Bennington Friends Meeting

Bennington Friends Meeting
Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business
Held at the Senior citizens Service Center,
Bennington, Vermont
March 17, 2013

Present Beth Cheadle, Acting Clerk, Eliza Navias-Bell, Priscilla Tracy, Arnold Ricks and Juliet Wright.

Ministry is what is on one’s soul, and it can be a direct contradiction to what is on one’s mind. It’s what the Inner Light gently pushes you toward or suddenly dumps in your lap. It is rooted in the eternity, divinity, and selflessness of the Inner Light; not in the worldly, egotistic functions of the conscious mind.
Marrianne McMullen

Out of the silence the Clerk read the above passage from Marrianne McMullen.

2013-05 Priscilla Tracy as Clerk of Ministry and Counsel presented the minutes of its March meeting, which are appended.

2013-06 Meeting for business approves meeting with the Bennington College Interfaith Worship Group to speak on the topic of creation. We ask Friends to consider their understanding of creation. Each of us will have an opportunity at the April post-potluck discussion to give our own stories of creation. The discussion of simplicity will be postponed until the May post-potluck.

2013-07 Meeting for business approves having integrity be the next testimony for reflection at the post-potluck discussion in June.

We were very pleased to have Bain and Marge Davis with us at worship today and we remain concerned to be of any help to them through this period of his on-going recovery.

After a period of silent worship, the meeting adjourned.

Minutes for Ministry and Counsel

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Present were Priscilla Tracy, Timmy Bullock, clerk ex-officio, Auberta Galusha, Beth Cheadle and Juliet Wright

4-13 Bennington College Interfaith Worship Group has asked us to speak on the topic of creation. They have asked that participants develop a personal narrative on creation and they are particularly looking for stories. If meeting is interested, should we as a trial run present our own creation stories for the April post-potluck discussion? This would mean that the discussion of simplicity would be postponed until May post-potluck.

5-13 Ministry and Counsel asks that meeting for business discuss what testimony friends might reflect on for post-potluck discussions following upon the reflections on simplicity. Integrity was specifically mentioned as an important testimony to emphasize.

Bennington Friends Meeting
Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business
Held at the Senior citizens Service Center,
Bennington, Vermont
February 17, 2013

Look ahead. You are not expected to complete the task. Neither are you permitted to lay it down.
-The Talmud, quoted in AFSC mailing, November 2004

Present Timmy Bullock, Clerk, Auberta Galusha, Eliza Navias-Bell, Joseph Tracy, Priscilla Tracy, Arnold Ricks.

Out of the silence the Clerk read the above passage from the Talmud.

2013-01 Following up the Meeting’s request of the Clerk (2012-68), Timmy Bullock reported that she spoke with the Secretary in the Chaplain’s office at Williams College, noting our Meeting’s location and time of worship, and extended a welcome to students who might be interested in attending.

2013-02 Priscilla Tracy as Clerk of Ministry and Counsel presented the minutes of its January and February meetings, which are appended.

2013-03 The Clerk suggested that we consider and respond to Ministry and Counsel’s proposal that for a discussion we reflect on a particular Friends testimony. Affirming the recommendation, the Meeting decided on simplicity as the first topic, to be considered after potluck on the first Sunday in March.

2013-04 Reporting for the Finance Committee, Arnold Ricks presented the proposed Meeting budget for 2013, which is appended. It is the same as our budget for 2012, except that our allocation to GBICS [Greater Bennington Interfaith Community Services] will be $60.00 only, without a line for GBICS rent ($200 in 2012). This was accepted as presented.

After a period of silence the Meeting adjourned.

Timmy Bullock, Clerk
Arnold Ricks, Acting Recording Clerk

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Minutes for Ministry and Counsel

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Present were Priscilla Tracy, Timmy Bullock, clerk ex-officio, Auberta Galusha and Juliet Wright

5-13 Ministry and Counsel recommends continuing the post potluck discussions by asking Friends to reflect on a particular Friends testimony that speaks to how specific life experiences past and present make manifest this testimony in one’s life.