January 2022 Meeting Minutes
GRASS VALLEY FRIENDS MEETING
Of the Religious Society of Friends of the Truth
College Park Quarterly Meeting, Pacific Yearly Meeting
MINUTES & RECORD
Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business
01/09/2022
We met on Zoom.
Present: fosten wilson, Kathy McCreery, Dean Olson, Judy Hamilton, Amy Cooke, Chamba Cooke, Reed Hamilton, Dianne Marshall, Don McCormick, Doug Hamm, Dorothy Henderson, Pat Phillips
The Meeting opened with silent worship.
Clerks’ Remarks and Query
Referring to our business meeting as “Meeting for Worship with attention to business”, 1) What are we seeking to accomplish? 2) How does saying it this way affect our participation?
- A Friend spoke to the practice of eldering, and holding the Meeting, our clerk, AND the self, as part of participating in Meeting, not a separate practice.
- We are here not just for the Meeting’s business, not just our business, but to a greater sense of something we are part of. We make ourselves available for what is unknown.
- To be in the place of non-knowing opens up a profound curiosity.
- The mind of not-knowing is a Buddhist practice. It is liberating to not know, that that can be an accepted and even a celebrated thing. It makes this less an administrative meeting and more of a spiritual practice, or at least an integrated practice.
- Divine order – you might not get what you ordered! That leaves the divine, and then we can discern – is this divine, or not?
Action Items and Seasoning:
- From Twelfth Month: The proposed Rental Agreement will be reevaluated in the first month Business Meeting of 2022: Delayed until second month
- The 12th Month Minutes and Record are to be approved in First Month 2022
Minute 2022.01.01: The 12th Month Minutes and Record were approved with no corrections as appended to these minutes.
COMMITTEE REPORTS (see reports appended, committee clerk is noted in bold)
STEWARDSHIP: Mary Starr, Gordon Starr, Reed Hamilton, Pat Phillips, Doug Hamm, Fosten Wilson (Treasurer, Ex-officio) Dianne Marshall (ex officio as Librarian and Newsletter Editor), Hailey Wilson, Reed Hamilton
A spontaneous report was given by members of the committee present. The meetinghouse has been leaking. The committee feels that it is inappropriate to pay full rent in January due to the usability of the building. The committee will be meeting with a Sierra Friends Center representative about the issues.
SPIRIT & WITNESS: Gordon Starr, Judy Hamilton, Gordon Bishop, Dorothy Henderson, Anita and Don McCormick (ex-officio Co Clerks), Judy Hamilton
Judy Hamilton gave the report, attached.
A concern was brought forward regarding giving feedback to the Pacific Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice Revision Committee. It was suggested that this be taken up by Spirit and Witness for follow-up.
The request was made to form the ad hoc committee to welcome Coleen Hedglin, the new ED at SFC. It was suggested that the clerks of the committees be the representatives on that committee.
Minute 2022.01.02: The ad hoc committee to welcome Coleen Hedglin was appointed, with Judy Hamilton, Mary Starr, Pat Phillips, Kathy McCreery, and Dorothy Henderson (or their alternates). They will meet to find a time to pay a visit. Judy Hamilton will be the convener.
Because Coleen is preferring a live visit, perhaps she can attend a hybrid meeting. If all goes well, there will be a hybrid meeting next Sunday, 16 January. It was suggested to allow the ad hoc committee to work out these details with her.
It was suggested that we have an in-person meeting next week, regardless of our ability to do a hybrid meeting with Zoom, so that Collen can attend. And, perhaps it is not a good time to try to meet in person due to the Omicron variant of Covid. It was suggested that it is an individual decision to attend. There is not enough information at this time to know how the Meeting for Worship will take place next week. We will let the ad hoc committee on Hybrid Meetings do their work.
NOMINATING: Doug Hamm, Patrica Phillips, Karen Olson
Pat Phillips gave the report.
Two names were brought forward for one-year terms on Welcome Committee:. These names will now season until the next Meeting for Business.
- Don McCormick
- Pat Phillips
WELCOME: Karen Olson, Kathy McCreery, ex officio Website/Facebook Coordinator (Amy Cooke), ex officio Zoom coordinator (Hailey Wilson and Stuart Smith), ex officio Email Coordinator (Judy Hamilton)
No report.
CHILDREN’S PROGRAM: Karen Olson, Judy Hamilton, Dorothy Henderson, Gordon Bishop, Anita McCormick, Doug Hamm, Don McCormick
No report.
OFFICER REPORTS
- TREASURER
- fosten wilson, treasurer, gave the report, appended.
REPORT ON QUAKER ORGANIZATION (from Spirit and Witness; next month the Welcome Committee will make a report on another Quaker organization)
Dorothy Henderon gave the report on AFSC, including a brief history of the organization and the issues they are working on today. Friends are encouraged to see their website, afsc.org, and the Nobel Peace Prize website, which talks about the award given to the AFSC in 1917.
There is a recent letter published in the Western Friend raising concerns about the AFSC’s new strategic plan. Friends are encouraged to see the Western Friend website for the staff letter, as well as rebuttals from the AFSC leadership team.
The work of the AFSC was spoken about in the Meeting, and we held the issues of Friends organizations and Quaker process in workship.
SFC REPRESENTATIVE: Pat Phillips gave the report. She reported on the new Executive Director, Coleen Hedglin. The work is continuing on the buildings, and 4000 seedlings have been planted in the burned areas. The garden has been revitalized and the new hoop house is up.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- If you use Facebook, follow the Grass Valley Friends Meeting page, or join the Facebook Grass Valley Friends Meeting group. If you share a post from the page, your friends will see it!. It helps our visibility. Follow this link.
- It’s easy to give to Grass Valley Friends Meeting! Go to gvfriends.org and click on the Give button. This takes you to a secure site for donations. Please consider making your contribution monthly. Your contribution covers our Pacific Yearly Meeting dues and ensures that our activities as a Meeting are sustained. Thank you.
- Tithely now allows the user to change the dollar of their gift without making a new donation request.
- Interfaith Nevada County will be taking part in the March for Peace and Social Justice on May 22, 2022.
ACTION ITEMS & ITEMS SEASONING
- From Twelfth Month: The proposed Rental Agreement will be reevaluated Business Meeting
- The ad hoc committee to welcome Coleen Hedglin will meet to find a time to pay a visit.
- The ad hoc committee on Hybrid Meetings will meet to test the equipment and discern how Meeting for Worship will be held on Sunday, 16 January.
- Two names were brought forward for the remaining one-year terms on the Welcome Committee:. These names will now season until the next Meeting for Business.
Don McCormick
Pat Phillips
READING OF THE RECORD AND MINUTES
The record and the minutes were read, corrected and approved.
If you are giving a report to GVFM, please send the actual report to the recording clerk at grassvalleyfriends@gmail.com THE FRIDAY BEFORE MEETING FOR BUSINESS.
GVFM Newsletter Reminder: Please have items into Diane Marshall by Tuesday at 10 am.
The Meeting closed with silent worship.
Respectfully recorded by Amy Cooke, recording clerk.
APPENDICES:
- Draft Minutes and Record from 12.2021
- Rental Agreement with SFC
- Treasurer’s Report
- Spirit & Witness Report
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GRASS VALLEY FRIENDS MEETING
>> Draft << MINUTE & RECORD
Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business
12/12/2021
We met in-person & virtually = hybrid Meeting for Worship
Present: Dean Olson, Co-Clerk; Doug & Dorothy; Judy & Reed; Dianne; Nancy; Lo Hamm; Don M; Pat; Gordon S; Kathy & fosten, Acting Recording Clerk
The Meeting opened with silent worship.
Clerk’s Query – We call this time Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business. What helps you think of this as business in the context of worship?
LAST MONTH’S ACTION ITEMS – The proposed Rental Agreement will be considered after the reports from the Spirit & Witness and the Stewardship Committees.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
SPIRIT/WITNESS: Judy Hamilton:
Bob Barns Memorial: We have spoken to Bob Barns’ daughter, who agreed that we should wait until after the holidays for his memorial and is willing to have the memorial over Zoom. Dorothy will contact Jackie Stillwell of RSWR to see if they would be interested in attending. We will proceed with more plans after the holidays.
Sierra Friends Center: Gordon S. reported that the container has been emptied and most of
the contents are now in the Meeting House. There remain many decisions on where things go
and what to get rid of (benches, children’s furniture, books and toys, posters etc.).
The new internet equipment is in and a trial hybrid meeting of the Stewardship Committee was held
on Dec. 2. Those in the Meeting House had great quality of audio and video but those at home on Zoom report the video was frozen on their screens most of the time. This will need to be resolved.
Many questions were voiced about how all this reflects on the Meeting House being usable as referred to in the proposed rental agreement. The rental agreement is being examined by Spirit and Witness and the Stewardship committees and these concerns will be brought to Meeting for Business.
The Waking up to Race book group continues with their study of Kazu Haga’s Healing Resistance and visited the African Methodist Episcopalian Church in Marysville at the invitation of some of their members. It was a wonderful experience and they were warmly welcomed.
Spiritual Life programs: scheduled for December, Gordon Starr presenting Birthing the Christ Within and in January, Judy and Dorothy presenting a program on the Nisenan. Programs proposed: Writing a spiritual biography, Quakerism in France, a one hour music sing-a -long.
Dorothy delivered an impassioned report on the idea of Quaker buddies . Spirit and Witness would like to include any in Meeting that would like to join us in having a group of folks to contact on a regularly basis. This would be done on a trial basis for a few months..
CHILDREN: Dorothy Henderson: The Children’s Program will continue to be only on Zoom. If/when to change that will be decided after the hybrid-meeting issues are resolved. Also more adult volunteers will be needed for future in-person children’s programs.
STEWARDSHIP: Gordon Starr: The cargo container is empty & will be removed soon. We need to reconstruct our library & work out specifics like what we can hang on the walls with Sierra Friends Center. A better dust mop, sanitizing wipes, & other particular items are still needed. Our electronic gear will need to be stored in the closet near our library. Financially, we spent $364 for November with income of $1,421. But our monthly costs are increasing now that we are using the Meeting House each Sunday.
STEWARDSHIP continued: Last month we agreed to pay for December the increased rent ($575) that Marty requested in the proposed rental agreement & we have done so. Our understanding was that all construction would be completed & the Meeting House ready for use. That is not the case, there are several problems. So Marty has suggested that we pay half of that amount for January.
RENTAL AGREEMENT: Gordon Starr et al: Parts of the proposed rental agreement have been clarified.
<a> The “rental increases” mentioned involve additional uses of the property such as may happen for weddings or memorials.
<b> “Visitors register at Office” This involves first-time-visits at Sierra Friends Center. We are not expected to stop at the Office each Sunday, nor for occasional work-days.
<c> The “sexual predator” wording is to clarify that Sierra Friends Center does not do this screening & if we we desire this it is our responsibility. The wording is required by Sierra Friends Center’s insurance carrier.
<d> Paying 50% of the expanded internet capacity is because the Meeting House is getting its own wired connection. Plus we are the primary user of the increased capacity. So far, other users are expected to be occasional.
<e> “Residence Agreements” This section will need modification because we are tenants but not residents of Sierra Friends Center.
<f> “Rent for Events” Sierra Friends Center has a price list for use of various parts of the property. It would be useful to know those costs.
<g> Sierra Friends Center will have a new Executive Director, Coleen Hedglin, starting January 1st. Marty will stay to help the transition. Might this affect the proposed rental agreement?
<Gordon Starr> Thanks & appreciation were expressed for Gordon’s efforts.
The proposed Rental Agreement will be reevaluated in first month Business Meeting of 2022.
CONCERN: Dianne observed that the in-person audio “sounds like mush” & she doubts there can be consensus in Business Meeting when so much is not understood. There was agreement & the following Minute was approved.
MINUTE 2021.12.1: On second Sundays Grass Valley Friends will meet via Zoom only – not in person – until technical issues are resolved. This includes Silent Worship & Meeting for Business on second Sundays. Grass Valley Friends will continue with hybrid Sunday Meetings for Worship, including both in-person & via Zoom except for second Sundays of each month.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Help Dianne Marshall re-establish our library. She will schedule one or more work days between Christmas & New Year’s Day to install the book cases & begin re-shelving books. Please let her know what days you can help.
- New Executive Director hired for Sierra Friends Center, Coleen Hedglin, starting January 1st. She will be living on campus & has a very impressive background.
- Malaika Bishop has the burned-over Woolman Farm back in food production. It is expanded & much improved.
- Tree Planting – 4,000 seedlings have been planted in a volunteer effort, mostly near Mel’s Pond. Several people from Grass Valley Friends Meeting participated.
- It’s easy to give to Grass Valley Friends Meeting! Go to gvfriends.org and click on the Give button. This takes you to a secure site for donations. Please consider making your contribution monthly. Your contribution covers Pacific Yearly Meeting dues and ensures that our activities as a Meeting are sustained. Thank you
This draft RECORD AND MINUTE will be corrected before approval in January.
The Meeting closed with silent worship.
Respectfully recorded by Fosten Wilson, acting recording clerk —
Link to Rental Agreement: Rental Agreement with Sierra Friends Center
Grass Valley Friends Meeting
Treasurer’s Quarterly Report
1-8-2022
summary = chaotic, money may help:
The contributions received were light for October, then picked up moderately in November & December. One problem is, the US mail ! Donations are down for December, but one substantial check, postmarked 12-6-2021 arrived yesterday! ??? Another, written in late December, has yet to arrive. I simply do not have complete information about our first quarter income yet.
Expenses are also erratic. We paid rent to Sierra Friends Center (SFC) for November & December. However paying for January is being discussed with SFC. Both I, and the Stewardship Committee, are not comfortable paying rent in full since (unexpectedly) the Meeting House is still in construction & the electronics to include our people on Zoom has yet to work well.
If you will permit, I will present a traditional Treasurer’s Report next month for our February Business Meeting. I do not yet have the normal “Fund Balances” nor the “Actual Spending vs Budget” reports. Between the extended power outage & my slow return to Treasurer business, the Meeting’s computer has not been updated.
Thank you all for your help and understanding.
Fosten Wilson
Treasurer,
Grass Valley Friends Meeting
January 2022 Spirit and Witness Report
The ‘Quaker Buddy” program will start this month. We will reevaluate this after a two month trial.
Spiritual Life programs: January 23rd- Nisenan- Judy Hamilton and Dorothy Henderson
February27th-Discernment in Meeting for Worship-Don McCormick
March 27th- Quakerism in France- Amy and Chamba Cooke
April 24th- Forgiveness (this may change)- Gordon Starr
Sierra Friends Center: We are trying to connect with the new Executive Director at SFC both to introduce ourselves, get to know Coleen and to discuss the rental agreement concerns that GVFM has. It was suggested that we have an ad hoc committee to do this composed of a member from each of our committees—Children’s, Welcoming, Nominating, Stewardship and Spirit and Witness. Our first meeting with Coleen would be just to get to know each other.
Hybrid Meeting ad hoc committee report- We have the donated computer from Dianne all ready to go. We will try it out during the upcoming week at the Meeting House and if this works well we will hold a trial hybrid Meeting for Worship next Sunday at the Meeting House.
The UU’s have requested we (as a faith-based community) write a letter to our supervisors opposing the reopening of the Idaho-Maryland Mine. S and W wants to approach this in a non polarizing manner, seeking more information and educating ourselves on the issue. There will be a community wide webinar on January 27th. One can register for this as well as get more information regarding this issue at minewatchnc.org. While no one in Spirit and Witness felt a burning desire to get involved with this, we will offer support for any one that does want to work on this issue.
Grass Valley Friends Meeting has a Google voice phone account that is listed in the newsletter. Since this has not been monitored recently ( and it is unclear if we have the ability to access it), it was decided to remove it from the newsletter. Our newsletter does provide contact information with both email addresses and phone numbers of the Clerk and various other officers. Our Facebook page and website contain our gvfriends email address to facilitate folks getting in touch with us.