Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business – March 2026
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
March 8, 2026
We met in a hybrid meeting in person at the meetinghouse and on Zoom.
Present: Dorothy Henderson, clerk; Gordon Starr, elder to the clerk, Mary Starr, Reed Hamilton, Judy Hamilton, Kathy McCreary, fosten wilson, Doug Hamm, Amy Cooke, Chamba Cooke, Dean Olsen.
The Meeting opened with silent worship.
Clerks’ Remarks and Query:
Called to focus on writing book. Stepping down as clerk. Feeling the support of the meeting.
Query: How does this Meeting support you in witnessing your faith?
Friends spoke out of the silence:
I can be honest here; I awakened spiritually here; I am held as in a fish net with many knots; I experience calm and love that I bring out into the world; this meeting is healing.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
(see reports appended, committee clerk is noted in bold)
Religious Education: Judy Hamilton (Clerk), Doug Hamm, Alan Stahler, Don McCormick, Dean Olsen, Reed Hamilton. Judy Hamilton gave the report, appended.
Appreciation expressed for faithfulness of Religious education in GVFM.
Nominating Committee: Fosten Wilson, 2024-2026, Mary Starr, 2025-2027, Chamba Cooke, 2025-2026, Dean Olsen, 2025-2027. Chamba Cooke read the report.
Concern expressed re: Dorothy stepping down at end of March and Gordon Starr stepping in as substitute clerk. Discussion of how to go forward with transition. Dorothy requested taking off clerk’s hat, not able to clerk this section due to her personal feelings about issue. Amy Cooke stepped in as temporary clerk. A minute is needed to approve transition to new presiding clerk. Also a minute is needed acknowledging Dorothy’s service as clerk for past three years.
Minute 03.2026.01 Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves Gordon Starr as presiding clerk to fulfill the term of Dorothy Henderson from April to June 2026. The remaining weeks in March will allow for any transitions that are needed.
Appreciation expressed to Gordon Starr
Minute 03.2026.02 Grass Valley Friends meeting holds the work that Dorothy has done as our Clerk for the last three years with deep gratitude. We have seen her stretch and grow and are thankful for her guidance.
Minute approved.
Welcome: Peter O’Rourke (Clerk), Nancy Anderson, Judy Hamilton, Kathy McCreary.
Peter O’Rourke gave the report, appended.
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). Amy Cooke gave the report, appended
Minute 03.2026.03 Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves Arly Helm and fosten wilson to serve as members of Nominating Committee for 2026-2028 term. To be seasoned till April Meeting for Worship for Business.
Minute 03.2026.04 Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the 2026 State of the Meeting Report. To be seasoned until April Meeting for Worship for Business.
Stewardship: Mary Starr (Clerk), Gordon Starr, Pat Phillips, Reed Hamilton, David Bowman. Dianne Marshall (ex-officio, Newsletter editor), Don McCormick (ex-officio, Librarian), Hailey Wilson (ex-officio Tech Support). Mary Starr gave the report, appended.
OFFICER REPORTS and REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS
Treasurer: no report given
Co-Archivists/Recorders: No report given
Pacific Yearly Meeting: Mid-year sessions report, Doug Hamm gave the report
College Park Quarterly Meeting: Spring Quarterly Meeting will be April 24-26.
Interfaith Nevada County: No report given.
Sharings from the wider Quaker world:
CLERK’S REMARKS
Today’s meeting demonstrated the unity that can be achieved when difficult discernment is held by the whole meeting and time is taken to wait, to listen and to trust that the truth will be found amongst us. We are grateful for this process and our commitment to it.
ITEMS SEASONING or CARRIED OVER
Minute 03.03.2026 Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves Arly Helm and fosten wilson to serve as members of Nominating Committee for 2026-2028 term.
Minute 04.03.2026 Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the 2026 State of the Meeting Report..
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
READING OF THE RECORD AND MINUTES
The record and the minutes of March Meeting for Worship on the Occasion of Business will be read at April Meeting for Worship for Business.
GVFM Newsletter Reminder: Please have items into Dianne Marshall by Tuesday at 10 am. Please do not format reports in blue.
Meeting closed with worship.
APPENDICES:
Religious Education Committee
Winter 2026
We met via Zoom on February 10, 2026. Present: Doug Hamm, Dean Olson, Don McCormick, Judy Hamilton, Reed Hamilton. Alan Stahler was with us briefly until his internet stopped working.
We started with Silent Worship. I shared that I learned in our Clerk’s Meeting that GVFM was one of the few Friends Meetings in PYM that still had a children’s program and thanked everyone for their continued participation.
We each checked in about our experiences over the last three months. While most of the teachers feel it is difficult to plan a program for just one person, the overall feeling was that in the long run, it is worth the effort and we all enjoy spending time with Hailey.
Everyone is happy with their schedules which is as follows:
First Sunday: Alan Stahler, teacher with Don McCormick as second.
Second Sunday: Doug Hamm, teacher with Reed Hamilton as second.
Third Sunday: No one scheduled on a regular basis.
Fourth Sunday: Judy Hamilton and Dean Olson-alternate with being teacher or second.
The third Sunday has been filled over the last 3 months with volunteers from the Meeting (thank-you everyone). Quite a few ideas came up as to programs that might fill this opening. They include: art instruction with Don M., music/singing and exploring the history of the songs we sing regularly with Reed, knitting project (for charitable organization) with Judy and Anita, making signs/posters for No Kings Day events and a program on exploring college choices with Don and Anita. In addition, it was proposed that we recruit folks from Meeting to talk about their careers—what kind of training they needed, why they chose that particular career, how it interfaced with their Quaker values and the pros and cons of said career,
I shared that we have permission to use the play structure at Peace Lutheran.
Nominating has inquired if anyone wants to leave the committee. Everyone has committed for another year in their current position.
We will meet next in the Spring, probably in May.
We closed with silence.
Nominating Committee Report
March 2026
Your Nominating Committee is busy. We ask that everyone consider how Spirit suggests that they serve our Meeting for the coming year.
This month, March, members of Nominating Committee (Mary, Dean, Chamba, & fosten) continue contacting people active in our Meeting. We are asking everyone what roles they are lead to perform for the year starting next July .
Thank you for your help in this annual process.
Fosten wilson, clerk
Nominating Committee.
Welcome Committee
3/2/26 / 7:00PM / Zoom
- Potluck update
- Waiting for warmer weather
- Review Clerk meeting notes
- Kathy puts something every month in the Union in the religious services section.
- Kathy will be entering information in this coming 3/6/26 Friday edition
- NextDoor and YubaNet have had postings.
- Will repost in YubaNet with new location
- Nancy will be putting out a new directory
- Will wait till June, when new committee members in place
- The website is current and focusing on more stylistic work.
- Welcome bags are out every Sunday.
- The greeter puts out the signs.
- The greeter description is revised (see below)
- Kathy puts something every month in the Union in the religious services section.
Instructions for Greeters:
Please plan to arrive before 9:45. Put up the signs directing folks to the correct door. There are two sandwich board type signs located in the hallway closet labeled supplies. The one labeled parking goes across from the Meeting room exit door and points up the hill. The one labeled GVFM Meeting goes on the sidewalk pointing to the entry door. In addition, there is a metal sign with GVFM information on it that is located behind the door in the Library.
This goes against the building to the left of the entry door. All the materials (card table, box of greeting materials, name tags,) for greeting are located just to the left as you enter the Library (near the door and on the bookshelves in a box labeled Greeter Materials. Set up the card table near the shelves in the hallway. From the box labeled Greeter Materials, place items such as name tag box, contribution box, name tag making items and a few pamphlets on Worship and Meeting. For those coming for the first time, encourage them to make a name tag and offer them the ‘first time’ pamphlets. There are instructions on ‘best greeting practices’ on a blue sheet of paper in the Greeter Material box.
At 10:00, close the door to the main part of Peace Lutheran. The greeter remains outside the Meeting room until 10:10. After the greeter enters the Meeting room, the children rise to attend the children’s program.
After Meeting please put all the items away in the library. If there is anything in the contribution box, give to treasurer.
Silent worship to close out our meeting
Next Meeting – April 6th – 7pm
Spirit & Witness Report
03.2026
Committee Members
Amy Cooke, Reed Hamilton, Doug Hamm, Dean Olson, Stuart Smith
Spirit and Witness Programs
Beginning in January, Spirit and Witness has been offering programs on the third Sundays of each month. These gatherings form a six-month “Quaker Seminary” series facilitated by Amy Cooke, with one topic explored each month. The topic for March is Vocal, Silent, and Other Forms of Ministry.
For fourth Sundays, Amy has spoken with Heather Certik about a possible program. No confirmation has yet been received. Don McCormick, Gordon Bishop, and Amy Cooke will meet together to consider next steps.
State of the Meeting Report
We bring the first draft of the State of the Meeting report (see attached) for its first reading. It will come for approval in April.
Check-in from Dorothy (Midweek Meeting for Worship)
Dorothy reported that the midweek Meeting for Worship has met twice so far. On the first Wednesday, due to snow, Dorothy was the only one able to attend. On the second week, Dorothy and Donna Fry gathered together. Dorothy shared that the worship has felt deep and the sharing rich, and the group intends to continue.
Clerk’s Service
Dorothy raised the question of whether she should extend her service as clerk into a fourth year. Friends reminded her that she should not feel obligated to continue in the role. Should she step down, the Meeting will take responsibility for finding another Friend to serve. Friends also affirmed the Quaker practice of learning roles “on the job.”
At the same time, several Friends expressed appreciation for Dorothy’s faithful clerking and the ways her service has supported both her own spiritual growth and that of the Meeting.
Following the meeting, Dorothy shared that she has discerned that it is time for her to release the role of clerk. We bring this discernment to the Meeting, her community, to hold in worship.
Naming Committee
The Naming Committee has brought forward the names of two Friends to serve two-year terms from 2026–2028: Arly Helm and fosten wilson.
Proposed minute (to be seasoned until Fourth Month):
Grass Valley Friends Meeting approves the names of Arly Helm and fosten wilson to serve two-year terms, from 2026 to 2028.
Pastoral Care
We continue to hold several members and attenders in our care. Friends who would like to be contacted by someone from the Spirit and Witness Committee are invited to email Amy Cooke, clerk of the committee.
Witness in the World
Don McCormick will be writing an article for The Union about our move.
Amy Cooke has submitted an article to Western Friend for publication in their upcoming issue (see attached).
Witness Committee: Toward Right Relations (TRR) Committee
This committee is currently on hiatus.
Immigrant Rights – Report from Judy Hamilton
Judy Hamilton, our liaison to the Immigrant Rights Network, reported that she has attended two meetings of the group. While many initiatives are underway, she is still discerning how best to engage our Meeting with this work.
One current effort is a petition encouraging the Nevada County Board of Supervisors to publicly support and stand with immigrant communities. The petition calls on the Board to:
- Affirm the right of immigrant communities to safety, dignity, and belonging
- Take concrete actions and adopt policies that ensure protection for all residents
- Reject fear of funding loss or political reprisal as reasons to avoid moral leadership
The petition also calls for a resolution similar to Nevada City Resolution No. 2025-11.
Judy also attended a Zoom training with NorCal Resist, a Sacramento-based organization that supports immigrants facing detention. Volunteers attend Immigration Court to ensure that people arriving for appointments are not detained without support. If someone is detained, volunteers help contact family members and connect them with legal assistance.
NorCal Resist also operates a Migra Watch program across about ten counties. Participants join a local Signal group and can respond when potential immigration enforcement activity is reported. Responders observe, document activity, and help gather information so families can be notified and legal help engaged.
Judy was impressed with the organization’s level of preparation and plans to volunteer with the Migra Watch group and possibly attend Sacramento Immigration Court once a month.
Possible Action from Spirit and Witness
Spirit and Witness approved sending the immigrant rights petition out through the Meeting’s email tree.
The possibility of drafting a minute to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors in support of the petition was discussed. Friends wondered whether the Interfaith community might also participate. This matter will be seasoned further.
Committees Under Our Care
Spirit and Witness continues to hold several ongoing care committees, four anchor committees, and a clearness committee for marriage under its care.
Appendices: State of the Meeting Report and article for Western Friend.
State of the Meeting Report 2026
February 22, 2026
There is a deep sense of spiritual strength and unity in our Meeting. We have weathered dramatic changes in the past year. After over sixty years of worshipping in what was known as John Woolman School, then Sierra Friends Center, at 13075 Woolman Lane in Nevada City, Grass Valley Friends Meeting has relocated to Grass Valley. We are gradually and gratefully settling into our new home, occupying two classrooms in Peace Lutheran Church. After many years of considering a move into town tto be more visible to the greater communities of Grass Valley and Nevada City, and more convenient to many of our members and attenders, a core group of dedicated friends sought out possible sites and were welcomed by Pastor Christian of Peace Lutheran. Our Stewardship Committee then organized an enthusiastic ad hoc committee to accomplish the move, and we had our first Meeting for Worship on January 4th, 2026.
Leaving Sierra Friends Center, now returned to the Nisenan village of Yulića, was felt deeply by our community. A threshing session helped us to share our feelings of loss and goodbye, as well as our gratitude to the Nisenan for so graciously allowing us to remain on their land and in our Meeting House, for a full year after the Homeland Return. The sense of loss was tempered by the sense of right order as we said goodbye to “Woolman Lane” and placed our new signs, “Grass Valley Friends Meeting with arrows” pointing to our door, on the side of Peace Lutheran Church.
For many, the move has meant an affirmation that it is the people, not the building or land that make a meeting. The sense of continuing commitment to our faith and to each other has been strengthened with the move and with our adjustment to our new home. One of the joys we have experienced is the return of some members and attenders who are finding it possible to come in person now that the location is more convenient.
We continue to have a strong program of Religious Education with many members and attenders taking part in offering First Day School to our single but steadfast student who is close to graduating high school. We continue to offer adult education on fourth Sundays after Meeting for Worship; In the fall of 2025 a series on nonviolence and in the spring a series titled Quaker Seminary. Recognizing the value of our educational programs, there is a felt need to offer more, helping people to know more clearly what they are doing in a Quaker meeting.
Our Meetings for Worship on the Occasion for Business have demonstrated our strength in being able to call on Spirit and achieve unity with care. Our minute in support of signing Pacific Yearly Meeting’s petition to join the lawsuit, as well as our threshing session before the move, our corporate decision to make the move, and our corporate decision to not support a minute brought by another group, all have been meetings where we engaged humbly and boldly with each other and with Spirit.
Our Meetings for Worship offer a sense of safety, of spiritual connection, spiritual depth and of awakening. Questions and concerns about vocal ministry and the lack thereof in our meeting have been voiced. We anticipate further discernment of these concerns as we engage with each other in conversation, education and worship.
Our Meeting has a clearness committee for marriage underway, and a number of committees of care for individuals in the Meeting. We hold anchor committees for the ministries of four of our members. We have also approved a Letter of Service for one member in peace education.
We look forward to this coming year as one in which the visibility of our new location may bring us new attenders. Many of us have been heartened by our community’s participation in demonstrations and protests in this time of great upheaval and challenge in our body politic. There is a felt need to engage more fully as the issues emerging bring a direct challenge to the tenets of our faith. We pray that the strength of our meeting’s spiritual depth, communal care, and willingness to live our testimonies will continue to bear fruit in this coming year.
Leaving in Love, Arriving in Wholeness: Grass Valley Friends Meeting’s Journey of Discernment
by Amy Cooke
Grass Valley Friends Meeting has recently come through a significant transition: leaving the land that many of us long knew as the birthplace and home of GVFM, and, for over fifty years, Sierra Friends Center and Woolman, now known as Yulića. After the challenges and grace of the preceding years, we came to unity that it was time to move our Meeting into town. This change did not arise from urgency or conflict, but from years of careful listening, patient discernment, and a shared commitment to walk tenderly with one another, with the land, and with our neighbors.
After the land transfer to the Nisenan, Grass Valley Friends Meeting continued our lease of the meetinghouse. We were received with warmth and generosity. One of our members, Dean Olson, continued his rental of the Ranch House annex, where he had lived for several years. We had a sense of being honored as guests at Yulića and have continued to be welcomed there with respect and care. We hold clearly that the land is theirs, historically and now officially. We carry deep gratitude that the return of the land unfolded in love, and we want to be clear with our community that the Nisenan were steadfast in their welcome of us. That truth speaks to the largeness of their hearts and the integrity of the relationship that has grown between us.
At the same time, our Meeting had been holding, for decades, an ongoing conversation about the possibility of moving into town, where we might be more visible and accessible within the Grass Valley community. This conversation continued quietly alongside our work with the Nisenan homeland return.
One of our committees was moved to make an inquiry about possible available space at Peace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley during a conversation with their pastor. That inquiry led, step by step, into a discernment that felt unexpectedly clear and unburdened. The way opened smoothly. The Nisenan supported our decision. We found ourselves acknowledging not only the practicality of the move, but also its deeper meaning: a sense of beginning anew, a rebirth of the Meeting.
Leaving the Yulića site carries poignancy. There is history there, many memories, and love for the land and the meetinghouse, where so much has taken place. Yet there is also a shared recognition that our Meeting lives in the community we form, in our shared connections, and in the hands of God. In releasing something precious, we discover new opportunities opening before us. We wonder whether this new location might offer a fresh welcome, perhaps even making room for former members and attenders to return, and for newcomers to find us more easily.
As a Meeting, we sense that the deep, sometimes challenging work we did together around the return of the Nisenan homeland strengthened us. Practicing deep listening to all sides of that transition brought us into greater unity and trust. That grounding carries forward into this decision as well.
We are also deeply grateful to the ad hoc group whose careful planning made the practical work of packing, moving, and setting up feel held and easeful. Their quiet faithfulness allowed the rest of us to arrive in the new space without strain.
Today, Grass Valley Friends Meeting feels strong, alive, and vital. We hold the Nisenan and the land of Yulića in love, with abiding gratitude for the relationship we share and for the grace with which this transition unfolded. We step into our new home aware that we are shaped by what we have left behind, and hopeful about what may yet be born among us.
Stewardship Report
Notes from meeting on March 5, 2026
Present: Mary Starr clerk, treasurer, Gordon Starr, recorder, Reed Hamilton, Pat Philips, Fosten Wilson, Judy Hamilton, co-librarian.
We began with a moment of silence
Finance. Mary reported donations for the month of February totaled $473; expenses were $578
Library Representative. Recognizing that the Library is included in Stewardship’s overview, we discussed with Judy how that position might be structured for the new term. We agreed we need further discussion with Nominating and will bring a proposal to April’s Meeting for Worship for Business.
Signage – when and where. Gordon suggested that it may be getting close to time to discuss signs for the Meeting at the street entrance to Peace Lutheran. April marks three months, a quarter of the year, since we moved in, and things seems to be going well for us, both as a meeting and as a tenant. We noted that Don McCormick has expressed interest in signage several times. Gordon has agreed to contact him and then begin a discussion with Pastor Christian about the particulars of timing, placement and size.
Playground area. It has been clarified with Peace Lutheran that children in the Religious Education program are welcome to use the playground area with an adult present. They did suggest we check the area for and trash or things that may have been left behind.
TRR Program. Reed reported he is exploring presenting a program on Indigenous Burn Practices with Saxon Thomas. He is researching PLC room size, costs, Saxon’s availability and funding sources. Mary mentioned that we are saving $124 per month on our budgeted rental costs, and that this might be a possible source of program expenses.
We ended with a period of silence and gratitude.
Next committee meeting is April 2, 2026