SUMMER 200711 Third Month 2007
alem Quarterly Meeting met 11 Third Month 2007, in Friends Village at Woodstown. During worship, Friends shared joys and names of those to be held in the Light. After reminding Friends to listen to the Spirit during meeting for business and to complete the evaluation forms, clerk Sondra Ball (Mickleton) convened the meeting. She thanked those people who e-mailed their reports prior to quarterly meeting. There was a Friendly presence of twenty-six for business meeting.
The minutes of the last quarterly meeting were distributed and approved with the following corrections or amendments. Page 1, paragraph 6, line 2 should read committee, not somittee; page 2 paragraph 2 line 3, should read expressed, not ex-pressed, and there should be a space between their and expressed; page 2. paragraph 6, line 2,should read Meetings not Meeting's, and financial not finacially. For the purpose of clarity, on page 1 paragraph 3 line 2, "old" and "cemetery" should be capitalized and original of LAC should be added parenthetically.
Tom Etherington (Mullica Hill) shared some of the activities at Mullica Hill Meeting. They will be hosting a Good Friday service lead by Bill Geary at 11:00 am on 6 Fourth-month, with lunch served at noon. Tom also had a copy of the recently published Gloucester County Nature Club book, Natural Places of Gloucester County, which lists Mullica Hill as one of the best public places to observe nature. Mullica Hill Meeting is a Heritage sponsor of the book.
The clerk read a letter from Colleen Barry (Seaville), a young Friend who will be participating in the People to People ambassador exchange program this summer. She will be traveling to England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and requests funds from quarterly meeting. It was noted that the People to People website post a daily blog of trip activity. Quarterly meeting approved the following minute and empowered the clerk to write a traveling minute for Colleen.
Salem Quarterly Meeting approved a $500 donation from the donations line item to Colleen Barry of Seaville Monthly Meeting who is participating in the People to People student ambassador program this summer traveling to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Linda Jeffery (Woodstown) presented a letter endorsed by Woodstown Meeting and brought for consideration by quarterly meeting. The letter outlines the situation of Iraqi psychiatrist Dr. Abdul Karim Salman Mahdi and his family with regards to their application for visas and asylum in the U.S.A. Linda explained that what is need is a demonstration of support for Dr. Karim so that the United States Department of State is reassured that he and his family will not become a burden to the U.S. government. This may be accomplished with a letter declaring that Dr. Karim has contacts within the U.S. and a community support system. Friends shared their thoughts and questions. It was the sense of the meeting that there was support to bring Dr. Karim and his family here. After a period of worship, meeting approved the following minute.
As a faith community, Salem Quarterly Meeting approved taking responsibility for supporting the efforts to bring Dr. Abdul Karim and his family to the United States. Meeting further approved appointing a committee to handle the mechanics of letter writing and other arrangements as necessary.
The committee will consist of Salem Quarterly Meeting clerk Sondra Ball (Mickleton), Linda Jeffery (Woodstown) and any other Friends who feel led to serve.
Under old business, the status of the Seaville minute concerning the dumping of nerve gas in the Delaware River was updated. The company has agreed to discard their plan to dump the gas in the river.
Peggy Warner (Mullica Hill) presented the annual report of the Nominating Committee [p. 18]. She thanked the committees and their clerks for all their efforts and contributions. Meeting approved the Nominating Committee's recommendations as presented. It was noted that Woodstown Monthly Meeting has a new clerk. We are entitled to three positions on the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting nominating committee. There are currently two vacancies. The Salem Quarterly Meeting Trustees have appointed Gary Holmes (Woodstown) as their clerk.
Gloria Horvay (Mickleton) reported from the Auditing Committee. They reviewed the books back to 2002 and found no exceptions. As such they considered the audit to be complete. Meeting accepted the report.
The Steering Committee report was made by committee clerk Tom Etherington (Mullica Hill). The ad for the Friends School Mullica Hill auction catalogue will be submitted by Monday. The company that provided the labels for the Salem Quarterly Meeting News has gone out of business. This combined with the coordinator's recent illness lead to the absence of the News.
Meeting accepted the report as presented by Mike Ayars (Woodstown) from the Finance Committee, which indicated that income was slightly up, expenses underspent, and monthly meeting payments on track.
Mike Ayars (Woodstown) reported on Friends Village. He shared the specialties of each area of the Village from assisted living to health care and dementia care. Mike noted that the Friends Village auditorium is available for use by meetings and individuals. Cost is dependent upon the extent of the use of facilities. Meeting accepted the report and approved the request to minute thanks to Diane Brooks, Marie Haaf, and Woodstown Meeting for their efforts in this unusual hosting of Quarterly Meeting.
The clerk read the Worship & Ministry report as submitted by Mario Cavallini [p. 14]. The report noted monthly meeting activities, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting support, and meeting visitation by the coordinator. The report was accepted.
Patti Burns (Woodstown) reported on the Salem Quarter Friends ~ Young and Young at Heart [p. 16]. At their last event they made Valentines for Friends Village residents. Their next activity will be held at Woodstown Monthly Meeting, where they will be making soup for Ann's Abbey of Woodstown, a group home for disabled adults. Meeting thanked Patti and accepted the report.
As a liaison to Friends School Mullica Hill, Patti Burns presented a brief report on the Friends School current activities [p. 17]. She also stated that with the recent appointment of Tom Etherington to the Board, every Meeting except Seaville is represented. Meeting accepted the report.
The clerk made announcements regarding upcoming events from Friends General Conference to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and through the Quarter. She thanked the Friends Village for their hospitality and Mike Ayars for all his coordination and problem-solving efforts. Meeting was closed with worship.
Rebecca Shapiro, assistant clerkRETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Monday, May 21, 2007 at 11:48 PM
