65 Ninth Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-431-7440
November 2013 Newsletter
(Eleventh Month)
(Eleventh Month)
Meeting for Worship
& First Day School
Sundays at 11:00 a.m.
Midweek Meeting for Worship, Wednesdays
at 6:00 p.m.
Peace
Friends oppose all
war as inconsistent with God’s will. As every person is a child of God, we
recognize God’s Light also in our adversaries. Violence and injustice deny this
reality and violate the teachings of Jesus and other prophets.
Friends challenge their governments and take personal risks
in the cause of peace.We urge one another to refuse to participate in war as
soldiers, or as arms manufacturers.We seek ways to support those who refrain
from paying taxes that support war. We work to end violence within our own
borders, our homes, our streets, and our communities. We support international
order, justice, and understanding.
Become an instrument of peace. At every opportunity, be
peacemakers in your homes, workplaces and communities. Steep yourself in the
power of the universal Spirit. Examine your actions for the seeds of violence,
degradation and destructiveness. Overcome the emotions that lie at the root of
violence and nurture instead a spirit of reconciliation and love. Come to know
the oneness of all creation and oppose the destruction of the natural world.
Do I live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the
occasion of all wars?
How do I nourish peace within myself as I work for peace in the
world?
Do I confront violence wherever it occurs, even when my personal
relationships are involved?
Where there is distrust, injustice, or hatred, how am I an
instrument of reconciliation and love?
What are we doing to remove the causes of war and destruction of
the planet, and to bring about lasting peace?
Do we reach out to
all parties in a conflict with courage and love?
Meeting for Business began at 1:06 pm. During the opening period
of worship, Clerk Stephen Matchett read the Advices and Queries on “Personal
Relationships” from the Pacific Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice. The reading was followed by reflection in
silence with 24 people present.
Stephen Matchett announced that Krista Barnard is acting as Recording
Clerk for this Meeting for Business in Blake Arnall’s absence.
Approval of
Previous Months’ Minutes
10-01: Meeting approves the minutes of July 14, 2013, and of
September 8, 2013, as presented.
Treasurer’s
Third-Quarter Report
Amy Baker, treasurer, presented the report for the third quarter
of 2013 (report attached to archived copy of these minutes). Individual
donations are at approximately 30% of budgeted total, which is not unusual for
this time of year. Meeting space use is already over 100% of the expected total
for the entire year. Interest and dividend income is at 23% of total because
projections for the year did not accurately reflect the proportion of our
accumulated funds that we intended to spend down. The expenses for water,
substitute building manager, and subsidy of the retreat are all higher than budgeted.
Meeting Assistance and Giving is very low at this point because most of those
donations are made in the fourth quarter. Committee expenses are lower than 75%
of budget. On the balance sheet, we can see that during the quarter we have
spent money from the Sharing Fund and the Building Maintenance Fund. The
kitchen/AFSC remodel is complete, therefore that fund is shown as $0, the
remaining money having been returned to the general fund. Meeting accepted the
report.
Membership
The clerk read the report of the visiting committee for Owain
Elliott-Sowaal, which Friends heard at last business meeting and had been
seasoning since.
10-02: Meeting approves Owain Lynn Elliott-Sowaal as a member of
San Francisco Monthly Meeting. Marian Chatfield-Taylor, convener; Paula Joyce;
and Charles Martin will act as a welcoming committee.
Ministry &
Oversight Queries Activity
We spent time responding in writing to queries prepared by
Ministry & Oversight Committee concerning meeting for worship. People were
invited to read one another’s answers and to continue this activity after
meeting for business today and after meeting for worship in the coming weeks.
The posted queries were the following:
•What role
does meeting for worship play for you and your family during the week?
•Does the idea
of a Sabbath resonate with you and if so, how?
•If you needed
meeting in a time of challenge and/or crisis, what was that experience like,
for you?
•Is there
anything you and your family do to prepare for meeting for worship on First
Day?
After the period of writing, we spent time in reflection and
speaking aloud about the process.
Naming Committee
David Ackerly, Anne Hitch Collins, and Kate Frankel are the
members of Nominating Committee whose terms continue for the calendar year
2014, while Arthur Koch’s, Daniel Nakamura’s and Sandra Schwartz’s terms are
ending at the end of 2013. The
clerk called for a period of worshipful silence out of which Friends might
volunteer themselves or nominate others to serve on an ad hoc Naming Committee
to nominate new members of Nominating Committee.
10-03: Meeting appoints Owain Elliott-Sowaal as one member of an
ad hoc Naming Committee, to bring nominations of three Friends next month to
serve a two-year term on Nominating Committee beginning on January 1,
2014, and of one continuing member (ideally) to clerk the committee for the
coming year. Clerk Stephen Matchett will work with Owain to expand the
membership of the Naming Committee.
Ministry &
Oversight Committee
Markley Morris, co-clerk, reported for Ministry and Oversight.
Jeff Mead has written requesting that his membership be laid down. David
Matchett, Rolene Walker, and Steve Leeds will serve as a committee to meet with
him. Markley read the report of the Paula Stinson Membership Committee, which
recommends acceptance of her as a member. We will season the recommendation for
a month and will act on it at the next meeting for business. M&O agreed to
explore membership with long-time attenders, and will speak individually with
likely candidates.
Property &
Finance Committee
Philip Gerrie, clerk, reported for Property and Finance. A job
description has been created for the building manager, a 25-hour-per-week
position. The description will serve as the basis for a planned annual review
of the building manager. Concerning the bequest from Jan and Jack deBeers, more
is known about the amounts and timing. From Jan there will be approximately
$30,000, and it will take some months to be resolved. From Jack, there will be
10% of his $1.5 million estate, which will take longer to be resolved.
After announcements and sharing of joys and concerns, a closing
period of worship ended at 3:53 pm with 21 people in attendance.
Respectfully submitted,
Krista Barnard, Acting Recording Clerk
Stephen Matchett, Clerk of Meeting
News from Children’s
Religious Education Committee
Budding young chefs, one-and-all! Max
Millard will be cooking with children while their parents/guardians are at
Meeting for Business. He did so in October, and will be cooking again in the kitchen in November. If parents/guardians
might plan ahead and let me know if a child will be staying for childcare
during MFB, I may then let Max know how many ingredients to bring.
Thank you, Friends.
From Chad Stephenson:
Ian Singleton and I are continuing to host a teen program each first Sunday through next May to give a place for Quaker teens to come together at the Meetinghouse during Meeting for Worship. We are designing the program to coincide with the Meeting's Advices and Queries for that month and stem off from there as the teens offer their insights and guidance on what they are interested in exploring. We aim to provide a supportive, engaging, and fun meeting time for teens in the Meeting to explore their Quaker heritage and would love for your families to be a part. I hope your teen(s) can join us the first Sunday each month!
Ian Singleton and I are continuing to host a teen program each first Sunday through next May to give a place for Quaker teens to come together at the Meetinghouse during Meeting for Worship. We are designing the program to coincide with the Meeting's Advices and Queries for that month and stem off from there as the teens offer their insights and guidance on what they are interested in exploring. We aim to provide a supportive, engaging, and fun meeting time for teens in the Meeting to explore their Quaker heritage and would love for your families to be a part. I hope your teen(s) can join us the first Sunday each month!
Events with the Friends
School
Wednesday, November 6 (1st Wednesday)
Wednesday, November 6 (1st Wednesday)
8:40am – 9:15am
SFFM
is invited to the monthly community-wide meeting for worship at San Francisco
Friends School, 250 Valencia St., between Clinton Park and Brosnan St., near
14th St. Enter on Brosnan. Meeting ends with a ringing of a single bell. A
half hour of worship is often followed by the singing of "Simple
Gifts." Parents, family members, friends, and supporters are all
welcome to come and participate with the entire school.
Sunday, November 24 (4th Sunday)
San Francisco Friends School students, who are kindergarten
through 8th graders, and their parents are invited to join us for meeting for
worship.
November 2013 News from Ben
Lomond Quaker Center
Back
by popular demand, we are once again hosting our low-cost Music and Dance Retreat for only $60-$100 per person for a weekend
filled with a variety of singing and a few dancing opportunities. Bring your
kids and grandkids or just yourselves and join us from December 6-8th for
a few days of fun making food, music, and song together with a professionally
called community dance on Saturday night. Find out more and register online at http://www.quakercenter.org/music-and-dance-retreat/
Our
annual year end retreat will focus on John
Woolman: The Place of Prayer Is a Precious Habitation from December 27th
– January 1st. Rachel
Findley will facilitate our exploration of John Woolman’s life, his grounding
in the Bible, in the Quaker community, in the working of reason—and how he
allowed the Inward Teacher to guide him through painful dilemmas. We will join
Woolman as we feel for the first motion of love, look clearly into the world
that stirs around us, let go and submit to the guidance of the divine Source.
More information and online registration are available on the Quaker Center
website at http://www.quakercenter.org/year-end-retreat-2013/
Pacific
Yearly Meeting
The
upcoming Pacific Yearly Meeting session will be July 14-19, 2014 at Walker Creek Ranch in Petaluma, CA
College
Park Quarterly Meeting
The
upcoming College Park Quarterly Meeting will be January 18 (Saturday) at San
Francisco
Google Groups for SF Quakers
This
is the group to send your late breaking announcements or share other news with
the meeting community. You can sign up via the web: http://groups.google.com/group/sfquakers.
You will need to create a free Google user ID and password, if you don’t
already have one.
Visit
http://groups.google.com/group/sfquakers/about
to join or learn more.
A
group for young adult Friends in San Francisco is at http://groups.google.com/group/youngsfmeeting
A
group for parents in the San Francisco Meeting is at http://groups.google.com/group/sf-crec-parents
A
Google Group for Bay Area Quakers is now available at http://groups.google.com/group/bayareaquakers.
The group is for Bay Area Quaker meetings, churches, and organizations, as well
as individual Friends, to share news of events and activities that would be of
interest to Quakers and the general public. Events do not need to be strictly
Quaker. For more information, contact Tom Yamaguchi, tomyamaguchi@mac.com
Help
on using Google Groups is also available at:
Submissions
to the newsletter are due by the next-to-last First Day (Sunday) of each month
in the News Committee mailbox at the meetinghouse, or by e-mail to news@sfquakers.org. This newsletter is
also available for reading or downloading on our website at http://www.sfquakers.org/news.html.
Members
of the News Committee are Kate McCarley (clerk, editor), Eli Bishop (web
servant), Catherine Fox (production), and Noel Schwerin (distribution)
(all events at 65 9th St., unless noted;
*see details elsewhere in newsletter)
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Sunday
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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27
9:15 Non-Violent Comm. Practice
Group
11a Meeting for Worship
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28
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29
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30
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31
12p Peace Vigil‡
7p Potluck & Quaker Study
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1
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2
10:30a-1p Food Pantry
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3
9:30a Bible Study
11a Meeting for Worship, Community potluck following
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4
.
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5
7p Property & Finance Mtg
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6
8:40a-9:15a SFFS Community Meeting for Worship†
6p Meeting for Worship
7p Ministry & Oversight Mtg
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7
12p Peace Vigil‡
7p Potluck & Quaker Study
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8
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9
10:30a-1p Food Pantry
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10
11a Meeting for Worship
1p Meeting for Business
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11
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12
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13
6p Meeting for Worship
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14
12p Peace Vigil‡
7p Potluck & Quaker Study
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15
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16
10:30a-1p Food Pantry
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17
9:30a Bible Study
11a Meeting for Worship
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18
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19
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20
6p Meeting for Worship
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21
12p Peace Vigil‡
7p Potluck & Quaker Study
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22
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23
10:30a-1p Food Pantry
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24
9:15 Non-Violent Comm. Practice Group
11a Meeting for Worship
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25
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26
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27
6p Meeting for Worship
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28
12p Peace Vigil‡
7p Potluck & Quaker Study
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29
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30
10:30a-1p Food Pantry
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‡Federal Building, Golden Gate Ave. and Larkin St. †San Francisco
Friends School, 250 Valencia St.
