July 2013 Newsletter

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FY 14 Budget

Spiritual State of the Meeting Report

CITF Request

Upcoming Events

From the Vault

Random Happenings

FRIENDS MEETING OF WASHINGTON

MONTHLY MEETING FOR WORSHIP WITH A CONCERN FOR BUSINESS

June 9, 2013

Advices

Outreach is not a monologue, but a dialogue–an adventure undertaken in the spirit of a musical improvisation with many instruments. Take time to learn about other people’s experiences of the Light and, as you learn, give freely from your own. Respect the experiences and opinions of others, but do not be afraid to say what you value and to speak with conviction. Welcome the diversity of culture, language, and expressions of faith among Friends, as well as members of other faiths.

Outreach also includes being open to others who may be tentatively “reaching in” to explore the Quaker faith. The sense of welcome is expressed in countless small details: the coffee is warm, the biscuits are good, the potluck is plentiful, and people say, “Hi.” Most important, when someone walks in and asks, “What do Quakers believe?” it is the meeting’s task to be sure that they get a well-informed answer.

Meetings are encouraged to consider using technology to communicate with existing and potential members, while at the same time remembering that not everyone has access to it. Web pages, blogs, and social media tools are examples of effective outreach.

Advancement and outreach are natural and integral aspects of the Quaker way of life. Realizing that we are all children of God means that there is an infinite opportunity to search for God in our relations with others. Our fellowship begins, grows, and is nurtured in home and meeting. It reaches greater fulfillment as we carry our love of God and humankind to our relationships with persons in the wider community of which our Meeting is a part, with members of other Meetings, and with all persons whom we meet

Queries

How does my life witness to my Quaker faith?

In what ways do I reach out to new attenders and encourage their exploration of Quakerism as a spiritual path?

How does our Meeting convey Quaker faith and practice to the wider community?

Voices

This story is told of a German woman living in Cologne in 1946. Her husband had been killed during the war and she was left with two small children. Their home was a damp basement beneath the ruins of a house... It is no wonder that she was a cynical and embittered woman when the Service Committee Workers found her. They were of the same nationality that she had been taught to hate, the ones who had killed her husband. But these people brought clothing, medicine, and food and above all sympathy and understanding. “Why do you do it?” she asked, and they tried to tell her something of the spirit that had sent them forth. Finally with tears in her eyes she exclaimed: “This is too good to keep to yourselves – Oh, why don’t you preach what you practice!” –John Hobart

Indeed if one has been visited by a direct sense of inward presence, he is driven to tell everyone who will listen to him. Strange and unendurable irony–that Friends who speak so much about the Inward Light should so timidly hide their own light under a bushel! The time has come to preach the faith we have resolved to practice. If we have good news for our brothers, and I believe we do, let us shout it from the housetops! Let us learn to be publishers of truth about our faith as well as our social concerns.
John Yungblut, 1974

My new acquaintance was told by my friend that I walked a Quaker path. The acquaintance’s face lit up. “What is that?” she asked. For the next hour she peppered me with questions about the Quaker path. I could not evade or sidetrack her. She was intense. At the end she exclaimed, “If I had known all of this twenty years ago, I would have lived a different life!” I sat stunned, moved, elated, and saddened all at the same time… She had heard of Quakers all her life, but she never met a Quaker that would explain what it meant. –Barry Crossno

2013/6-1 Opening The meeting opened with silent worship at 12:06 p.m. David Etheridge served as Presiding Clerk, and Harry Massey as Recording Clerk-Protem. The clerks read advices and queries and appropriate advices and other readings. 26 Friends were present.

2013/6-2 Clerks’ Report David Etheridge provided the following report:

1.     We have learned that Audrey Stone, who was a member of both Friends Meeting of Washington and Bethesda Friends Meeting, died on August 7 of last year. Her memorial meeting was under the care of Gettysburg Friends Meeting where her son is a member.

2.     Please hold Ylene Larson and her daughter, Sarah Ramey in the Light. Ylene is away for an extended period tending to her daughter who is seriously ill.

3.     Sara Satterthwaite is now under hospice care. Please hold her and her husband, Neil Froemming, in the Light.

2013/6-3 Spiritual State of the Meeting (third reading) Kevin Camp, Clerk of the Ministry and Worship Committee, presented the annual Spiritual State of the Meeting (attached). After a brief review, Friends approved the 2013 Spiritual State of the Meeting which will be forwarded to the Yearly Meeting.

2013/6-4 Fiscal Year 2014 Budget (second reading) Ed Hustead, member of the Finance & Stewardship Committee, presented the 2014 Fiscal Year Budget (attached). The balance sheet is posted on the Meeting’s Website. It is hoped the balance sheet will be included in next’s year presentation.

Friends are encouraged to increase their contributions. The 2014 income wil1 be $24,000 more than expenditures and this amount is expected to go into our savings, upon which we will draw as in the recent past. The Fiscal Year 2014 Budget was approved.

Expressions of appreciation were given to the Committee for their efforts to provide more complete information on the budget.

2013/6-5 Request from the Capital Improvements Task Force Neil Froemming spoke on behalf of a request from the Capital Improvement Task Force (attached) that the Meeting authorize Trustees to approve expenditure of up to $50,000 for architectural design work beyond the current phase. The architects are waiting for reports from civil and geotechnical engineers and for an updated cost estimate. They will soon complete the current (schematic design) phase of the design contract and will need additional funding authorization to move forward with the next (design development) phase. The Trustees may wish to approve that step before the next Meeting for Business, which is six weeks away. Friends approvedthe request.

Friends are encouraged to consider contributing to the Capital Campaign. A Friend asked the Capital Campaign Committee to provide regular reports and information to the Meeting for Business and Meeting members.

2013/6-6 Nominating Committee Beth Cogswell presented the following nomination: Elizabeth Paxton Pomerleau, Member) as Clerk of the Marriage and Family Relations Committee. Friends approved the nomination.

The following resignations were reported:

1. Sara Satterthwaite from the Personal Aid Committee and the Hospitality Committee
2. Christopher Warren from the Hospitality Committee
3. Susan Griffin as Clerk of the Marriage and Family Relations Committee

Friends accepted these resignations.

2013/6-7 Search Committee David Etheridge, as a member of the Search Committee, reported the following resignation: Elisabeth Johnson from the Nominating Committee.

Friends accepted this resignation.

2013/6-8 Reporters for Baltimore Yearly Meeting annual sessionsThe Clerk asked for volunteers to serve as Reporters for the Baltimore Yearly Meeting annual sessions which are scheduled for July 29-August 4, 2013 in Frostburg, Maryland. Susan Griffin and Debby Churchman volunteered to serve as Reporters.

2013/6-9 Minutes Friends approved the minutes.

2013/6-10 ClosingThe meeting ended at 1:44 p.m. with 24 Friends present, with silent worship.

Recording Clerk, Protem

Harry Massey

The Friends Meeting of Washington (FMW)

2012 Spiritual State of the Meeting

 

Early in 2013, sixty FMW Members, Attenders and Sojourners provided heartfelt comments about the spiritual state of our Meeting. Over two-thirds said that the Spirit prospers well among us or for them individually. They feel especially supported in their spiritual journeys through interactions with Friends and community members, participation in Worship, Memorial, and Wedding Meetings, and FMW committee work.  As our Meeting has been offered sometimes challenging opportunities for spiritual growth, many have seen the Spirit moving among us as we have sought to know one another better, to manifest our love and concern for children, families and elders, and to find clearness on how to best welcome all into our community, embracing “the Divine” in everyone.

“Friends Meeting of Washington is a spiritual community that is supportive of individual’s evolving relationship to the Spirit”…while it is also “large, urban, diverse…with a wide range of activities and groups”

Many noted that the very character of our Meeting provides challenges and opportunities. Its large size allows us to support a variety of fulfilling worship, service, and learning opportunities while also making it difficult for some of us to know each other well and foster the trust and love that nurtures true fellowship and community.  Our membership includes socially active, opinionated and often transient individuals who bring us a deep commitment to spiritual growth, energetic and vocal interaction, and strong individual expectations which are sometimes disappointed. Our serene, historic campus offers an opportunity to witness our faith by welcoming many visitors and others seeking safe-harbor or a community with Quaker values. However, our facilities also demand an ongoing commitment to access improvement and maintenance. As we struggle to find the Light in each other and in our community, we are thankful for the gifts we have been given by our predecessors. We turn to the Spirit to help us use our unusual strengths and special challenges to forge or strengthen movement toward shared spiritual enlightenment.

“FMW is the center of my life and a community that both challenges and nurtures me.”

In many ways FMW seemed to find its way in 2012 with some issues that had been challenging for many years. Our physical spaces were greatly improved and plans for enhanced accessibility approached unity through tireless efforts by dedicated committees. We undertook many actions to provide a safer and more embracing environment for our children and their families. We re-invigorated our Peace and Social Concerns Committee. Our Young Adults expanded their fellowship and service activities. Lastly, efforts have been made to accommodate those with hearing loss, particularly in our Meetings for Worship with a Concern for Business.

“I still think of FMW as my spiritual home but sometimes I feel a sense of alienation and desertion as well.”

The major challenge facing FMW this year was how to welcome individuals with troubling histories, including child sexual abuse. In addressing this, hurts and differences were revealed among us, often linked to perceived inattentiveness toward our children and their families. Many felt this challenge also revealed a need to build trust, community and caring. And many individuals and committees responded to this situation by seeking to listen and hear each other with an open heart, and by convening additional opportunities for worship and fellowship. These efforts met with partial success, still some families felt a need to step-back from FMW. l As the year progressed, most of those responding to the survey saw real progress while there are still concerns that many efforts remain “works in progress”. In our daily lives, many find that the Quaker Spirit manifests through patience, compassion and service in our professional work, family interactions, and continuing personal growth.

"We are doing well because we struggle well."  “There is so much love, so much pain, so much hope, so much disappointment.”

Aspirations for our Meeting include hopes for greater tolerance, unity, cohesion, self-forgiveness, and trust. Friends recognize that more financial stability and funding support will enable our meeting to serve better the shared Spirit of its members. Many are deeply concerned that financial support for our Meeting seems to be diminishing.  This is particularly troubling as we foresee needing to fund physical alterations that will make our buildings accessible to all and more accommodating to children, families and elders. Many wonder if individual’s spiritual connection to our Meeting is reflected in the level of funding support provided by Members and Attenders. Friends trust that as capital fundraising gets underway and the overall economy improves, we will find our commitment to financing FMW refreshed.   

The other concern that continues to arise (and has for many decades) is focused on the frequency and character of vocal ministry, particularly in the Meeting for Worship held on First Days at 10:30 a.m. in the main Meeting Room. While many recognize and appreciate that individual vocal ministries in all our Meetings for Worship do not “speak” to everyone and that we all have different needs and capabilities, there is a feeling that we should all be more careful to ensure that vocal ministry is truly Spirit-led and in keeping with Friends Faith and Practice. 

“FMW is a spiritual resource for sharing and deepening your values with others who are also searching and intentional.”

In sum, the Friends Meeting of Washington is a community that continues its spiritual journey within a challenging climate of vitality, questioning, expectation, and deep abiding attentiveness to the well-being of our Meeting.  We see many opportunities for improvement and compassion toward one another and the world at large. We also see that many of our struggles have long histories and that, in the measured often lengthy manner of Quaker engagement, we are making progress toward unity and Spirit-led understanding. While we often grow weary from efforts to resolve tender issues and better care for each other, we know that in all things we are linked by the Divinity that resides within us and within our community of believers and seekers.

 

Capital Improvement Task Force Request

As we reported last month, the architects are nearing completion of the Schematic Design Phase of the design contract for the renovation project.

The stages of our architectural design contract are as follows:

I - Survey and Evaluation	$2,820
II - Schematic Design	$51,175
III - Design Development	$40,360
IV - Construction Documents	$76,478
V - Construction Administration	$36,880
Direct Costs	$8,466
	$216,179

These costs were included in our earlier $1.8 million project cost estimate, so the estimated cost of the remaining work will be accordingly reduced as this work is completed.

When we finish the Schematic Design Phase, we will have done roughly 30% of the preconstruction design work.

The architects are awaiting the results of civil engineering (storm water management) and geotechnical (soil conditions) studies, and we expect to get revised project cost estimates and drawings and plans in the next few weeks.  At that point, the Schematic Design phase will be complete and the architects will need further spending authorization to proceed to the next design stage.

At that point, the Trustees may wish to authorize the CITF and architects to move forward to insure that design issues do not cause further delay.  To do that, they will need Meeting approval, but there will be no Meeting for Business for the next six weeks.

CITF requests that the Meeting authorize the Trustees to review the situation at the completion of the Schematic Design phase and, if appropriate, to approve up to $50,000 in additional design work, which should take us up to the beginning of construction documents and permitting.

Here ends the Minutes and Reports for June 2013

Upcoming Events, July 2013

The annual FGC Gathering will begin on Sunday June 30 and continue until Saturday the 6th of July at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, CO. Registration opens on April 3. See the FGC website for full details of the planning and registration information. (www.fgcquaker.org/connect/gathering).

The Grate Patrol packs and delivers 120 bag lunches and soup to people living on the street on Wednesday, July 3.  Soup or chili is made in the afternoon.  At 5:30 PM we start making sandwiches and packing the lunch bags.  At 7 PM, we load the van and one or two people go out on delivery for about an hour.  You’re welcome to help out with any or all of these things.  Call Steve Brooks 240-328-5439 or email sbrooks@uab.edu for more information. 

The 44th Triennial of the United Society of Friends Women International (meeting with Quaker Men International) will be held from July 4 to 7, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Registration information, including online registration, is available on the USFWI website. (www.usfwi.org/2013triennial.htm)

Come to S.O.M.E. on Saturday, July 6 at 6:15 AM and be prepared to flip pancakes and help prepare breakfast for our vulnerable neighbors. The kitchen is at 70 “0” St. NW, adjacent to a parking lot. For more information and to sign up, contact Betsy Bramon at betsy.bramon@gmail.com

A Meeting for Singing will be held at 10:00 AM on Sunday, July 7 and every first First Day for the rest of the year. Join in singing chants, hymns and songs of praise and longing. All voices and ages welcome; no paper training required. For more information, contact Debby at admin@quakersdc.org

Come to the monthly Meeting for Worship and Potluck on Tuesday, July 9. Worship begins at 6:30 PM; potluck at 7:00 PM. All are welcome.

Abby Atwater Hadley, a pillar of Langley Hill Meeting, died on May 22 , 2013 at Friends House Nursing Home at the age of 102. Her Memorial Service will be held at Friends House Miller Center at 1 pm on Saturday, July 13. A reception will follow in the dining room. All are welcome. Donations in Abby's honor can be made to Friends House (www.friendshouse.com), AFSC (www.afsc.org), the Fellowship of Reconciliation (www.forusa.org), or the American Indian Education Foundation (www.ncrprograms.org).

There will be a Vigil to Protest Drone Warfareon Saturday, July 13 at the Main Gate of the Central Intelligence Agency beginning at 10:00 am. Please join us at the Vigil, and for light refreshments at the Langley Hill Meeting House afterwards. For more information, contact Malachy Kilbride (malachykilbride@yahoo.com)

Perimeter Trail Hike to be led by board member Michael Moore at the Friends Wilderness Center on Saturday, July 13, starting at 10 a.m.. This will be a serious hike around part of the perimeter trail. Bag lunch will be savored at the beautiful Crescent Rock overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. Contact Sheila Bach for reservations.

THINKING ABOUT RACE(prepared by Elizabeth DuVerlie) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Affirmative Action:

“Much has changed in the thinking about affirmative action since those early days when it opened doors in my life and [my brother] Junior’s.  But one thing has not changed:  to doubt the worth of minority students’ achievements when they succeed is really only to present another facet of the prejudice that would deny them a chance even to try.  It is the same prejudice that insists all those destined for success must be cast from the same mould as those who have succeeded before them, a view that experience has already proven a fallacy.

-          from My Beloved World, by Sonia Sotomayor, 2013

The BYM Working Group on Racism meets Saturday, July 20.  If you would like to attend, on a regular or a drop-in basis, contact clerk David Etheridge, david.etheridge@verizon.net

FMW Summer Work Days

We need YOU!

July 20 August 10 September 28

Please consider helping the meeting by contributing some of your time on one two or three of the workdays over the summer.

Friends Meeting of Washington has a large facility that needs regular care and maintenance and by contributing your time we are able to save a lot of money.  You do not need to be a skilled crafts person – there are many and varied tasks to be done. Some of us are not able to serve on a committee or donate funds to the extent we would like to ---  coming to one or more of the workdays is a substantial contribution and a way to support the meeting community.

We are hoping to have a notable turn out all three days.

It would be very helpful to let us know you are coming – or if you just need more information.

- Jean Harman  (ellenjeanharman@hotmail.com)

Eureka! There is another fun filled fibre fiasco,onSunday, July 28 in the North Room atnoon.  Please join other fab fibre friends as we knit, crochet, quilt, tat, mend and sew together.

Baltimore Yearly Meeting will return to Frostburg State University for Annual Session 2013! The Pre-Session Retreat will begin after lunch on Monday, July 29 and conclude around 11:00 am on Tuesday the 30th. Annual Session will begin that day and continue through Sunday, August 4. For more information and to register, go online to http://www.bym-rsf.org/events/annualsession/

_______________________________________________________________________

From the Vault

Random Happenings

This month has been all about bathrooms, for some reason. Ken Orvis and Jon DeWitt have been making major and minor improvements to all the downstairs bathrooms, including the icky one in back (which is now a thing of beauty). Then Olivia James suggested that something we could do to make the Meetinghouse more welcoming to newcomers is to let them know where the restrooms are. This made sense, so we ordered various signs and are now all better informed.

A GW student of linguistic anthropology came to Meeting for Worship this month, wanting to find out about how Quakers speak. Marsha Holliday and I pondered this with her. She noticed that the two speakers that day were both men; she asked, do women speak in Meeting? Marsha and I laughed uproariously; then Marsha (more politely) told her about how we test for whether or not to speak—is this message from Spirit? Is it for me and me alone? Is it for the group? Can I not speak?

The student wondered if there was a difference between how men and women speak in Meeting. Still thinking about that one. Then she observed that when people made announcements, they used lots of um’s and uh’s and other filler words. When they spoke out of the silence during worship, she noticed, they spoke straight through without the use of filler words. That’s a sure sign of Spirit, I thought.

We’ve heard from Gerri Williams and Ray Allard, who survived the trip to their new home in Duluth, MN, along with brave cat Connor, shown here.  Gerri says she knows just how he feels.

The month also included one of those quiet and yet marvelous occurrences in the wonderful world of Quakers—a Friend who received a clear leading and followed it, benefiting many. Gene Throwe felt led to have Quakers participate in the Pride Festival, something we haven’t done for years since they started charging for such participation. He and I had lunch, and a plan unfolded for asking the various area meet-ings to participate and help share the cost.

With less than 4 weeks to go, Gene managed to secure participation from almost all the area meetings and William Penn House. He found materials to distribute that described the Religious Society of Friends, its local meetings, and various activities. And he coordinated a whole day’s worth of volunteers (with great participation from FMW Friends Kim and Greyson Acquaviva, Kristie Lane Anderson, Kathy Brandt, Scott Breeze, Joe Izzo, Malachy Kilbride, and me). Many people came to the booth and said how happy they were to see the Quakers there again, after all these years. Others came wanting to know more about our practices, our camps, our worship. A couple of people told me they thought the Quakers had all died out. Um, not?

- Debby