May 2025 – Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business

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

May 11, 2025

We met in a hybrid meeting in person at the meetinghouse and on Zoom.

Present:  Dorothy Henderson, clerk; Amy Cooke, substitute recording clerk; Gordon Starr, Mary Starr, Sharon Davisson, Doug Hamm, Dianne Marshall, Dean Olson, Reed Hamilton, Judy Hamilton, Chamba Cooke, Stuart Smith, and Peter O’Rouke.

The Meeting opened with silent worship.

Clerks’ Remarks and Query

Dorothy Henderson, clerk, shared two quotes from Isaac Pennington with those gathered. 

If ever there was a time for tears without, and a grief of spirit within, this seems the season . . .

when after such an expectation of Light and Glory, of settlement and establishment in the things of God, such thick darkness, such universal shame, such dreadful shatterings, have so apparently overtaken us, and are so likely daily more and more to overtake us. 1650

Our life is love, and peace, and tenderness; and bearing one with another, and forgiving one another, and not laying accusations one against another; but praying one for another, and helping one another up with a tender hand. 1667

She noted that we think we know why we gather, but we do not. We open to the unexpected. We think we know, but we do not.

Dorothy offered the query to those gathered, “How do you hold these messages as we sit here in Meeting for Worship for Business today?”

A Friend spoke to holding them together, one leading to the next.

Another Friend gave voice to images – A tree growing out of a boulder, and a dandelion growing out the cement.

It was noted that the darkness is like the storm clouds, and this excites one Friend’s  compassion and love to know that everyone is threatened and feels the darkness. 

We heard that these two quotes are two sides of the same thing. If we always want the one, and avoid the other, we misunderstand the world we live in. 

COMMITTEE REPORTS 

(see reports appended, committee clerk is noted in bold)

Spirit and Witness: Amy Cooke (2024-2027), Stuart Smith (2023-2026), Reed Hamilton (2022-2025), Sharon Davisson (2022-2025), Dean Olson (2023-2026), Dorothy Henderson (ex-officio, GVFM Clerk)

Amy Cooke gave the report as follows:

As a committee, we continue to hold the spiritual life of the Meeting, as well as the ways we witness our faith into the world. We are aware of the needs of several people in the Meeting, and also the ways the current times are leading many of us into action and we have spent time discerning how to support the Meeting and the individuals within our community.

We bring a statement and a minute of support for individuals in our meeting. We bring our own tender awareness of seeing what love can do among us.

The Naming committee brings this report:

Nominating Committee: (terms as noted):

Continuing:

• fosten wilson 2024-2026
• Dean Olson 2025-2027

Names for consideration:

• Chamba Cooke: 2025-2026 (one year term to insure staggered terms): seasoning until 6th month
• Mary Starr 2025-2027: seasoning until 5th month

MINUTE 2025.05.01: Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves Mary Starr for the position of Nominating Committee for the term of 2025 – 2027.

MINUTE (Seasoning until 6th month): Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves Chamba Cooke for the position of Nominating Committee for the term of 2025 – 2026.

Stewardship: Gordon Starr,  Pat Phillips, Reed Hamilton, David Bowman. Dianne Marshall (ex-officio, Newsletter editor), Mary Starr (ex-officio, Treasurer), Don McCormick (ex-officio, Librarian), HaileyWilson (ex-officio Tech Support).

Gordon Starr gave the report, appended. 

It was noted that there is a growing trust with CHIRP as we handle maintenance issues. We now have direct communication between the maintenance person for CHIRP and our own Stewardship Committee, as the result of slow, careful Quaker process and communication. 

Welcome: Peter O’Rourke (Website and Facebook coordinator), Kathy McCreery, Don McCormick, Pat Phillips, Cheryl Hendrickson, Cindy Bliss, Lo Hamm, Judy Hamilton (ex-officio email coordinator), Nancy Anderson (ex-officio directory clerk).

Peter O’Rourke gave the report, appended.

Nominating Committee: (terms as noted), Gordon Starr: 2022-2024, Judy Hamilton: 2022-2024, Dean Olson 2023-2025, fosten wilson 2024-2026.

Gordon Starr gave the report, appended. He gave the first reading of the Nominating Slate for 2025-26. If there are questions or concerns, please address them to a member or members of the Nominating Committee.

MINUTE (Seasoning until 6th month): Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the 2025 – 2026 Nominating Slate of Committees and Officers.

Children’s Program: Keely McDonald, Doug Hamm, Judy Hamilton, Dean Olson, Reed Hamilton, Don McCormick, David Cowan, Lo Hamm.

Amy Cooke read the report and job description on behalf of Judy Hamilton.

MINUTE 2025.05.02: Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the name change from Children’s Committee to the Religious Education Committee along with the new job description as appended to these minutes.

OFFICER REPORTS and REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS

Treasurer: No report given.

Pacific Yearly Meeting: No report given.

College Park Quarterly Meeting: Doug Hamm gave the report, appended. The proposed restructuring of CPQM business was presented. If Friends want to comment, please contact Doug or Thom McCue.

Interfaith Nevada County: No report given.

Sharings from the wider Quaker world: 

• On June 9, Barry Crossno, the FGC general secretary, is coming to Gordon and Mary Starr’s house for a community potluck.  All in meeting are welcome. As Friends are aware, Barry helped to initiate the lawsuit which Friends General Conference joined, and we affirmed with Pacific Yearly Meeting. The lawsuit was brought by a multifaith coalition and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) in opposition to the rescission of ICE’s sensitive locations policy, which is a direct violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
•  A group of Quakers are marching more than 300 miles from New York City to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate against the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants. “It feels really daunting to be up against such critical and large and in some ways existential threats,” said Jess Hobbs Pifer, a 25-year-old Quaker and march organizer, who said she felt “a connection” to the faith’s long history of activism. The march extends a long tradition of Quaker activism. Historically, Quakers have been involved in peaceful protests to end wars and slavery, and support women’s voting rights in line with their commitment to justice and peace. Far more recently, Quakers sued the federal government earlier this year over immigration agents’ ability to make arrests at houses of worship. Their goal is to walk south from the Flushing Quaker Meeting House — across New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania — to the U.S. Capitol to deliver a copy of the “Flushing Remonstrance” — a 17th century document that called for religious freedom and opposed a ban on Quaker worship. Please see https://www.quakerwalk2025.org/ for more information. 
• A Ukrainian Quaker shared the status of COs in Ukraine with the American Quakers in Europe group.

CLERK’S REMARKS:

ITEMS SEASONING or CARRIED OVER

MINUTE (Seasoning until 6th month): Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves Chamba Cooke for the position of Nominating Committee for the term of 2025 – 2026.

MINUTE (Seasoning until 6th month): Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the 2025 – 2026 Nominating Slate of Committees and Officers.

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

• Facebook: please 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, and it helps our visibility.  Follow this link.
• The 2023-2024 PacYM General Directory. The directory is now available. The Directory is for use by members and attenders of monthly meetings and worship groups within Pacific Yearly Meeting and by Friends serving on Pacific Yearly Meeting committees. It is not to be shared beyond this community. Dorothy and Don have the new password for the PacYM Directory.
• Carl Magruder:  You can follow Carl’s healing journey on the CaringBridge.org website HERE. Friends have also set up a daily Meeting for Healing from 7:30 to 8 am (Pacific) on Zoom here or contact Amy Cooke at amylisette@gmail.com for the link. 
• Contributions to Grass Valley Friends Meeting are gratefully accepted. You can give by mailing a check to Mary Starr or through Tithely on the website or our newsletter. 
• July Meeting for Worship for Business: There will be no meeting for worship for business in July. There will be a Meeting for Worship for Business in August.
• On June 9, Barry Crossno, the FGC general secretary is coming to Gordon and Mary Starr’s house for a community potluck.  All in meeting are welcome.
• May 23 – Potluck at Judy and Reed’s house
• June -Mid month – Potluck at Kathy and Fosten’s house

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 jenniferjksmith@gmail.com THE WEDNESDAY BEFORE MEETING FOR BUSINESS and share with both Dorothy and Jennifer.

GVFM Newsletter Reminder: Please have items into Dianne Marshall by Tuesday at 10 am. 

The Meeting closed with silent worship.  

Respectfully recorded by Amy Cooke, substitute recording clerk.

APPENDICES:

1. Spirit and Witness Committee report
2. Stewardship Committee report
3. Welcome Committee report
4. Nominating Committee report
5. Children’s Committee report
6. Treasurer’s Report
7. Pacific Yearly Meeting report
8. Interfaith Nevada County report

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Spirit & Witness Report

Naming Committee: the Naming committee brings this report:

Nominating Committee: (terms as noted):

Continuing:

• fosten wilson 2024-2026
• Dean Olson 2025-2027

Names for consideration:

• Chamba Cooke: 2025-2026 (one year term to insure staggered terms): seasoning until 6th month
• Mary Starr 2025-2027 (seasoning until 5th month)

Stewardship Committee Report

Notes from meeting on May 1, 2025

Present: Gordon Starr, clerk, Reed Hamilton, Fosten Wilson, Mary Starr, treasurer, Dianne Marshall, newsletter editor, Don McCormick, co-librarian.

Meeting House concerns. Don brought a concern about mice droppings being found in many places in the Meeting House: the kitchen area, the library and especially the children’s area, and our closet. The previous Sunday he, along with Gordon, had made an attempt to cleanup at least the children’s area out of concern about the risk of haunta virus being present. There had been several people present at meeting who were knowledgeable about the dangers of this situation and strongly encouraged us to address it. After some discussion, it was agreed that Don would seek further information from the county health department about what steps and precautions to take. We agreed to a tentative date of Wednesday, May 7, at 10:AM to gather at the Meeting House with cleaning supplies, masks and gloves to do our best to remove the droppings, with the understanding that approval would be needed from the tribe to do this. Gordon agreed to approach Dorothy as Meeting’s contact person for the Nisenan. 

  Note: After our meeting, contact was made and permission granted to do this work. Saxon, the tribe’s maintenance person, informed us that they had already had a professional company working on this and had caught 4 mice so far, and were closing up access holes.  We were also given permission to set traps as needed.

Finance. Mary reported income for the month of April of $717. Expenditures totaled $797. This included $132, the annual subscription fee for the Quicken software. She again noted the current situation where three individuals in Meeting make annual payments for Meeting expenses on their personal credit cards because that is the only way the charges can be paid. We have approached our bank in the past about getting a credit card for the Meeting and were turned down because we don’t fit their categories – even though we have a standing balance of over $20,000 in our account. Now that our books have been brought together on one computer, Mary says it may be time to move to a new bank, possibly a credit union.

Our next meeting will be on May 29, 2025 at 3:00 PM.

Gordon Starr, clerk

Welcome Committee Report

Meeting for Worship – Welcome Committee

May 5, 2025 / 7:00PM / Zoom

Opening worship

Attendees: Judy, Kathy, Cindy, Pete

1. Potlucks (upcoming)
   1. May 23 – Judy and Reed
   2. June -Mid month – Kathy and Fosten

2. Review Website
   1. March Clerk meeting to do: Review Website and keep current
      1. Reviewed recent changes and other segments

3. Outreach ideas
   1. Website address inserted on all GVFM outgoing emails
      1. Provides easy Website access for Friends

Next Meeting – June 2nd– 7pm

Nominating Committee Report

For the 2025 – 2026 term.

The presentation of the 2025 – 2026 slate to Meeting for Worship for Business in May for seasoned consideration is, for the Nominating committee, the culmination of months of deep reflection on the state of our meeting and on all the individuals who make up its body.  On one hand we have to back up to the larger perspective of the needs and condition of the Meeting as a whole. How are our committees faring? Our officers? Are they strong? What needs or challenges need attention. On the other hand, to consider each individual and where might they might find the best fit for their gifts and their needs is also important.    

  This year, it has been quite the search to find and fit all the pieces of this puzzle that makes up the annual slate. And it is only recently that our work has finally been completed. We are a small Meeting with many positions to fill which requires multiple individuals willing to handle multiple responsibilities. Fortunately, our Meeting enjoys many individuals who give freely of their time, energy and resources for the benefit of us all. We are all each other’s good Friend. 

   We wish to thank everyone for their support and their commitment in this work. Truly, we couldn’t have done it without you.

  Your Nominating committee,

Gordon Starr, Judy Hamilton, Fosten Wilson and Dean Olson  

2025- 2026 Slate of Committees and Officers

All committee members serve one-year terms with the exception of Spirit and Witness (3-year term) and Nominating (2-year term) and Clerk of Meeting (3-year term) Names in bold are current committee clerks and conveners for the new term.

Stewardship: Gordon Starr, Pat Phillips, Reed Hamilton, David Bowman. Dianne Marshall (ex-officio, Newsletter editor), Mary Starr (ex-officio, Treasurer), Don McCormick (ex-officio, Librarian), Hailey Wilson (ex-officio Tech Support).

Welcome: Pete O’Rourke (ex-officio, Website and Facebook coordinator), Kathy McCreery, Don McCormick, Pat Phillips, Cindy Bliss, Lo Hamm, Judy Hamilton (ex-officio email coordinator), Nancy Anderson (ex-officio directory clerk).

Spirit and Witness: Amy Cooke, 2024-2027, Stuart Smith, 2025-2026, Reed Hamilton, 2025-2028, Dean Olson, 2024-2027, Doug Hamm, 2025-2026, Dorothy Henderson, 2026 (ex-officio, GVFM Clerk), Gordon Starr (ex-officio, elder to the clerk).

Religious Education: Judy Hamilton, Doug Hamm, Dean Olson, Reed Hamilton, Don McCormick, Keely McDonald, Lo Hamm. Substitutes: Gordon Bishop, Gordon Starr, Alan Stahler. Fifth Sunday reader: Anita McCormick

Offices: 

Clerk: Dorothy Henderson

Elder to Clerk: Gordon Starr

Recording Clerk: Jennifer Smith

Newsletter Editor: Dianne Marshall

Newsletter Distributor: Pat Phillips

Email Coordinator: Judy Hamilton

Treasurer: Mary Starr

Tech Support: Hailey Wilson

Website/Facebook Coordinator: Peter O’Rourke

Librarian: Don McCormick, Judy Hamilton, Kathy McCreery.

Recorder: Kathy McCreery

Directory Clerk: Nancy Anderson

Mail Clerk: Dean Olson

Representatives:

Please note: Most organizations no longer have representatives from GVFM. They are held in two committees, Welcome and Spirit and Witness. The following organizations are the exceptions:

Interfaith Nevada County: Dianne Marshall

Nisenan/Yulica: Contact Person, Dorothy Henderson

Pacific Yearly Meeting: Doug Hamm

College Park Quarterly Meeting: Doug Hamm

Organization Representative by Committee

Welcoming Committee holds the “connect with Quakers” organizations: Ben Lomond Quaker Center (BLQC), College Park Quarterly Meeting

(CPQM), Friends General Conference (FGC), Friends World Committee on Consultation (FWCC), Pacific Yearly Meeting (Pac YM), and Sierra Friends Center (SFC).

Spirit and Witness holds the “Faith and Practice” organizations: American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Friends Committee for Legislation (FCNL/FCL-CA), Interfaith of Nevada County, Quaker United Nations Organization (QUNO), and Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) The Nisenan have been added to Spirit and Witness.

Each month, alternately, a member of one of the two committees prepares a report on one of their committee’s organizations based on the queries below. That gives many people the opportunity to “discover” Quaker organizations, and to hear from different people so that we all get to hear from each other.   The reports are structured around the following queries:

What is this organization’s mission statement?    What are their noteworthy activities?

Children’s Committee Report 

Religious Education Committee

Job Description

March 2025

The Religious Education Committee is responsible for the spiritual nurture of young people in the Meeting. Recognizing that the entire meeting holds that responsibility and that the young people themselves provide spiritual sustenance to the Meeting as well, the Religious Education Committee is charged with the following specific responsibilities:

• Plan and organize First Day (Sunday) School four First Days a month.

• Ensure the safety of the young people by always having two adults with the young people for each First Day.

• Coordinate Fifth Sunday Family Meeting for Worship.

• Act as a liaison between teachers, young people, parents, and the Meeting.  

• Provide assistance in arranging childcare for other Meeting activities.

• Initiate celebrations and programs for young people and families throughout the year.  

• To ensure adequate communication and coordination in carrying out these responsibilities, the committee will meet at least quarterly. 

College Park Quarterly Meeting report

College Park Quarterly Meeting Representative Report

May 11, 2025

A proposal for restructuring CPQM Business Procedures was brought forward by the ad hoc Implementation Committee of CPQM Futures. (see attached). This proposal would create a new job description for the Reps to Quarterly Meeting that would increase their responsibilities, akin to the reps for PYM. 

After much discussion in the plenary, we were unable to reach unity. One concern was that increasing the workload of the reps is not advisable at a time when it has been difficult for some monthly meetings to find people to fill the position of rep. The proposal will be held over to the fall Quarterly meeting, and monthly meetings are encouraged to share the proposal and to identify reps to see if it is feasible. 

Clearly this proposal would not be effective without the representatives.

Other news from the Spring Quarterly. 

There were two interest groups offered, both well attended and well received. Julie Harlow gave an interest group on Friends’ Peace Teams (FPT) that included a video. If there is interest we may be able to do a Spirit and Witness program using videos from FPT.

Our own Keith Runyan did an interest group on Quaker Earthcare Witness calling on us to take action in the various ways recommended by QEW.

Other good news from the Quarterly Meeting. There were 16 new attenders, lots of children, and many familiar faces from the Woolman Semester days that are now parents of the next generation of Quakers! It is quite gratifying to see Quarterly Meeting  benefiting from so many people who participated in the Semester; Ben and Thistle Hofvendahl, Keenan Lorenzato, Mark Runyan, Keith Runyan, Nora Lisette, Elena Rosales Anderson.

A final note, the Nominating Committee was able to fill all the open positions in the slate during the Quarterly meeting, as people were inspired to step up to Children’s program, Ministry and Care and other committees.  

Respectfully submitted,

Doug Hamm, CPQM Representative

Appended to the report: Proposal to Restructure CPQM Business Procedures

Rationale: Many Friends have said that they look to the quarterly meeting for guidance and examples of how to conduct the business of our lives as Friends. Shifting the business of regular reports and approvals [e.g. committee reports, nominations, etc.] to a Representative Committee meeting would allow more time in quarterly plenary sessions for more weighty Quaker discernment. For example, plenary topics could include concerns or struggles arising in monthly meetings or in the CPQM community. This experience could serve to strengthen our practice of Quaker process for testimony and action. The Quarter could record a minute of process or of action to send to monthly meetings for their consideration.

Implementation Proposal: CPQM experiments with creating a Representative Committee to consider committee reports and other general business. Representative Committee [Rep. Com.] meetings would be held during the month prior to each quarterly meeting session over the course of the coming year.

This experiment would involve 1) an organizational step and 2) new patterns of information sharing and levels of discernment.

1. Monthly Meetings, Young Adult Friends and the Teen Program would select CPQM Representatives. The Representative would receive CPQM reports, serve as a liaison sharing any relevant communication, and attend Rep. Com. meetings online during the month prior to CPQM sessions as well as the quarterly meeting itself.

2. CPQM committee reports would be sent to Representatives electronically before their online meeting,

and posted on the CPQM website for general access to interested Friends.  Minutes of these Rep. Com. meetings would be read at the subsequent Quarterly session.  Topics or issues calling for deeper exploration and discernment would be brought to plenary at that session for consideration.  Minutes from Rep. Com. meetings would be posted on the CPQM website and sent to all Monthly Meetings, Young Adult Friends, and the Teen Program clerks.

If approved, this experiment would begin prior to fall quarterly 2025 and reviewed in Spring 2027 to consider whether to make this an ongoing practice.

.

Treasurer’s Report

No report was given.

Pacific Yearly Meeting Report

No report was given.

InterFaith Nevada County Report

No report was given.