Meeting for Worship with the Attention to Business

2nd Month of 2006

Present: Florence Tucker, Bill Reynolds, Doug Dwyer, Larry Ingle, Sharon Dwyer, Janine Bruton, Craig Davoulas, Jim Bowman, Becky Ingle, and Chuck Jones (clerk).

 

            Meeting opened with a period of worship, during which the clerk read

 

Clerk’s Notes:  Please keep extraneous comments or comments that have already been said to a minimum.

 

Other Business:

Fair Trade Coffee:  Sue Reynolds wants to buy the coffee for the meetinghouse.  She reports that “fair trade” coffee and other products help the family farmer in developing countries to compete in the world market, that is contributes to sustainable farming, fairer prices for the farmers, thus allowing farmers to feed their families and provide education for their children.  The products are usually organically or shade grown.  Shade grown products reduce clear-cutting of the rainforest, helps to reduce global warming, and increases biodiversity.  Sue encourages Friends to buy fairtrade coffee as well as coffee for their personal use as well and she names a couple of places to get it in Chattanooga:  Green Life and Starbucks Coffee and sometimes Stone Cup Coffee.  Chuck pointed out that several websites were listed in a previous newsletter.  They will be listed again in the newsletter for this month.  Friends approved not only of Sue purchasing the fairtrade coffee as part of her contribution to the meeting, but that we would switch to using it in the meeting.  It was agreed that when we noticed coffee was low, that she should notified.

 

Letters:  the clerk mentioned that the letter to Phillip Gehron had been sent back in December and that no reply had been received.  The letter the Ingles had sent by certified mail as well as a copy of the letter the clerk had sent were turned over to Becky Ingle who would file them for the meeting.  It was agreed that no further action would be taken at this time.

 

The clerk had received a letter from Janine Bruton requesting a letter of introduction for her as she travels to Australia with the Friendly Folk Dancers.  He wrote it and read it to the meeting.  It is at this link (Letter of Introduction), if you’re reading it on the website or it follows the hardcopy newsletter version.

 

A letter was also received from Janine Bruton requesting that she be considered for membership.  The letter was passed on to Ministry Oversight who will appoint a clearness committee to meet with her.

 

Torture:  a conference has been planned for June 2 – 4, 2006 in Greensboro, N.C. on the campus of Guilford College. It is sponsored by FWCC (Friends World Committee for Consultation) to whom we contribute annually.  The clerk asked that the meeting consider sending someone to the conference or giving a contribution. Meeting agreed to refer this issue to the Peace Committee.  A poster was put on the calendar in the meetinghouse, here is a copy. The conference is organized by a group called the Quaker Initiative to End Torture (QUIT).

                       

Ministry Oversight  :  Ministry and Oversight Committee met on the Third First Day of last month.  They discussed a few topics but came to a conclusion on only one of those (#5). 

The topics were:

Maybe making the Meeting's website more dynamic by frequently posting new items there - with at least one other Friend assisting Jim Bowman in that to prevent over-burdening him;

Outreach to the Greater Chattanooga community by having Chattanooga Meeting bumper stickers and radio spots;

Second Hour for first First Day next month around the topic of Justice and/or Peace;

Having a workshop on racism among Quakers led by Atlanta Friend Bert Skellie;

Janine Bruton's travels and ministry with "The Friendly Folk Dancers" to Friends Meetings in Australia.

  The only decision we made in this meeting was for Clerk Chuck to write a letter of introduction for Janine for her visits with the Australian Meetings.

“Australian trip as part of the Friendly Folk Dancers."

 

2nd Hours

Third Month, 2006

1st First Day – FCNL’s Legislative Priorities for 2007

2nd First Day – Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

3rd first Day – Potluck- followed by Ministry Oversight regular monthly meeting

4th First Day – Bible Study – Luke 20, almost 21

5th First Day – there is not 5th First Day in the 3rd Month.

 

Religious Education: No Report

 

Property Oversight:  The committee had a plumber come check on a water leak in the 1st floor ceiling due to a problem in the upstairs bathroom.  But the plumber did not find any leaks and it was suggested that the bathtub water came from the overflow value. On a later inspection, the committee did not find any overflow value so we still don’t know what happened.  The ceiling is dry now and we will wait.

            The committee also reports that the paint in the upstairs bathroom is peeling due to the high moisture level and will need to be repainted at least after the resident moves out of the meetinghouse.

The committee is still taking suggestions and ideas on options as to what we should do about the driveway.  Friends are encouraged to read the information in the dining room on different driveway and parking lot materials. They may also want to check out the websites listed in the brochures.

 

Treasury Report:  The monthly meeting treasury report was presented and received.  It is as shown.  The meeting received it without much conversation.

 

Peace and Social Concerns:  No report today.

 

Meeting closed with a period of worship

 

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