Minutes for Meeting for Business June 26, 2011
Posted: under Minutes from Meeting for Business.
Bennington Friends Meeting
Minutes for Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business
Senior Citizens Service Center, Bennington, Vermont
June 26, 2011
…”It is a remarkable fact that Friends for three hundred years have taken neither the path of religious authoritarianism nor the path of spiritual privatism. Instead, Friends have always accepted both the possibility of individual truth and the obligation of corporately testing that truth.”
Parker Palmer, 1980, cited from The Spirit of Quakers, Geoffrey Durham, p. 189
Present were Auberta Galusha, Beth Cheadle, Priscilla Tracy, Maurice Kahn, Arnold Ricks, Peggy Kahn, Timmy Bullock and Juliet Wright
Out of the silence the clerk read the above quotation from Parker Palmer The Spirit of Quakers, Geoffrey Durham.
2011-35 The recording clerk read the minutes for meeting for business May 15, 2011. They were approved with corrections.
2011-36 Meeting for business decided to season the questions raised by Ministry and Counsel on how to shape our retreat and to continue the discussion after our potluck lunch on July 3.
2011-37 Meeting was very saddened to learn that Ehsan Nouri has sought asylum in Canada and will not be pursuing his education at Oakwood Friends School.
June 8, 2011
Meeting of Ministry & Counsel
Present: Timmy Bullock, Auberta Galusha and Beth Cheadle
Pastoral concerns were discussed.
12.11 Ministry & Counsel suggests Saturday, September 17 as a date for our annual retreat, recommending that it be held at Timmy Bullock’s house – or the senior center.
Without any recommendation, Ministry & Counsel further reflected on the Meeting for business extending Ministry & Counsel minute 10.11, adding “What is the general population searching for now? How does Friends life and testimonies address these needs?” to “Why are we here? Why aren’t they here? Why aren’t they drawn to what is on offer – to what we have to offer? Why does Friends draw (mostly) highly educated, fairly financially stable folk?”
Ministry & Counsel struggled and could not find a way to anchor these questions that would help structure our retreat. We discussed using our testimonies to perhaps reflect on the way we live out those testimonies (Love, Peace, Simplicity, Integrity, Equality and ??? Fairness/Justice) in the world. Perhaps asking for stories of unresolved dilemmas that we as individuals face? But this seemed to risk being somewhat formless, anecdotal. We then turned to Joseph’s letter and wondered if that might be a spine for our retreat with a question: “What in our testimonies speaks to the environmental urgencies facing? And what makes that different from other faith group – or any well intentioned community group?”
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Jun 27 2011