Bennington Friends Meeting

Bennington Friends Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

Conducted by Zoom

December 20, 2020

Present: Timmy Bullock, clerk, Auberta Galusha, Juliet Wright, Alison Levie, Lucie Mckee, Edward Cady, Joseph Tracy, Priscilla Tracy, and Michael Wajda.

The meeting opened with a period of worship during which the clerk read the following 1667 quote from Isaac Penington:

Our life is love, and peace, and tenderness, bearing one with another, and forgiving one another, and not laying accusations one against another; but praying for another, and helping one another up with a tender hand.

The meeting has continued to meet remotely both for worship and business because of the coronavirus, except for a couple outdoor meetings for worship held at the Park McCullough property this past summer.  It was decided that this business meeting would only address one item, the request from Woolman Hill for a special $5,000 contribution to help with their major project to build an addition on the main conference center.  

2020-16.  On December 6, 2020, Margaret Cooley, Executive Director of Woolman Hill, attended our worship via Zoom and afterwards made a presentation about their programs and the major renovations project.  The work on the main conference center will include a two-story addition, handicap accessibility, and new options for private rooms and bathrooms.  The original estimated budget for these improvements, which includes well and septic upgrades, architect’s fees, furnishings, landscaping, fundraising costs, and a special Covid reserve fund of $150,000 was approximately $1,000,000.  The final bids, however, have now brought the projected cost to $1,200,000.  

Woolman Hill has requested $5,000 from our meeting, which would be doubled by a Quaker donor who has offered to match gifts of that size for the project.  To date, Woolman Hill has received approximately $940,000 in gifts and pledges, which means they still need to raise $260,000.  

Our clerk reminded us that we are experiencing savings now by not paying our $520 rent per quarter, and that we currently have $19,449 in our checking account as of the end of the third quarter.

Friends are in support of this special one-time $5,000 contribution and want also to look especially at supporting local needs when we consider how we want to give the extra $4,000 we plan to allocate in January. We will draw the Woolman Hill gift from unspent rent and the balance from funds in our checking account. Our clerk will communicate to Margaret Cooley the good news of our special gift.

Friends also raised a question whether we want to communicate to Woolman Hill how much we care about their efforts in building a better world, especially in areas like permaculture and peace. We will take up this question at a future meeting for business.

The meeting closed with a period of worship.

Michael Wajda

Recording Clerk