do we mean by sharing? Are we also sharing the care of the land? Do we want to be clearer so that we have more control over what would be allowed? Do we want to make a statement about our own stewardship on the land? How is our fear of the future getting in the way of our progress here?
We are reminded that this is a solemn document and should be carefully considered. We appreciate the thoughtful work of this committee and ask them to take our comments and questions back for further seasoning on this document.
After a brief time of quiet worship, Meeting adjourned, purposing to meet again on the Second Sunday of the Third month.
| Submitted by, | Accepted as the Approved Record, | |
| /s/ Heidi Babb, Recording Clerk | /s/ Richard Kleinschmidt, Presiding Co-Clerk |
| Concord Monthly Meeting Budget vs. Actual | 2021-06-01 – 2022-01-31 | Budget – FY 2021-22 | Budget $ Remaining | % of Budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income | ||||
| Contributions | $18,508 | $25,672 | $7,164 | 72% |
| Interest Income | – | $810 | $810 | 0% |
| Prior Year Funds | – | $723 | $723 | 0% |
| Rental Income | $605 | $300 | $-305 | 202% |
| Solar Roof Lease | $240 | $240 | $0 | 100% |
| Total Income | $19,353 | $27,745 | $8,302 | 70% |
| Expenses | ||||
| Program | ||||
| Finance Committee | – | $30 | $30 | 0% |
| Hospitality | $42 | $100 | $58 | 42% |
| Library | – | $140 | $140 | 0% |
| Ministry & Counsel | $140 | $400 | $260 | 35% |
| Outreach Committee | – | $475 | $475 | 0% |
| Peace, Social & Earthcare Concerns | – | $150 | $150 | 0% |
| Right Relations | – | $500 | $500 | 0% |
| Website Expense | – | $300 | $300 | 0% |
| Youth & Religious Education | 13 | $300 | $287 | 4% |
| Total Program | $195 | $2,395 | $2,200 | 8% |
| Property | ||||
| Data Usage | $740 | $1,000 | $260 | 74% |
| Debt Service | $2,855 | $3,805 | $950 | 75% |
| Donation in Lieu of Taxes | – | $500 | $500 | 0% |
| Electricity | $666 | $1,000 | $334 | 67% |
| Grounds | – | $100 | $100 | 0% |
| Insurance | $1,566 | $2,200 | $634 | 71% |
| Maintenance | $780 | $500 | ($280) | 156% |
| Replacement Reserve Expense | $2,540 | $3,810 | $1,270 | 67% |
| Snow Removal | $320 | $1,700 | $1,380 | 19% |
| Supplies - Bldg. & Maintenance | $118 | $300 | $182 | 39% |
| Wood Pellets | $680 | $1,300 | $620 | 52% |
| Total Property | $10,265 | $16,215 | $5,950 | 63% |
| Support | ||||
| AFSC | $1,067 | $1,600 | $533 | 67% |
| Dover Quarterly Meeting | – | $10 | $10 | 0% |
| FCNL | – | $153 | $153 | 0% |
| Friends Camp | – | $306 | $306 | 0% |
| FWCC | – | $66 | $66 | 0% |
| Interfaith Council | – | $50 | $50 | 0% |
| NEYM - Equalization Fund | – | $306 | $306 | 0% |
| NEYM - General Fund | $4,031 | $6,334 | $2,303 | 64% |
| NH Council of Churches | – | $75 | $75 | 0% |
| Woolman Hill | – | $235 | $235 | 0% |
| Miscellaneous Expenses | – | – | – | – |
| Total Support | $5,097 | $9,135 | $4,038 | 56% |
| Total Expense | $15,558 | $27,745 | 56% | |
| Net Income | $3,795 |
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.
| Concord Monthly Meeting Balance Sheet | 1st Month 31, 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ASSETS | |||
| Current Assets | |||
| Checking/Savings | |||
| Checking 123410166 | $20,285 | ||
| Money Market 101049498 | $6,604 | ||
| Total Checking/Savings | $26,889 | ||
| Accounts Receivable | |||
| Accounts Receivable | $0 | ||
| Total Accounts Receivable | $0 | ||
| Other Current Assets | |||
| Prepaid Electricity | $6,334 | ||
| Prepaid Insurance | $2,581 | ||
| Total Other Current Assets | $8,915 | ||
| Total Current Assets | $35,804 | ||
| Fixed Assets | |||
| Building | $466,455 | ||
| Land (including new lot) | $144,400 | ||
| Total Fixed Assets | $610,855 | ||
| Total Other Assets - NH Community Loan Fund | $23,123 | ||
| TOTAL ASSETS | $669,782 | ||
| LIABILITIES & EQUITY | |||
| Liabilities | |||
| Current Liabilities | |||
| Accounts Payable | |||
| Accounts Payable | $0 | ||
| Total Accounts Payable | $0 | ||
| Other Current Liabilities | |||
| Building & Grounds Fund | $485 | ||
| Friendly Assistance Fund | $1,000 | ||
| Operating Reserve | $2,000 | ||
| Solar Grant Funds | $1,209 | ||
| Special Projects | |||
| Asylum Seekers Support Fund | $1,035 | ||
| Blended Meeting Technology | $183 | ||
| Christine / Kakamega Care Centre | $714 | ||
| Mindful Mortality | $200 | ||
| Social Justice Fund | $603 | ||
| Woolman Hill | $700 | ||
| Total Special Projects | $3,436 | ||
| Total Other Current Liabilities | $8,130 | ||
| Total Current Liabilities | $8,130 | ||
| Long-term Liabilities | |||
| Mortgage Loan 1 | $12,942 | ||
| Replacement Reserve | $47,693 | ||
| Total Long-term Liabilities | $60,635 | ||
| Total Liabilities | $68,765 | ||
| Equity | |||
| General Fund Balance | $597,222 | ||
| Net Income | $3,795 | ||
| Total Equity | $601,067 | ||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY | $669,782 |
Ministry and Counsel : 2022-02-13
Report to Meeting For Business from Ministry and Counsel:
February 2022
Ministry and Counsel has approved the transfer of Elaine Bello from Smithfield RI to Concord and requests approval by Meeting for Business
State of Society is being drafted but has not been discussed by Ministry and Counsel.
Fourth Sunday Programs
- February – Nominating committee is planning a program on discovering our gifts
- March – AFSC staff Maggie Fogarty and Grace Kendeke will talk about AFSC programs
- April – program under discussion
Small Groups continue with one change. The book group formerly on Thursday mornings is moving to Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom. We will be reading and discussing “belonging” by bell hooks. This is part personal memoir and part social examination of how the place we live affects us.
There is some interest in having a book group meet on a different night so let us know if that is something that interests you and we can help get that going. No book has been decided on.
Land Acknowledgement – Draft
We acknowledge that we are in N’dakinna on the ancestral land of the Pennacook Abenaki people who have ongoing spiritual and cultural connections to this area near the banks of the Merrimack River. It has been a regular living place for many other Algonquin people from time immemorial through today. We are grateful for their wisdom and long and careful stewardship of the land.
We know that this land acknowledgment is but a small, first step towards reconciling our histories and much more is needed to right the wrongs and bring us into right relationship.
In the spirit of stewardship as practiced by Indigenous people, we commit to peacefully sharing the use of the land with all people. We do not hold this land as exclusively ours, but are merely its current stewards and see it as a commons that we share now and are taking care of for future generations. We acknowledge that the Abenaki have a primary claim for this sharing as descendants of the first people of this land.
We pledge our time and resources to work for healing the wounds of colonialism, advancing Indigenous self-determination and working for equity and right relationship, based on the needs and desires of the Indigenous People
Concord Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
/date/
Property Committee
Property committee report, February 13
The challenge of the pandemic has led us to suspend regular cleanings every other month on third Sunday until it is safer (and weather warms up enough to have windows all open if there is still a major concern about COVID. The committee will circulate items that need doing among ourselves via email. Others can send thoughts to PropertyCommittee [at] ConcordFriendsMeeting [dot] org or write on the list on pad on the bulletin board in the Kitchen. We can then ask for volunteers from Meeting folk who may wish to volunteer too get them done.
We are making progress towards a recommendation to Meeting about acoustic solutions. Elaine has sent all the relevant measurements and other details to Armstrong (the vendor we want to use) to get their modeling software’s analysis as the next step in determining what we should use and what it will cost..
Greg sent out property committee’s current mission statement (from several years ago) to the committee. We will gather comments to give to Elaine so that the information in it can be used by nominating committee (she is also a member of nominating). We plan to use those comments and any feedback from nominating committee as a basis for updating the existing mission statement at a later meeting of the committee.
The committee clerk has noted significant ice dams on the southwest corner of the Meetinghouse. She hasn’t looked at the north side roof yet. We don’t think this will lead to serious issues. We will need to keep an eye on this and take steps in the summer if evidence of leaks develop at some point.
Cork floor sealing. We determined to not seal the worship room floor any more in order to help with the acoustical properties of the room. Our amount of use is not wearing the floor down much even though it hasn’t been resealed in years.
Oxbow Solar will not be moving ahead with installing a building back-up battery because of issues with obtaining insurance. For now the clerk of the committee continues to run the loaned gas generator each month to be sure it can be used in the event of an outage (either prolonged or at a time when it would disrupt our activities. The purchase and installation of WiFi thermostats now gives us warning when the building is cooling down if the furnace stops. Many thanks to Greg H for the work involved in getting the new thermostats installed.
Jennifer Smith, Clerk of property committee
