Fox Valley Friends Meeting for Business, November 15, 2020

FINAL – APPROVED 1/10/2021

Present:  Carol C, Jim C, Jill H, Reed H, Tina M, Mary K - Clerk

Approval of Minutes:  Minutes from the September 13 meeting were read and approved for posting.

Treasurer's Report:  Jim C reported we have received enough money to pay all of our budgeted contributions to Quaker organizations.  He will bring a budget for 2021 to our January Meeting for Business.

New Business.

Request for Membership for Lindsay D:  Carol C and Reed H reported they met with Lindsay at an outside meeting in October.  They believe her spiritual seeking is aligned with Friends and they wholeheartedly recommend that we welcome her as a member to Fox Valley Friends Meeting.  Friends joyously approved!  Jim C will make sure that she receives a copy of Friends Journal and Mary K will get her a copy of NYM Faith and Practice.

Holiday Plans:  Meetings for Worship over the holidays will continue to be on Sundays at 11 am.  There will be no special Meetings on Christmas or New Year’s Day. 

Mary K will update our Christmas Card list with the names and addresses of our Friends who have moved away or we don’t see very often.  Mary will send a holiday card to everyone on the list on behalf of Meeting.  It will be signed from ‘Fox Valley Friends Meeting’ and include an invitation with information on how to join us on Zoom for Meeting for Worship on Sundays.  All other FVFM members are encouraged to send out fun, personalized holiday greetings to those on the list that they know.  This process ensures that everyone will get at least one card from FVFM, and some may get several cards to make this pandemic holiday a bit brighter.  Mary K will share the Christmas Card list with any member who would like to send out cards.  Watch for an e-mail with more information.   

Reports from Coordinators of Work Projects.

Care of Meeting for Worship:  Carol C proposed we set a safety standard for when we will start in-person meetings again at the Mauthe Center.  Members agreed we should wait until the 14 Day Rolling Average Positivity Rate for Brown County is below 5%.  This rate is posted on the Brown County Health website at https://www.browncountywi.gov/community/covid-19/dashboard-data/

Mauthe Center:  Reed H will talk to Mike, the Mauthe director, about appropriate financial support during the pandemic.

Potlucks:  There have not been any in-person potluck gatherings this fall.  The group that regularly meets together will consider what they want to do for the holidays.

Communications:  Much thanks to FP for maintaining our website!  Mary will check with her about the status of an updated FVFM Contact List.

NYM News:  NYM is hosting an on-going anti-racism discussion group.  The group is listening to “Seeing White” from Scene On Radio.  Anyone can join the group or just listen to the podcasts on their own at https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/  The podcasts are highly recommended.  Jill and Reed also recommended the book “Waking Up White” by Debby Irving.  They said it is a good introduction to understanding white privilege. 

At the last NYM Interim Session there was significant time spent on understanding the Doctrine of Discovery and how it still affects First Nation people in the United States.  They are asking Meetings to consider adopting minutes renouncing the Doctrine and its continued use in U.S. law.  FVFM members approved getting the study materials from NYM so we can learn more about the issue at future Meetings for Business.

The last NYM Newsletter had a list of Zoom meetings being held by other monthly meetings that anyone can join.  If you do not get the NYM Newsletter, let Mary know and she can e-mail a copy to you.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary K, Clerk