CMM 2022-05-08

Minutes of Meeting for Worship with Concern for Business

Concord (NH) Monthly Meeting of

the Religious Society of Friends

Fifth Month 8^th, 2022

Thirteen Friends gathered both in person and by Zoom connection and entered into quiet worship.  We accepted the minutes of Fourth Month as posted on our website.

We opened with a brief period of Worship.

05.01  Treasurer’s Report:  We received our financial report as of the end of April from the Finance Committee.  We have one month remaining in our budget year and expect to remain on track, having some budgeted money left over in unrestricted reserve cash.  The full report is attached.

Finance committee is considering opening a brokerage account to receive gifts of stocks at the urging of one of our members.  We will hear more about this next month, as well as more discussion on whether the meeting is interested in investing some of our funds in a vehicle that might generate more income for us.

05.02  Proposed Budget:  The Finance Committee offered the 2^nd draft of our proposed budget for the coming fiscal year.  The primary change from last year’s actuals on the income side is a $500 increase in contributions over last year; the committee believes this increase is attainable.  We have an $1,800 increase on the expense side over what was actually spent last year.  Because we actually spent less than what we had budgeted last year, that is actually only a $300 increase from last year’s budget.  Most notably, we have a $1,000 projected expense for website development.  We budgeted a 3% increase to the organizations that we support.  We are budgeting $29,350 for income and the same amount for expenses, however we do have cash reserves in the event that our expenses exceed our income.  Friends approve this budget.  The 2^nd draft is attached.

05.03  Nominations for FY2023:  The Nominating Committee presented the slate of nominations for all committees with initial conveners. There remain a couple of positions on the slate where more discernment is ongoing. We heard a concern that the two co-clerks act as full members of the Ministry and Counsel Committee rather than just “ex officio,” as the committee requires at least six working members. We also heard a recommendation that in some cases Nominating Committee should consider appointing a clerk rather than an initial convener. Website is now a committee in its own right rather than a subcommittee; an initial convener was not named due to the small size of the committee however that is now corrected. We approve this slate of nominations. (Attached)

05.04  “Media Committee” Proposal:  The Nominating Committee heard a concern during its conversations with Friends that it was hard to know where to go when they wanted to share information with the meeting.  Nominating Committee proposes that we create a new “Media Committee” which would be comprised of members or representatives from the Website Committee, social media administrators, and the email announcement administrator.  We do not anticipate that they would need to meet regularly but would work together when discernment was needed.  We heard a suggestion that they might consider how to better leverage our FaceBook platform by having various committees post on it.  The committee proposal is attached.

05.05  Our Annual Spring Party is scheduled for June 19^th.

05.06  Property Committee offered a report on its work and some future plans.  The committee is looking forward to installing the sound mitigation panels in the fellowship room, to see how we like them before adding them to the meeting room.  A sound study was done (gratis) and we are receiving a generous discount from the vendor.  A conservative estimate for this project is $1,600.  The white panels stick on the walls and ceilings and should make a huge difference in the acoustics.  We approve this project and ask the Finance Committee to arrange the accounting details for payment.

Some key points of the attached report include that the Landscape Subcommittee will be replaced by a “landscape manager” under the Property Committee with the work being done by the entire Meeting.  We encourage this committee to remain aware of the commitment we made in our land acknowledgement regarding shared stewardship of the land.  This committee also recommends that we create ad hoc committees to deal with future land-use issues such as green burial or right relationships.

05.07  Outreach Committee shared a newly updated welcome statement.  The committee will resend it for thoughtful consideration in the weeks leading up to our next meeting.  We heard encouragement from one friend to consider strengthening the statement as regards our affirmation of gay marriage.  Outreach is eager for feedback and welcomes suggestions.

After a brief time of quiet worship, Meeting adjourned, purposing to meet again on the Second Sunday of the Sixth month.

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.

Property Committee Report

Nominating Committee Report

May 10, 2022

The committee will present its nomination slate for 2022-2023.  This slate also lists persons nominated by other committees within the Meeting or from other Quaker organizations, for information purposes.

We heard a concern that there are several people responsible for various pieces of our electronic communication, both within the meeting and outward to the greater community.  We would like it to be easier for committees/members of our meeting to get their information sent out as well as for the various communication groups to find ways that the work of one might enhance or support the others.

Proposal for a New Committee

Nominating Committee suggests that we create a Media Committee to provide:

1. A central single contact point where a person wanting to get information out to members could send items instead of directly to one person.
2. Backup, so there is not just one person holding a responsibility.  
3. A place for discernment when needed: For example, how to communicate a particular item, or perhaps even if it should be communicated at all. Email? Website? Facebook?   

This committee would not necessarily meet regularly but could work through informal channels or call a meeting if needed. The committee would be comprised of the following:

• Members or representative of the Website Committee
• Friends managing the email announcements
• Facebook administrator
• Administrators of other social media account as developed

CONCORD MONTHLY MEETING OF FRIENDS

LEADERSHIP ROLES AND COMMITTEE SERVICE 2022 – 2023