1. Opening Worship
Advice: The basis upon which we hold our meetings for business...is that this is God's world, that God has unfinished business for us to do, and that it is possible for us to ascertain God's will for us in this world. The meeting for business is, in essence, the meeting for worship focused upon specific matters, and there well may be significant correlation between the depth and power of the meeting for worship and that of the meeting for business. When Friends Attend to Business by Thomas S. Brown
2. We considered the meeting's Reserve funds. Reserves are funds maintained outside the budget to cover either unanticipated or longer term expenses. Currently, we have a budget reserve, to cover unforeseen program and outreach costs, and a building reserve, which covers emergency repairs. Other reserves for capital improvements might be needed, built up over time to fund large repairs and changes to the building. The roof will probably need to be replaced in 2-5 years. The floors can handle one more refinishing before the need to be replaced. The building plumbing is old and not in good shape. Discussion included:
• building a budget reserve so that when the economy affects organizations to which we contribute, we can contribute more than usual ("lean year / fat year")
• noting that the building itself does not follow Quaker values of inclusiveness (it is not handicap accessible) and ecological soundness
• a suggestion to have a Program Reserve, a Building Reserve for emergency repairs, and a "Sinking" fund to begin saving funds for anticipated long term building needs
Further discussion is needed to decide on the amounts to keep in each reserve, and how quickly to replenish the reserve if it is used.
3. Friends spent 50 minutes considering the following queries in six worship sharing groups. When we gathered back together, the worship sharing groups commented as follows on each of the queries:
Query 1. How do you view Mtn. View's financial resources as a means to express our community's faith?
• We struggle with how to balance outreach and the cost of our building, and what both of those express about us to the world.
• Without a building, we could not provide a good home for many of the activities we do, despite the cost of maintaining it. It serves as the hub from which we radiate our activities and service.
• We should consider whether another physical space would allow us to express our beliefs better than this building. That might mean renting, sharing space with another community, buying or building a new building, etc. Because the subject keeps coming up, we clearly need to keep addressing it, despite the last process of discernment in recent years showing that there was no united energy toward finding a new building.
• When people have needs, there should be a clear process for getting support.
• The fact that only 102 out of 230 households (44%) in our community contribute financially to the meeting is of concern.
• Our mission should be service, both to those within the meeting and without. If there is time, it is worth going through a committee to discern financial needs before going to the meeting for business.
• Members of our community contribute individually to many organizations.
Query 2. Given this vision, how should we prioritize use of our financial resources? MVFM Community activities and support averaged 22% of our budget over 2 years. Outreach to other Quaker organizations and community groups averaged 29 % of our budget over 2 years. Would you change these percentages or keep them about the same?
• We need to challenge community members to give more. This might include making the donation basket more visible; find ways to make it easier to donate.
• The amount we are giving now is realistic, even if it's not the amount we would like to.
Reserves should be carefully shepherded
Query 3. If outreach continues to be a high priority, what process and criteria should we use to select recipients and the amounts donated to them?
• We don't have a clear process for determining how to respond to requests for funding. Being consistent in using a defined process will help make sure that every request is treated with equal weight.
• Perhaps the current Peace and Justice committee should become Peace and Social Concerns and be an appointed committee because of the potential to provide some guidance in making decisions about outreach giving.
• Many people contribute to other groups outside of meeting; this is part of our individual outreach.
• If we encourage the community to increase their giving to the meeting, it is important that we not use guilt as a tool.
Query 4. When we have more funds than we need to meet our budget and reserves (contingency funds), how should we decide what to do with the surplus?
AND
Query 5. How should decisions be made about requests for funds outside the budget, either by individuals or by organizations? Should there be different procedures for different request levels?
• The Finance (or Peace & Justice) committee should be the starting point for such requests so that the meeting for business can be informed by their consideration. (Perhaps the Oversight committee can also decide if there are financial needs involved with people they are assisting.)
• When a request is made, the sense of the whole meeting is needed to determine whether or not the request should be supported financially.
Requests for funds may be related to the work of particular committees. These committees should be involved in reviewing requests and making recommendations to the business meeting
• Perhaps a set of queries or guidelines based on our testimonies can be developed to help the Finance Committee decide how to respond to requests and determine budget amounts. The queries might also help in those situations when a request bounces back and forth between the Finance committee and the meeting for business.
• It's not clear how we discern how urgent a request is. Historically, the Finance committee helps with this discernment.
• The meeting for business needs to trust the discernment of the committee, and the committee needs to produce a recommendation based truly in discernment rather than some discussion that results in a tentative agreement. Does the F&B committee get the information it needs to properly discern how to proceed with each request?
• We need a process for deciding on both urgent and non-urgent requests.
• We recognize that there is much need, both in outreach and within our community.
• We might need a Fund for Sufferings. This might respond to individual needs as well as larger national and international disasters.
• The Clerk should review requests and determine where they should be considered, either in committees or at the business meeting.
5. The clerk will consider next steps.
6. Closing worship. The meeting closed with silent worship.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn Andrews, Clerk
Carol Clinkenbeard, Recording Clerk
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