Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Richmond, VA

Among Friends Newsletter March 2019

by Diane Bowden | Feb 22, 2019 | Announcement, Committees

Among Friends 2019 03 March redacted

Spiritual State of the Meeting Invitation

by Diane Bowden | Feb 4, 2019 | Announcement, Committees

Each February, the Ministry and Worship Committee of Richmond Friends Meeting writes a Spiritual State of the Meeting report for the previous calendar year. Most years, we hold a worship sharing session on a Saturday morning to reflect and share our experiences of the past year. This year, our meeting to share about 2017 will be held on Saturday, February 9. Bagels, juice and coffee will be available starting at 9 am. We will be seated and begin settling by 9:30 am to hear guidelines for worship sharing from the facilitator before we begin considering queries. The worship sharing will end by noon.The themes expressed during worship sharing will be recorded by members of Ministry and Worship and considered during the drafting of the spiritual state of the meeting report. The report will be brought to Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business for approval before being sent to in April to the Ministry and Pastoral Care Committee of Baltimore Yearly Meeting for use in their preparation of the report for annual sessions.Each year Baltimore Yearly Meeting sends suggested queries for sharing about the spiritual state of the meeting. This year’s queries will be distributed prior to the gathering.All members and attenders of our meeting are encouraged to attend this gathering and share. We welcome every voice. If you are not able to attend, you are invited to send reflections in writing to the clerk of Ministry and Worship Committee, Denna Joy, by email, or you may leave letters in the mailbox for Ministry and Worship

Information and Guidance for Committee Clerks from Nominating Committee

by Diane Bowden | Feb 23, 2018 | Announcement, Committees

Old Clerks/New Clerks Meeting

February 4, 2018 2018

Nominating Committee Members liaison responsibilities:

 Chris Olson-Vickers (See RFM Directory for contact information)

Buildings & Grounds, Adult Spiritual Education, Clearing Oversight, Child Care Coordinator, Directory/mailing list, AFSC representative, Building Coordinators, Friends House, VICPP Representative, Financial Stewardship, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer.

Catherine Roseberry (See RFM Directory for contact information)

Religious Education, Peace & Social Concerns, Hospitality, Work Camp, FCNL representative, Recording clerk, Quaker House Board representatives, Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond, Ministry & Worship, Website, FGC Liaison, BYM representative

Clarisse Harton (See RFM Directory for contact information)

Care and Counsel, Spring Retreat, Bulletin Board Coordinator, Newsletter Mailing, Visibility Coordinators, Archivist/Recorder, Historian, Interchange Editor, Newsletter Editors, Telephone Liaison, Trustees

 Responsibilities of Committee Clerks

Clerks’ Gathering

This is held on the Wednesday before monthly Meetings for Worship with attention to Business (MWB). These gatherings are currently scheduled at 7:15 PM at the Meetinghouse. The purposes of the gathering are to:

1. Help the Clerk create the agenda for MWB;
2. Make sure the business is well seasoned before bringing it the full Meeting;
3. Promote communication between committees; and
4. Help committee clerks develop their reports so that they are easily understood at MWB. The substantive content of issues is not evaluated.

Committee clerks are asked to:

• Attend the clerks’ gathering or get a substitute. If no one can attend, provide your agenda item to the Clerk of Meeting prior to the Wednesday meeting.
• Provide to the Recording Clerk, in writing, minutes proposed for approval and important details of lengthy reports.
• Submit reports electronically to the clerk by 4:00 pm Thursday before MWB if you want to have a hard copy included in the MWB agenda packet. After MWB, if you would like the report to appear in the newsletter, you must send it to the newsletter address. If your committee brings a recommendation that is approved with changes, then it is the responsibility of the committee to make the changes and submit to the newsletter.

Committee Finances and Managing your committee budget

Managing the budget for a committee is the responsibility of the committee’s clerk. This includes overseeing budget requests, approving expenditures/reimbursements, and monitoring the money in that committee’s account.

As a general guideline:

• Keep track of your committee’s expenses during the year. The budget for committees is published in the January newsletter.
• Committee clerks may approve expenditures of up to $100. The full committee should approve expenditures of $100 or more in advance.
• Committee expenditures of $1,000 or more must be taken to MWB for approval, even if the money exists within the committee budget.
• A firm rule: Any expenditure in excess of the committee budget must be taken to Financial Stewardship and the clerks’ gathering, In some cases it may require MWB for approval.

How to access finances for committee expenses:

• Only committee clerks may submit bills or receipts to the Treasurer. Committee clerks must approve all reimbursements for committee expenses. Bills or receipts are to be submitted in the Treasurer’s mailbox. Simply indicate on the bill or receipt the committee name, and sign it. Receipts for “in-kind” contributions for committee expenses should also be submitted to the Treasurer as indicated above.
• If a check is to be written to an individual or an organization, please make sure that a mailing address is clearly indicated.
• Committees are asked to submit their budgets for the coming year to Financial Stewardship, by mid-October.

Attach a scanned copy of the receipt (preferred!) In a pinch, you may submit a smart phone picture of the receipt that is clear and legible. You may need to send the image in a larger/higher resolution format.

Committee expenses are usually booked as a committee expense. Please indicate if the expense should be booked to a special account, e.g., M&W, Visibility, P&SC Representative to FCNL, etc.

The Quarterly Treasurer’s Report shows committee budgets and balances. If you have questions of how to handle a specific transaction, please contact the Treasurer (rfmtreasurer4500@gmail.com).

Scheduling a meeting/event

If your committee meets at the Meetinghouse, please schedule a room with the Building Use Coordinator, Bob Alexander at (bobandbarbalex@verizon.net) The same goes for special events like a Friendly Forum. If you plan to have the meetings recur every month, let him know so he can block that time for your committee throughout the year. You can check availability in advance by consulting the RFM website’s calendar for building use.

Newsletter submissions

The newsletter editors are Diane Bowden and Don Miller. You can send information to them by using rfmnewsletter@gmail.com. The information will go to both of them. The deadline for including information in the newsletter is the 3rd First Day, after MWB. If you present an item at MWB, and you would also like it to appear in the newsletter, you must send it to the newsletter address (don’t expect the Clerk of Meeting or Recording Clerk to do it).

Website

• The website can be a useful tool for sharing information with the larger community. Submit committee news for general posting on the website to webpost@richmondfriendsmeeting.org.
• Committees can place documents on the RFM website in a folder for your committee in a password protected area for their committee. You can add, modify, or delete items. Anyone from the committee will show you how to do this upon request.
• For accessing committee documents that have been placed in your committee’s folder on the website, go to the “About Us” page of the site. Scroll down and click the link for “Meeting and Committee Documents.” The password to the private area is (contact the website editor or any RFM Friend). Click “Committee Documents.” Then click on the folder for your committee.

Putting something on the Listserv:

Write your message and send it to Sanford Hostetter at newslist@richmondfriendsmeeting.org. This system is for time-critical information which comes from your committee/position within Meeting. Do not count on Sanford to write it for you. He will publish it exactly as you send it.

Archives

 Meeting records are stored in loose leaf binders in the library and in a file cabinet in the closet near the library. The archivist periodically sends the hard copies of most records to the Library of Virginia, who sends microfilm copies to Haverford College.

• Membership records. The Care and Counsel committee collects membership records from new members and sends them to the recorder. The Clerk of Meeting collects membership records for transferred members and submits these to the recorder as well. The recorder reports membership and attender information each year to BYM including age and ethnic background of the community.
• The recording clerk gives business meeting minutes and supporting documents to the Archivist.
• At year’s end, committee clerks send annual reports and minutes to the Archivist/Historian.

Other responsibilities of committee clerks

• If your committee puts on a forum or other event, you are responsible for food, setup, etc. You may use the coffee and tea in the kitchen. Leave a note for Hospitality if supplies are low.
• Inform the Directory manager and Nominating Committee that you are the new clerk for your committee.
• Send a copy of committee meeting minutes to the Clerk of Meeting when you think it would be helpful, and send a copy of the year’s collection of minutes to the Archivist/Historian at year’s end. These can be electronic copies.
• Write an annual report in early January. File this report with the committee records or in the committee’s folder on the website, and forward copies to the Clerk of Meeting, the Archivist/Historian, and Ministry and Worship.
• Place items for the bulletin board in the Bulletin Board Coordinator’s mailbox.
• Routinely check committee mailbox.
• Convene and facilitate the first committee meeting of the following year, during which a new clerk is to be chosen.

Clerking your Committee

Clerking a Successful Committee Experience

Goals

• The committee’s work should serve Meeting and, importantly, provide a positive experience for committee members..
• Service on committees should promote community bonding and one’s sense of self-worth.
• Clerking a committee can enhance the clerk’s confidence and ability as a leader.

A positive committee member experience:

• I felt that I was with friends.
• I knew what issues we were going to address in the meeting.
• My contributions were listened to, valued, and treated as important.
• Our time was used efficiently and productively.
• Our work felt like a team effort. Decisions were developed and supported by the entire group.

With this in mind, some observations for clerking:

• The clerk’s role is to foster an environment and process that is conducive to these goals.
• You are responsible for the meeting process (providing the container). You are the process Czar! So don’t refrain from gently moving things along, making sure everyone has the opportunity to speak, and so forth.
• But you are not responsible for the outcomes. You have no more authority or responsibility for decisions than any other committee member.
• Do not burn yourself out – delegate tasks to volunteers. You can be last in line.
• Embrace clerking as an exciting, possibly scary, but wonderful growth opportunity. Many Clerks of Meeting have shared this experience of self-discovery.

Facilitating Committee Meetings

Prior to the meeting

• Create a draft agenda and distribute it prior to the meeting.
• Send an email notification/reminder of the meeting. Phone anyone not on email.
• Keep copies of committee meeting minutes, or store them in your committee’s folder on the website.
• Maintain and update the committee’s manual of procedures/operations. This is extremely helpful in retaining “institutional knowledge” as turnover occurs in committee membership.
• Make sure all members have the manual of procedures/operations and timeline. Alternatively, put these items in your committee’s folder in the password-protected area of the website, and make sure committee members know how to access the folder.

Facilitating the meeting

• Start on time.
• Open with silence.
• Invite brief personal sharing with the option to pass.
• Ask for someone to record minutes and send them out.
• Set out the agenda, and ask members if other items should be added.
• Establish mindfulness of time. Agree on the ending time before you start business.
• Don’t allow tasks to slip through the cracks. When you start addressing business, (1) review minutes of previous meeting and (2) review status of assigned tasks.
• Facilitate the meeting: Attend to the agenda, watch the time, ensure that all are heard, and assess what needs to be resolved quickly or what can be carried over.
• Don’t allow discussion to continue endlessly. If you feel it would enhance group process, ask for a few moments of silence. When there appears to be a sense of the committee, test it by asking each of the members to confirm.
• Do not take business to MWB unless the committee has reached unity.
• Ask other members of the committee to take responsibility for most tasks. Place yourself last in line, as you are already shouldering a load. This enables everyone to share the responsibility, making the committee experience meaningful for all.
• At the close of the meeting, review what has been decided, what will be done prior to the next meeting and who will do those things, and establish a list of carry-over items for the next agenda.
• Decide what items need to go in the newsletter or listserv and who will send it.
• Also what items to place in your committee folder on the website.
• Establish what needs to go to the clerks’ gathering and on to MWB.
• Establish who will attend the clerks’ gathering and MWB.
• Establish date, time and place of next committee meeting.
• End with silence. End at or before the agreed-upon time.

Special Invitation to Children to the Carol Sing

by Diane Bowden | Nov 29, 2017 | Announcement, Committees

TO ALL OF YOU-  Grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, friends, and parents,  please bring children of all ages to the Pot Luck Breakfast and Carol Song at the meetinghouse…Sunday, December 3, 9am-10:30am.

Let’s begin the holiday season with the wonderful energy of younger people! Teachers and child care helpers will be available during worship too.

Care and Counsel Committee

New Opt-out Policy for Photos and Videos on the Website

by Diane Bowden | Sep 17, 2017 | Announcement, Committees

From the Website Committee:

 To better promote the life of our meeting on the website, the website committee has established an opt-out policy for photos and videos.

 Any Friend who does not want pictures or videos of themselves or their children on the meeting website should notify the website committee in one of the following ways:

• Fill out the electronic opt-out form on the website, located here
• Download, print and fill out the paper form, located here
• Fill out a paper form found in the web site committee box
• Email members of the website committee

 If you notice that a picture/video is posted that you would rather not share with the world, just let us know and we will take it down.

Friendly 8s (with something NEW!)

by Diane Bowden | Aug 22, 2017 | Announcement, Committees

Maybe you’re wondering how to get to know people better at Meeting.

The Answer:  Join a Friendly 8.  Friendly 8s are self-governing groups of eight people (more or less) who come together, typically once a month for a few months, somewhere other than our meetinghouse.

You can sign up to join a Friendly 8 on forms in the back foyer. Anyone can suggest a topic/activity.  That person agrees to convene the group for its first meet-up.  The group decides how to proceed from there.

Past groups have included:  movie going, birdwatching, book or theme discussions, biking, vegetarian cooking.  A favorite is “Old Friends/New Friends Pot Luck”.  Friendly 8s is a great way to find others who share your hobby or interest.

NEW for this fall—-The sign up forms ask whether or not this group has “Open Enrollment” which means the group agrees to accept new participants anytime throughout the fall and winter, allowing new or old attenders to jump in and become more friendly ie. More involved in the life of Richmond Friends Meeting.  Care and Counsel Committee will continue to post and publicize these open groups.

Contact Monica Shaw of Care and Counsel with questions or comments.