Minutes of January 2023 Meeting for Business
Posted: under Minutes from Meeting for Business.
Bennington Friends Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
January 22, 2023
Present: Timmy Bullock, clerk, Edward Cady, Auberta Galusha, Gabrielle Isenbrand, Alison Levie, Priscilla Tracy, Juliet Wright, and Michael Wajda.
We gathered in the Senior Center for meeting for worship with attention to business. The meeting opened with a period of worship during which the clerk read the following quote from John Woolman:
And in the heat of zeal, I once made reply to what an ancient Friend said, which when I sat down I saw that my words were not enough seasoned with charity, and after this I spake no more on the subject.
John Woolman, Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman, 1971,
cited from NEYM Interim Faith and Practice
The recording clerk read the minutes of our December 12, 2022, meeting for business for information.
2023-01. Priscilla Tracy reported for Ministry and Counsel. The committee is asking the meeting if it would value a discussion of Tom Gates article “New Light on Atonement” in the December 2022 Friends Journal. The meeting decided to use the article for a meeting for learning. We could look at the dictionary definition and the sense that it is a daily practice, not a one and done. What is the relationship between atonement and redemption? How can we reclaim the words of atonement and sin without the trappings so common in mainstream Christianity? Friends will consider this more during our upcoming retreat, specifically to plan a meeting for learning possibly for the fourth Sunday in February or March.
2023-02. The meeting reviewed our plans for our January 27-29, 2023, retreat at Woolman Hill. Michael distributed a draft schedule and meal plan, along with a list of items each person is asked to bring. We reviewed numerous details, and everything now seems set. Six or seven Friends will be attending.
2023-03. Alison Levie distributed a flyer for the March 4, 2023, Northwest Quarterly Meeting, which our meeting will be hosting entirely on Zoom. Alison reported that the program arrangements have been made to focus on the recent “Urgent Call to the Religious Society of Friends.” Our clerk and Michael Wajda, who is serving as clerk of the Steering Committee for the Urgent Call, will work on the details of the program with Diane Randall and Bruce Birchard, who are part of the Urgent Call and will be presenting during the program. We are hoping that most Bennington Friends will be present for as much of Saturday as possible, and especially for the program. Sunday’s worship will be in each monthly meeting in the Quarter and not held collectively.
2023-04. The Treasurer had distributed in advance and presently a copy of our 2023 draft budget and the list of last year’s special donations. The meeting is entering its third year of our five-year commitment to spend down $20,000 of our accumulated assets.
In 2022 the meeting had total expenses of $6,491.75 and contribution income of $11,575, with the surplus going into our reserves. These amounts do not include the $4,000 of special contributions that we are making as part of our five-year commitment. Our total assets as of December 31, 2022, were $200,697.33.
The draft 2023 budget shows total expenses of $14,530, and we agreed to budget a total income of $9,500 from contributions. The Greater Bennington Interfaith Council, of which we are a member, is asking for contributions for its expenses. We agreed to add a $250.00 contribution to the regular budget for the Greater Bennington Interfaith Council. The meeting approved the 2023 budget as amended.
2023-06. We then turned our attention to the special contributions and reviewed last year’s list to see if we were led to make any changes. We affirmed the list as is and shown below, which includes the $300 that the meeting children will decide where to send later. The Treasurer will send out these contributions and the regular budget contributions as she is able.
Powell House | 300.00 |
QREC | 100.00 |
Friends Journal | 300.00 |
Permaculture Project | 400.00 |
NEYM Additional Contribution | 300.00 |
FCNL Additional Contribution | 300.00 |
BROC Additional Contribution | 300.00 |
Quaker Earthcare Witness Additional Contribution | 500.00 |
Woolman Hill Additional Contribution | 300.00 |
GBICS Additional Contribution | 300.00 |
FGC Additional Contribution | 300.00 |
Sunrise Family Resource Center | 300.00 |
For the First Day School Children to Allocate | 300.00 |
TOTAL FOR 2023 | $4,000 |
2023-06. Michael Wajda has been asked by George Lakey, a prominent Quaker peace and justice advocate, to consider organizing an opportunity in Bennington for George to speak about his new autobiographical book, Dancing with History: A Life for Peace and Justice. George is currently touring the country at age 85 and has commitments to be in 20 states and Canada.
Michael is asking if Friends are interested in helping him to organize an event or two in Bennington during the week of April 24, since George will be in Middlebury during the prior week. Michael is wondering whether the Bennington Bookshop, Library, and possibly Bennington College might join together to promote his speaking here. The meeting supports working to make this happen. Several members, Gabrielle, Timmy, and Alison offered to help. We may look at different dates that fit our community and George’s schedule.
The meeting closed with a period of worship.
Michael Wajda
Recording Clerk
Comments (0)
Jan 24 2023