MEETING FOR WORSHIP FOR BUSINESS

MEETING FOR WORSHIP FOR BUSINESS - NOVEMBER 4, 2001

Present: Margaret Stewart, Ian Graham, Helen Paulin, Rex Barger, Don Woodside, Harriet Woodside, Mona Callin, Louise Trepanier, Dick Preston (clerk), Roberta McGregor, Darlene James, Rick McCutcheon, Tamara Fleming, Beverly Shepard, Dawn Lepard, Susan Wortman (recording clerk)
Regrets: Sian Baker, Helen Brink, John Milton, Betty Preston, Denise Barron

1. Meeting began with silent worship.

2. Minutes of October 4, 2001 were read and accepted.

3. Business Arising or Carried Over

3.1 Reports on recent or upcoming events

3.1.1 Potluck on Quaker passions, projects and programs (September) - Roberta McGregor will submit an article for the newsletter.

3.1.2 Thanksgiving supper (October) - Helen Paulin reported on this event's success, with a large attendance of about 40 people.

3.1.3 Potluck presentation on Iraq (October) - Rick McCutcheon appreciated the opportunity to present. Dick Preston commented on the impact of seeing visually the Iraqi people as `just folks' and how that enabled him to relate human to human.

3.1.4 Yonge Street Half Yearly Meeting (October) - Beverly Shepard, who stepped in as acting clerk for the meeting, reported on the enlivened and engaged discussion in the morning workshop on the current day relevance of the Quaker Peace Testimony, adding that several visitors came specifically for that workshop alone.

3.1.5 Representative Meeting will be held on Friday night and Saturday, November 16-17, 2001. All members and attenders are encouraged to come. We approved funds to cover any shortfall between donations and food costs. Please let Harriet Woodside know if you can help with food preparation, clean up, or billeting.

3.2 Peace and Social Action Committee's advice re HMM's charitable donations- carried over

3.3 Insulation Fund- The letter to the Roger's Trust, advising them of our intention to apply for funding in May, has been sent.

3.4 Reports on M4W4B recommendations coming from two brown bag discussion meetings were published in the September/October newsletter. The clerks will bring up items on an ongoing, as appropriate, basis. Dick Preston spoke today to the issue of aiming to bring items for the agenda to the clerk 10 days in advance of the M4W4B. This does not seem to be practical, for example, several worthy items have been brought to his attention in the last few days.
    Roberta McGregor encouraged us that, as a courtesy, we try to bring things forward as early as possible. Margaret Stewart also suggested that the upcoming M4W4Bs be announced at M4W a week or more in advance.
    Don Woodside reminded us of the idea of a `Cole's Notes' for M4W4B. Roberta McGregor offered to be first named on a group of former clerks to author this document. Mona Callin has a copy of such a document for Canadian Yearly Meeting, and will make it available to this group.

3.5 Visioning Review- carried over

3.6 Outreach Committee Report

3.6.1 Arising out of the new attenders' meetings, Quaker Lite, the course, Quakerism 101 is to be offered in the new year. Don Woodside spoke on behalf of Ministry and Council gratefully accepting Ian Graham's offer to coordinate this program.

3.6.2 Photo and information release forms for posting on our Website are available. Members and attenders are asked to fill out one each and put them in the file folder marked `photo perm.' on the shelf in the foyer, or return to Ian Graham.

3.6.3 Harriet Woodside announced that in January, the Outreach Committee has arranged to host one of the Fellowship Dinners at McMaster University. Anyone interested in helping with this event is asked to contact Harriet.

3.7 Donations planning- carried over

3.8 Changes to the Meeting House (computer, microwave, Bible) Beverly Shepard presented a report concerning these issues (see attached). Some discussion was held on two concerns, one, the specific changes already made, and the other, the process of how to make such changes in the future. Some explanation was given as to how the specific changes came about. The idea of a committee to deal with future `premises' issues was discussed. Concern was expressed about the formation of yet another committee, with the alternative suggestion that the chairs of Maintenance, Housekeeping and Gardening committees might be able to meet on an ad hoc basis. Decisions as to how to proceed on the specifics and the future process were carried over due to time constraints.

3.9 Potluck on Sri Lanka- Raj Ramanathapillai has slides and is willing to present on his visit home to Sri Lanka. The date (likely January) will be determined at the December M4W4B.

3.10 Potluck on Conflict ResolutionPLEASE NOTE: DAY CHANGED FROM FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30 TO THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2001

4 Reports

4.1 Garden Committee- Dedication of the Peace Pole - carried over

4.2 Peace Discussion group- carried over

4.3 School of the Spirit - Ian GrahamAt the suggestion of Ian's Clearness Committee, Ministry and Council endorses Ian's application to the School of the Spirit, run by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. This two year program consists of eight four day visits by Ian to Philadelphia for study and experience, as well as ongoing home study. This opportunity for spiritual deepening is expected to have an impact on the meeting as a whole, as well as on Ian individually.
    An oversight committee has been struck to maintain contact between Ian, the School of the Spirit and HMM and to nurture and support this process. HMM wholeheartedly supports Ian in this endeavour and commits $500 towards his financial expenses, should he be accepted. As well, ear-marked donations are encouraged.

5 New Business

5.1 Letter of Application for Membership- Tamara Fleming's application for membership in HMM was received enthusiastically and a visiting committee was convened.

5.2 Donation of wheelchair and walker- Margaret Stewart has donated both a wheelchair and a walker for the use of our members and attenders in meeting. A tax receipt will be issued for these donations in kind.

5.3 Process for Peace Testimony expression- Don Woodside proposed that HMM draw up a letter to the editor concerning the war in Afghanistan and the Quaker Peace Testimony. Much discussion was held about this, including the need for our meeting to be able to talk about the impact this event is having on our lives and how we respond to that. Dick Preston summarized the discussion, which is captured here in part:
    Friends have been deeply and profoundly shaken and affected by [these events]. [missing sentence] We recognize that this is a concern of all of us. We want to share with each other our feelings and we want to share beyond the meeting, words that represent the sense of our meeting. We want to affirm that our responses are [ ], that our communiques do not bring closure to our feelings nor our responsibilities to our Peace Testimony or to those who are suffering. We want to trust in the depth of our commitment that processes for realizing these convictions will open as we proceed.
    To this end, we will call a meeting, after M4W, on Sunday, November 25, 1pm.

5.4 Julia Hitchcock has returned from teaching children in Angola for six months and will be able to make a presentation to meeting in the future.

6 Correspondence

6.1 Anna Peters Wehking- HMM approves financial support for Anna to attend the protest against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Ottawa, approximately $68.

6.2 - HMM will write a letter for [a Friend] that he could use in the event that he receives a draft summons to the US military. {The Friends name has been editied from the online minutes J.Milton}

6.3 Catherine Kirby- HMM appreciates the ongoing correspondence we have received from Catherine and her sisters in Meadowvale and we look forward to worshipping with them in the future.