Minutes of July Meeting for Business CAMPUS FRIENDS MEETING
July 26, 2006
Monthly Meeting for Business
Community Room, Friendly Center
Unapproved Minutes

PRESENT: Patricia Thomas, Linda Sears, Richard Coleman, Canby Jones, Dale Hayes, Roy Joe Stuckey, Ron Rembert, Bob Powell


CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS

Sunday, Jul 30 10:30 am
Meeting for Worship
Greeter/Breaker: Linda Sears

Sunday, Aug 6
9:15 am Fellowship Breakfast, Kelly Rm 10
10:30 am Meeting for Worship
Greeter/Breaker: Canby Jones

Tuesday, Aug 8 7:00 pm
Spiritual Journeys at home of Patricia Thomas and Doug Woodmansee. Meet at 7:00 for carry-in dessert. Worship sharing to begin at 7:30. Query: Do we live in awareness of what needs to be done? (Oh my God! I forgot!)
Please note change in time.

Friday, Aug 11 9:30 am
Ministry and Counsnel
Canby Jones’s apartment
Please note change in time.

Sunday, Aug 13 10:30 am
Meeting for Worship
Greeter/Breaker: Bob Powell

Wednesday, Aug 16
7:30 pm Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
Ellis Room, Quaker Apartments.
Please note date change back to standard day.

Sunday, Aug 20 10:30 am
Meeting for Worship
Greeter/Breaker: Ron Rembert
Hymn Sing. Ron Rembert will choose hymns

Sunday, Aug 27 10:30 am
Meeting for Worship
Greeter/Breaker: Patricia Thomas


Friends gathered with a time of centering and a query from WYM Queries.

Minutes of the June meeting were approved with minor typographical corrections.

Treasurer’s Report – Dale Hayes – attached to these minutes

The year-end wrap-up is included in the proposed 2007 budget, included as an attachment to these minutes. As foreseen, the Meeting finished the fiscal year with a significant deficit. The indicated deficit was $1719.78, but $860 was a planned spend-down of the Halliday Fund. Therefore, the actual deficit was about $900.00, which we made up with recourse to savings. In spite of this, our cash on hand remains very healthy.

The principal reason for the shortfall was that we collected less in contributions than we expected. Total income for 2006 was the lowest in the last five years. This is mainly due to the loss of several members through death or relocation who previously had supported the meeting very generously. This problem is addressed in the report of the finance committee below under New Business.

The report was approved.

Ministry & Counsel – Roger Schroeder

Canby Jones and Bob Powell reported in Roger’s absence

Spiritual Journeys will meet on Aug 8 at the home of Patricia Thomas and Doug Woodmansee. The meeting time is moved to 7:00 pm to accommodate Patricia’s schedule. Query: Do we live in awareness of what needs to be done? (Oh my God! I forgot!)

Ministry and Counsel received the report of the clearness committee on Linda Sears’s application for membership. The committee warmly recommended approval. Ministry and Counsel likewise recommends approval to Meeting for Business.

The health of members was reviewed with particular attention to Phil Holmes, Richard Coleman and Terry Miller’s mother.

Dale Hayes has still not been able to get into contact with Dick Roberts. He will continue trying.

Ministry and Counsel will meet again at 9:30 am in Canby Jones’ apartment on Friday, August 11.

The report was approved.


Old Business

It was noted that the picnic supper for the Quaker Youth Pilgrimage was a great success. We fed 61 people and no one went away hungry. Friends were unanimous in their high opinion of the pilgrims and their leaders.


New Business

Report of the budget committee

Dale Hayes and Richard Coleman presented the budget for 2007. The budgeted amounts in each category are listed in the far right column of the report shown below, compared with similar expenditures for the last four years. The committee characterized this as an extremely optimistic budget, given that the budgeted income is more than $1500 in excess of what we managed to raise this year.

In anticipation of problems meeting this budget, the committee put forward three suggestions to help bring revenues and expenditures into line.

1. Transfer the remaining $500 of the Halliday bequest to the general fund. This money is in the form of a CD that matures on Sep 1.

This suggestion was approved.

2. Recategorize the FUM contribution from obligatory assessment to discretionary contribution.

This suggestion engendered a great deal of thoughtful discussion. The initial thinking of the committee was that such a move eases cash flow in that obligatory assessments are paid quarterly. Thus, if we find toward the end of the fiscal year that adjustments are necessary, there will be little or no flexibility remaining since most of the assessment will have already been remitted. Moving this line to discretionary contributions would give us the option of delaying the actual disbursement of the contribution until late in the fiscal year when our financial situation is clearer. This is the procedure we follow with all our discretionary contributions.

Patricia Thomas gave some important background. The FUM assessment is levied on the yearly meetings, who then pro rate the obligation out to the monthly meetings according to level of their memberships. Thus, modifying our contribution and its schedule may have an adverse effect on Wilmington Yearly Meeting finances. On the other hand, the latest WYM financial statement shows that we are one of only four monthly meetings who met 100% of their FUM assessment last year. Several monthly meetings contributed nothing.

It was also pointed out that the FUM assessment goes primarily to mission work, which, though worthy, lacks the direct connection friends have with the organizations on the discretionary contributions list. Our contributions to those organizations are not overly generous to begin with and there was little support for cutting them further.

Roy Joe Stuckey maintained that whatever we do, we should make a clear statement as to what we are committed to do in order to give higher echelons something firm to plan on. It was then suggested that we reduce the obligatory assessment line to $500 and move the remainder into discretionary contributions. Campus Friends Meeting would commit to contributing $500 and pay that amount in quarterly installments. Furthermore, the meeting would adopt a goal of contributing the remaining $443 of our assessment by the end of the fiscal year.

The meeting approved this compromise, which is reflected in the attached budget.

3. Request that Ministry and Counsel review the status of all junior and nonresident members to determine if they wish to continue as members.

Our assessments are levied on the basis of our membership strength. A review of our membership may result in a reduction of that level, which would in turn lead to reduction in the amount of money we would need to raise in order to pay our assessments. Assessments are based on average membership over the previous three years, so any savings would phase in comparatively slowly.

The meeting approved asking Ministry and Counsel to conduct such a review.

Membership for Linda Sears

The meeting took up the recommendation from Ministry and Counsel to accept Linda Sears’s application for membership.

The meeting approved Linda’s application for membership with joy and gratitude. In recognition of the significance of the event, the meeting presented Linda with a copy of The Power of the Lord is over All: The Pastoral Letters of George Fox, edited by Canby Jones. The gift was suitably inscribed by the editor.

Pastor Exchange Sunday

The annual pastor exchange will take place on Sunday, Oct 26, 2006. The theme is
I Peter 2:5. We do not know as yet with whom we would exchange ministers.

The meeting approved participating in the pastor exchange. Patricia will represent us.

The Bulletin Board

Patricia reported that a location for the bulletin board has been negotiated. The bulletin board will be placed on the south wall of the meetinghouse to the left (west) of the main entrance. The literature rack will be placed in the hall leading to the entrance to the meetinghouse. There is still no estimated time when either appliance will be in commission.

Report from Wilmington Yearly Meeting

The clerk reported on four issues that came before the yearly meeting, all of which were supported by Campus Friends Meeting,

• The yearly meeting approved the draft policy on sexual harassment. Patricia and Richard have copies if anyone wants to read the policy in full

• The draft minute on corporal punishment was not approved. The issue was sent back to the monthly meetings to be threshed out

• The draft minute supporting the FCNL statement on conscientious objectors was not approved

• The draft minute on abolition of nuclear weapons was not approved

Appeal from American Friends Service Committee

AFSC’s finances were dealt a severe blow by the needs for their services in the wake of the 2004 tsunami in the East Indies. They are appealing to all meetings for funds.

The meeting regretted that our own fiscal condition prevents us from responding as a meeting, but we urge friends to respond individually to the extent they are able.

FCNL 2005 Program Report

The report will be posted on the bulletin board.

OVYM Peace and Social Concerns Survey Report

This report will also be posted on the bulletin board.

Inner Search

The group is still studying the writings of Meister Eckhardt, which is sparking many interesting discussions..

The meeting concluded with a period of silent worship.


NEXT MEETING FOR BUSINESS – Wednesday, June 21 -7:30PM - ELLIS ROOM



Patricia Thomas, Presiding Clerk

Bob Powell, Recording Clerk
bob.powell1@verizon.net

  ¶ 7:30 AM