Ministry and Care Meeting Minutes for April 2, 2017
Present: Adrian Fisher, Pam Timme, Cossy Ksander, Ann Chase
Pastoral Ministry and Concerns: The mid-week worship group will be April 19 at Ann’s house.
Environmental Concerns:
· Adrian attended the planning meeting for the People’s Climate March in Chicago to be held on April 29. She has asked that a Meeting twitter account be set up and that Business Meeting would allow her to use it to send messages while at the Climate March.
· Adrian has been looking for other meeting members or attenders to become more involved with Interfaith Green Network. Alex Lippitt has been put in touch with the IGN greening PADS subcommittee. Pete Schwartz has also indicated an interest in IGN; Adrian will inform him of the available sub-committees.
· Re the 1000 Lake Building Plan, there will not be a letter of opposition for OP Friends to sign, as indicated in the last M&C minutes. Civic engagement with, and opposition to, the permitting process is taking place through other means.
We closed in silence.
Our next regular meeting will be May 7, 2017.
Respectfully submitted by Adrian Fisher
August 14, 2016
Oak Park Friends Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
In Attendance: Helen Dickinson (Recording Clerk), Sarah Shirk (Clerk), Jerry Nowatzke and Judy Erickson
The Meeting began with a Moment of Silent Worship.
Quaker Practice in Action: Sarah visited Crater Lake and observed that the National Park System reflected the Quaker Testimony of Stewardship of the land but also noticed economic inequality within the Park System.
July Minutes: Minutes were approved at the July meeting. There are two names that will be corrected.
There will be no Treasurers report. Committee Clerks are reminded to submit Budgets to the Treasurer by September. The Treasurer suggests that we review our donations.
Peace and Justice: Jerry suggests adding a list of the organizations we support to the Facebook page with the suggestion that these groups add a few sentences to describe their group. This could be on a separate linked page. There is also a page on our website with a list of the groups we support but that is less interactive. The Clerk suggests that we clarify our communications and outreach strategies.
Ministry and Care Committee Report:
- We have 3 new formal applications for membership in our meeting. Clearness Committees are being set up.
- We are working on a plan to celebrate our 75th Anniversary.
- October 16 will be an Architectural Tour of Oak Park. The Art League is part of the tour. We will not do our Pot Luck that day.
Nominating Committee: Marie has joined the Welcoming Committee. We welcome her participation.
Religious Education Committee Report:
Adult Religious Education: Using stories, discussion and worship sharing we will try to reflect deeply on the concept of privilege. The schedule is included in the Adult Religious Education Report. The Adult Religious Education Report is accepted by the Meeting.
Children’s Religious Education / Child Care: Sarah is willing to do Child Care. Committee should have a budget. Steve Wendel will continue his search for a Meeting with an active Children’s program.
Welcoming Committee: Sue, Judy, Marie and Johnny are members. Each member will need a set of keys.
Old Business: Direction of the Meeting Schedule. Peace and Justice will meet on August 23, 2016 at Alex Llippett’s house. At that time they can decide whether we can use the fourth Sunday of October for Direction of the Meeting. We will hold October 30 for Direction of the Meeting. If Judy Wolicke can’t come that day we will renegotiate the date.
New Business: A group will attend a Social Justice (Nature) Folk Music Concert by Amelia Sweet Bluebird Stamsta in Downers Grove on August 19, 2016
The Meeting ended with a Moment of Silent Worship.
Submitted by Helen R. Dickinson
July 10, 2016
Oak Park Friends Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
In Attendance: Helen Dickinson (Recording Clerk), Sarah Shirk (Clerk), Cossy Ksander, Jerry Nowatzke, Steve Wendel, Johnny Gillespie and Marie Gillespie
The Meeting began with a Moment of Silent Worship.
Quaker Practice in Action: Steve Wendel has expressed interest in helping our meeting restart a Children’s program after he recently attended FGC.
May Minutes: Minutes were reviewed and accepted at the May meeting.
Religious Education:
Children: See Quaker Practice in Action above. Sarah will contact Pam Timme regarding starting a Children’s Program. Steve can also contact teachers at the Chicago Friends School. Steve will be happy to coordinate the effort. He suggests starting the program on a Wednesday evening and Sunday morning to attract families who already attend Meetings elsewhere.
Treasurer’s Report: No report
Ministry and Care Committee Report:
- We have 3 new formal applications for membership in our meeting. Each applicant will have a Clearness committee for membership.
Nominating Committee:
- Jerry Nowatzke will work with Bob Southworth on prioritizing Peace and Justice Projects.
- Cossie will be the new Post Office box person.
- Johnny will be the new Facebook Page Manager.
Adult Religious Education: Judy and Marie will meet in August to schedule a Brain Storming Session.
Children’s Religious Education: Cossy has shown Marie where the Children’s supplies are in the closet.
Old Business:
- The poster on Quaker History has been in existence since the1960’s. We have the 17th edition. So the version we have is one of many.
- Facebook update: Johnny has begun creating a Facebook page.
The Meeting ended with a Moment of Silent Worship.
Submitted by Helen R. Dickinson
February 21, 2016
Oak Park Friends Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
In Attendance:
Helen Dickinson (Recording Clerk), Sarah Shirk (Clerk), Karen Heckman, Sue Beckman, Judy Erickson, Cossy Ksander,
Alex Lippitt, Johnny Gillespie and Marie Gillespie
The Meeting began with a Moment of Silent Worship.
Quaker Practice in Action:
Message about 23d Psalm and attender’s son at college reminds us that while life’s challenges can be daunting, in the end our “cup runneth over” with grace.
January Minutes: Minutes were reviewed. No changes needed.
Treasurer’s Report:
Submitted by Valerie Lester (Treasurer). Meeting asks whether the CD recommended by the treasurer at the January 2016 Meeting for Business has been purchased yet.
The Meeting also has questions about the net to reserve which looks like it is not carried from January to February.
Ministry and Care Committee Report:
A. A discussion was held regarding Vocal Ministry
B. A midweek worship service was hosted by Ann Chase and several people attended. The next session will be on March 16, 2016.
Site Committee: Committee looked at OPRF Historical Society’s new site. There is no elevator to the second floor so it is not ADA accessible. However, there are many positive aspects to this site. We will plan to keep the discussion open.
Religious Education Committee Report: There will be no Adult Religious Education program on May First. It will be rescheduled.
Business Meeting will be on May First.
Children’s Religious Education: Chicago Friends School is having a square dance as a fund raiser.
Old Business:
A. The Community of Congregations had their annual meeting which was attended by Alex Lippett
and Cynthia Harris.
B. Outreach to the Muslim Community: Heartland Alliance is a group that works with immigrants.
C. Quaker Cloud: We need to decide whether to continue using Sarah’s Cloud or convert to using
the Quaker Cloud. We will ask Valerie concerning budget for website services . All members and
attenders input is requested. The Cloud received a positive response from the Meeting but we
need to check on pricing, timing and space limitations.
New Business:
A. A car pool will be set up for the midweek worship service on March 16, 2016. Anyone who
needs a carpool can contact the Clerk of the Meeting.
B. We need forks and knives for our own use for potlucks.
The Minutes are approved.
The Meeting ended with a Moment of Silent Worship
.
Submitted by Helen R. Dickinson
******************************
Ministry & Care Abridged Minutes
Ministry and Care
Meeting March 6, 2016
Present: Sarah Shirk; Adrian Fisher; Ann Chase
Minutes:
We had no meeting in January. Minutes for December were approved via email.
Clerk’s Concerns:
Old Business
•
Website: Business Meeting approved the change to the “Quaker clou
d.” The financial details are being
worked out, but it is not expensive. This will be very beneficial, because it is maintained by FGC, and is designed specifically for the needs of Quaker meetings. We will make the migration by December 2016.
•Green Community Connections membership: Val Lester took care of this.
•Sarah has explored clerking workshops at Pendle Hill. She is now on the Alumni Council for Swarthmore College, which is near Pendle Hill, so will be able to attend workshops easily.
New Business: •It is nominating committee time a nd Sarah and Bob Southworth are asking members to fill the 3rd
spot.
Administration
Old business:
•2016 Direction of the Meeting Meeting. Judy Wolicki’s meeting summary was distributed to the business meeting and will be distributed to the whole meeting via the newsletter next month. We will read the summary and will discuss its implications at the next M&C meeting. Adrian will make a copy of the queries used and Judy’s summary and will create a file for use in future.
New Business:
•New membership process. We are taking this up as our 2016 project. We will go through our minutes and our old research and create an outline of the membership process that we’ll submit to business meeting for approval, with the goal of making it available to members and attenders online and as a handout. This outline will include a reference to the process we went through to create the outline, and will mention that we are creating a fuller document that will include our research.
We will then write the document as a historical reference and for M&C to use for guidance when approached by persons
desiring to become members. Our first step will be to meet at the library on March 21, 6 pm, to create the outline.
Vocal Ministry: We will address this at our April meeting.
Requests for Membership: None at this time.
Environmental Concerns: No business at this time
We closed in silence.
Note: Our next meeting will begin at 8:30 am on April 3, 2016.
Respectfully submitted by Adrian Fisher
Oak Park Friends Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
January 10, 2016
In Attendance:
Helen Dickinson (Recording Clerk), Sarah Shirk (Clerk), Judy Erickson, Valerie Lester, Johnny Gillespie and Marie Gillespie
The Meeting began with a Moment of Silent Worship.
Quaker Practice in Action:
Donna Bast, founding member of the Oak Park Coalition for Peace and Justice died on December 29, 2015 after a seven year battle with cancer. Her life embodied the Quaker Testimonies.
December Minutes:
Minutes were reviewed. No changes needed.
Treasurer's Report:
Year to date income: $7,191; expenses: $5,534. Treasurer is grateful to the generosity of Friends. Treasurer will make the already approved donations to other groups. Treasurer will buy an 18 month CD at 1% interest with at least $5,000 after Judy does more research.
Ministry and Care Committee:
Judy met with Adrian regarding her spiritual gifts and leadings and asked how we can support her in this. A full report will come from the Ministry and Care Committee.
Site Committee:
No short term options. Two sites may be possible in about a year.
Religious Education:
A. Adult Religious Education: Peace through Body, Breath and Voice is scheduled for January 24, 2016 at 11:30 AM.
B. The Committee is considering a multi session on Immigration for February through April. Resources for FCNL were presented to the Adult Religious Education Committee.
C. Children’s Religious Education: Chicago Friends School is working toward accreditation. Children are making hygiene kits for immigrant families.
Old Business:
A. Our delegates to the Community of Congregations will be Alex Lippett and Cynthia Harris.
B. The Open Letter in Support of Religious Tolerance published a few years ago will be revised with the addition of
activities at Chicago Friends School and our Adult Religious Education Program and sent to a local newspaper.
C. We will plan to r each out to So hail and Penny Murad to ask if there is anything we can do to help support their family
or the local Muslim Community.
New Business: A. Chicago South Planning Group needs a representative. This group there will be a discussion regarding getting a dedicated person for Children’s Education at ILYM.
The Minutes are approved.
The Meeting ended with a Moment of Silent Worship.
Submitted by Helen R.
Oak Park Friends Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
November 8, 2015
In Attendance: Helen Dickinson (Recording Clerk), Sarah Shirk (Clerk), Cossy Ksander, Johnny Gillespie, Marie Gillespie, Valerie Lester (Treasurer), Judy Erickson and Sue Beckman Meeting began with silent worship.
Quaker Practice in Action:
- President Barack Obama has rejected the Keystone Pipeline to protect the environment.
- Johnny Gillespie has won an award for Environmental Stewardship for getting sensors put in rest rooms at Good Samaritan Hospital to shut off lights in rest rooms when not needed.
Treasurer/Finance Committee: Report is attached. We have spent $991 more than we have taken in this fiscal year. This is consistent with historical patterns.
Ministry and Care: Ministry and care report is attached.
Religious Education:
Adult: No report. Next program will be on the topic of Hanukah traditions.
Children: Karen Carney Head of School at Chicago Friends School has been asked to meet with us on 11/29/2015. Her proposed presentation was approved by the meeting. Sarah will get more information on content and target audience and make appropriate arrangements.
Old Business:
A. Green Community Connections sent out invitations.
- Session is “Our Once and Future Planet” on 11/10/2015 at 7 to 9 pm at First United Church, 848 Lake Street, Oak Park.
- There is a request for Green Guides in OPRF. To sign up go to http://tinyurl.com/nkz89ut.
New Business:
- Holiday Food and Gift Basket: We will offer to cover five individuals. Sue Beckman will be our liaison to the program.
- Quaker Family Tree document Marti Matthews: Sarah will send a Thank You note to Marti for this gift. Cossy and others will do some research on the origin of this document to find out how unique it is. How can we display it so others can use it?
- Nominating Committee: We need to form a Naming Committee that will select the Nominating Committee at this time. Bob Southworth will be asked. Sarah Shirk will be one member of the Naming Committee.
- Site Committee continues to explore alternative locations. The Committee asks “are we open to the concept of meeting in the late afternoon or evening?” This would open up other possibilities for sites. No new decision was made at this time. A request to continue this discussion at the Direction of the Meeting will be made.
- Library Committee: Cossy has a list of the books that we have that can be sorted by Author or by Title. If you want to know if we have certain book you can ask Cossy.
Minutes Approval: Minutes for the November Business Meeting were reviewed and approved.
The Meeting Closed with a Moment of Silence.
Submitted by: Helen R. Dickinson
Oak Park Friends Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
October 11, 2015
In Attendance: Helen Dickinson (Recording Clerk), Sarah Shirk (Clerk) Cossy Ksander, Johnny Gillespie, Marie Gillespie, Kelly Maynard, Judy Erickson and Sue Beckman
Meeting began with silent worship.
Quaker Practice in Action: The new Head of School and teacher at Chicago Friend’s School took all Kindergarteners to the Head of School Office to create an environment of peace, equality and simplicity.
September Minutes: Correction in spelling of Valerie Lester’s name from Valery to Valerie.
Kelly Maynard did not attend the Adult Religious Education Committee on September 27, 2015.
Treasurer/Finance Committee: No report was submitted.
Ministry and Care: Environmental Concerns:
Business Meeting confirms that Adrian can represent Oak Park Friends Meeting as member of the Environmental Concerns Subcommittee of the Ministry and Care Committee except where financial, legal and spiritual consequences ensue.
Judy will consult with Adrian concerning initiating a process for recording her ministry.
Green Community Connections: Will the Meeting agree to donate money to support the Spring 2016 Film Festival? Yes, we will at the level of $100 with $25 from the ARE budget and $75 from the M & C budget.
Religious Education:
Adult: Meeting Minutes were submitted and accepted with date correction from September 7 to September 6, 2015.
Children: Chicago Friends School has a new Head of School who started last Monday.
Karen Carney is from Evanston Friends Meeting.
Old Business:
- Attendance records for ILYM (members/attenders/visitors/children) will be recorded by Judy Erickson.
- The entire set-up committee will assist in moving the table if needed.
- Proposal to support Green Community Connections which was discussed earlier at this meeting.
- The Quaker Cloud for website. This will be considered after seasoning.
The Meeting Closed with a Moment of Silence.
Submitted by: Helen R. Dickinson
Oak Park Friends Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
September 20, 2015
In Attendance: Helen Dickinson (Recording Clerk), Sarah Shirk (Clerk) and Valery Lester (Treasurer)
Meeting began with silent worship.
Quaker Practice in Action: Pope Francis, who has extraordinary power, is using his power in the service of good to the betterment of all.
August Minutes: Under Children’s education the record states that the school has a new principal. It should have said that the school is seeking a new Head of School. Otherwise the record is correct.
Treasurer/Finance Committee: The Treasurer has submitted a proposed budget for the 2015 to 2016 year and year to date income and expenses. The Treasurer revised the budget proposal based on feedback. The budget is $11,979 with expected income of $12,001.
Site Committee: We have no active site pending. We will continue to look.
Ministry and Care: The report is attached below.
Religious Education:
Adult: Marie Gillespie and Kelly Maynard led a brainstorming session on September 6, 2015 on Programming. The Committee will work on Programming.
Children: Chicago Friends School is doing a fundraiser and a five K run will be held on Sunday September 27, 2015. The Head of School will be announced in October.
Old Business:
- Marti Matthews membership – she has resigned her membership from our meeting. M & C Committee is working on a formal letter to ILYM.
- Johnny Gillespie’s Chaplain Endorsement letter was sent on August 28, and a copy is provided for Meeting records.
Minutes Approval: Minutes for the September Business Meeting were reviewed and approved.
The Meeting Closed with a Moment of Silence.
Submitted by: Helen R. Dickinson
****************************
Oak Park Friends Meeting -Ministry and Care Committee Minutes-September 9, 2015
In attendance: Pam Timme and Sarah Shirk
Meeting began with silent worship.
- Clerk’s Concerns – Chicago Friends School did not hit enrollment target of 20 students. Scholarship funds are needed to provide spots for two additional students this school year.
- Administrative tasks will need to be thinned for member who is seeking support for time demands from our Meeting. Newsletter will now go out 6 times per year. Attendance recording task will need to be shared so that averages can be reported to ILYM
- Letter for Marti Matthew’s resignation needs to be sent to ILYM.
- Letter for Johnny Gillespie’s professional group, Association of Professional Chaplains was mailed August 28th indicating our Meeting’s endorsement of Johnny as a member in good standing.
Meeting closed with silent worship.
Respectfully submitted by,
Sarah Shirk
Recording Clerk
Oak Mark Friends Business Meeting Minutes for August 9 2015
Oak Park Friends Meeting 8/9/2015
In attendance: Sue Beckman, Sarah Shirk, Kelly Maynard, Val Lester, Cossy Ksander, Judy Erikson, Johnny Gillespie, Marie Gillespie
Meeting began with Silent Worship
Quaker Practice in Action: Cossy shared thoughts about receiving her first copy of Friends Journal; that the journal is a form of symbol representing the national community of Friends
Treasurer’s Report: Val explained the proposed 2015-16 budget. The practice is to bring next year’s budget to the August business meeting with approval at the business meeting in September. Val suggests and recommends that the meeting consider reinstating the full contributions. (budget attached)
Site Committee Report: For the committee, Val reported that the Children’s Garden option will not happen. Meeting will continue to be held at the Oak Park Art League with an increase in rent. For the meeting, Cynthia will be the liaison with the Oak Park Art League. (written report attached)
Ministry and Care Committee Report: (written report attached)
There was discussion regarding the resignation letter from member Marti Matthews. Sarah read the letter addressed to the meeting from Marti. Connecting with Marti writing on Dag Hammarshkjold’s birthday, Marie shared the following prayer written by him in his book Markings: “For all that has been—thanks. For all that shall be—yes.” The meeting approved and accepted the request for resignation from the Oak Park Friends Meeting.
There was discussion regarding Adrian Fisher’s 5th Sunday sharing session on August 30 regarding the Pope’s Encyclical on climate change. The link to the Encyclical will be included in the newsletter.
Kelly asked for clarity regarding vocal ministry. After discussion, the meeting felt the leading was to bring back worship sharing and to encourage vocal ministry.
There was discussion about queries. There was a point of clarification that queries can be read at any time. Meeting consensus was achieved; queries will be read by Johnny on the 4th Sunday and that Adult Religious Education and Ministry and Care will season possible approaches to worship sharing.
A question was brought to meeting by Kelly about what happened to the idea of midweek worship. It was reported that there are no updates from the summer.
There was discussion regarding the request for endorsement by Johnny Gillespie. Johnny explained the reason for the request and the background. Sarah read the endorsement letter she addressed to the Association of Professional Chaplains. The letter for endorsement of Johnny Gillespie by the Oak Park Friends Meeting was approved by the meeting.
Adult Religious Education: Kelly and Marie will meet to plan for the fall. First Sunday in September (9/6) we invite all members and attenders to stay and brainstorm ideas of what people might be interested in (topics, movies, people…)
Children’s Education: Sarah shared that the Chicago Friends School has a new principal, that there is room for 2-3 more students for school starting 9/7, and that they are seeking new board members who are Quaker.
Minutes approval: Minutes for the June business meeting were reviewed and approved (attached)
September 13 is the date for the next business meeting.
The meeting closed with a moment of silence.
Submitted by Marie Gillespie