April 18, 2021 Minutes
Posted: under Minutes from Meeting for Business.
Bennington Friends Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
Conducted by Zoom
April 18, 2021
Present: Timmy Bullock, clerk, Auberta Galusha, Juliet Wright, Alison Levie, Lucie Mckee, Edward Cady, Priscilla Tracy, Sam Humes, and Michael Wajda.
The meeting opened with a period of worship during which the clerk read the following quote from Vanessa Redgrave on her Broadway role in Driving Miss Daisy:
If you don’t listen, as Miss Daisy struggles to, you miss the nuances of what others are saying — I’ve certainly taken it as something I’ve worked on myself — listen, listen, listen, really listen. You think you’re listening, but you really have to work at it.
The recording clerk read the minutes of our February 21, 2021 meeting for business for information.
2021-07. Priscilia Tracy reported for Ministry and Council. The committee asked us to reflect on our experiences so far with Meeting for Learning. Friends feel that the worship-sharing process is working and that the personal sharing is helping us to know each other better. It also is helping each of us to share ourselves more deeply.
The Ministry and Council Committee also considered asking Friends to take turns closing our weekly meetings for worship. One possibility is that the committee asks individuals to assume this responsibility for one-month or longer intervals. If the person closing cannot be at meeting any of the weeks for which they are closing, it will be their responsibility to find a substitute for that Sunday. There seemed to be general support for this experiment and the meeting has asked Ministry and Council to consider this question further and to report back at the next meeting for business.
2021-08. We have been granted permission to hold our meetings for worship again this year at the gardens of the Park McCullough House in North Bennington. The meeting would like to hold in person outdoor worship on the first Sunday in May. If inclement weather is predicted, the clerk will send an email informing everyone that our worship that week will be on Zoom. Michael will then send the Zoom link.
Michael raised a question about renting a porta potty for the area since there are no facilities available. This suggestion led to a discussion of other possible locations, some of which have toilets but would not be as quiet. Timmy offered to speak with the Park McCullough contact about whether they would be open to putting a porta potty in a discrete location. Michael will look into the expense for porta potties. We will discuss these options at a future meeting.
2021-09. Wilderness Meeting has asked us to cohost a workshop with them where a program by Braver Angels would be offered to everyone in the Quarter. They offered Monday and Wednesday evening dates in May. The clerk will let Wilderness Meeting know that Mondays would be better for Bennington Friends.
2021-10. Berta Galusha reported on her conversation with the Director of the Bennington Senior Center regarding our returning to worship there post pandemic. The center plans to reopen in May and we may return to our use at that time, however families may choose not to attend since the children will not be vaccinated. The town is considering moving the senior center sometime in the future, but it is not imminent.
2021-11. Juliet Wright reported on a special request from Friends Journal, which is seeking funds especially to support their production of Quaker Speak, the ongoing series of online videos about Quaker life and practice. We recently made a $300.00 donation to Friends Journal from our $4,000 special allocations. However, the meeting agreed to make an additional one-time unrestricted gift of $500.00 and authorizes the Treasurer to send this contribution as soon as possible.
The meeting closed with a period of worship.
Michael Wajda
Recording Clerk
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Apr 21 2021