Burlington Quarterly Meeting
Minutes Of Meeting
June 11, 2005 
Rancocas Meetinghouse 

ATTENDANCE : From Barnegat : none; from Crosswicks : Maurie Stevenson; from Mount Holly : Fran Campbell (coordinator), Os Cresson (Recording Clerk), Mary Ellen Stanley and Jack Walz; from Little Egg Harbor : Harold Jernigan (Clerk), Charlotte L. Mood, Gary Nisley, Wayne and Cynthia van Saun; from Princeton : Allan and Susan White; from Rancocas : Jerry Janney, Jean and Joe Jordan, Frank Smith, Jr (Treasurer), and Earl and Gene Steelman; from Trenton : Jada Jackson and Leon Pulsinelle.

The meeting started with a few moments of open worship. The Clerk thanked Rancocas Meeting for their hospitality. (6.11.05.01)

AGENDA : The agenda was APPROVED with the addition of concerns of Jada Jackson (on peace witness) and Os Cresson (on appointment of a Recording Clerk). A Friend pointed out with respect to minute 3.12.05.13 , it is now the Nominating Committee rather than the Naming Committee that has been asked to appoint an ad hoc group to find a process by which the yearly meeting can examine the role of quarterly meetings in the yearly meeting. (6.11.05.02)

MINUTES : The minutes of the meeting on March 12 th were APPROVED as read with the change of “Quaker children” to “Burlington Quarterly Meeting children” in 3.12.05.04 . (6.11.05.03)

RECORDING CLERK: The meeting was in unity and APPROVED the appointment of Osborn Cresson as Recording Clerk of Burlington Quarterly Meeting. (6.11.05.04)

TREASURER'S REPORT : The Treasurer presented a report dated June 11, 2005 (attached). The School Fund will support 11 children this year. It will spend about $1500 more this year so the amount available for next year will be about $4,700. We ACCEPTED this report with expressions of gratitude. (6.11.05.05)

The Finance Committee's proposed budget for 7/1/05 to 6/30/06 was presented to the Steering Committee in March and accepted by them. The important differences with last year's budget are that our covenant with yearly meeting has been increased to $58,680 and the salary of our coordinator will be $43,500, an increase of about 3%. Total expenses are expected to be $111,525. The Meeting APPROVED this budget. (6.11.05.06)

We need about $20,000 to finish the Mansfield Meetinghouse project. Those who are interested in helping raise these funds should contact the Steering Committee. Checks can be made out to “Burlington Quarterly Meeting” with “Mansfield Project” on the memo line. They should be sent to monthly meeting treasurers or to Frank Smith, Jr.. (6.11.05.07)

TRUSTEES' ANNUAL REPORT : The Clerk of Burlington Quarterly Meeting Trustees, Inc, read the annual report of the Trustees (attached). They met three times since the previous annual report. Minutes of those meetings are available from the Recording Clerk upon request. The Trustees have agreed to transfer $25,000 from the Friends Assistance Fund to the Mansfield Fund as a loan to be repaid within five years. The Meeting ACCEPTED the report and APPROVED a minute thanking the trustees for their hard work on behalf of us the Quarter. (6.11.05.08)

MANSFIELD MEETINGHOUSE REPORT : Maurie Stevenson reported that the interior rooms of Mansfield Meetinghouse should be finished in 2 to 3 weeks. There are $5,109.12 in outstanding bills. (6.11.05.09)

The Clerk read to us a letter from the Bequests Funds Granting Group regretfully denying our application for $15,000 to finish the Mansfield Meetinghouse reconstruction. They received requests for six times as much money as they had available this year. (6.11.05.10)

STEERING COMMITTEE : There was no report from the Steering Committee since its Clerk, Pat Fowler, was not able to be with us today. (6.11.05.11)

COORDINATOR'S REPORT : Fran Campbell, Coordinator, described her various activities during the past quarter. She announced that there will be a picnic at Arney's Mount on June 12 th . It is being organized by the First Day School Committee of Mount Holly Monthly Meeting. She gave Friends present registration forms for the Tri-Quarter Gathering to be held from September 30 to October 2, 2005 (there will be a mailing about this in late July). The Coordinator told us that nine quarterly meeting visitors attended meeting for worship at Princeton recently. The next scheduled visitations will be at Barnegat MM on June 26, Little Egg Harbor MM on July 24, and Mount Holly MM on August 28. The annual Peace and Justice Potluck Picnic will be at the Taylor Farm in Cinnaminson from 3 to 7pm on Sunday, July 17. There will be a retreat for yearly meeting regional staff, with a facilitated program, on August 11 to 12. Western Quarter and BorderLinks are organizing a trip for youth and adults to learn about the culture, economics and lives of people along the U.S./Mexican border on September 3 to 10. BorderLinks is a not-for-profit organization that works on issues of the communities along this border. (6.11.05.12)

The AFSC is looking for Meetings to co-sponsor the memorial display, “Eyes Wide Open: Human Costs of the War in Iraq ” to be held at the Independence Mall Visitor's Center over the July 4 th weekend. Co-sponsors will volunteer during the event and be able to do outreach for their meetings. They will be asked to publicize the event in their communities. A Friend asked what accommodation was made for parents who did not want to have their children's names used during this memorial service. The Coordinator did not know the answer to that but said she would check with AFSC. She encouraged others with that concern to do likewise. The Meeting APPROVED a minute stating that Burlington Quarterly Meeting was not prepared to sanction this program at present. (6.11.05.13)

RE-EVALUATION OF THE COORDINATOR PROGRAM : The Clerk pointed out that we should periodically review any quarterly meeting program. We APPROVED asking each Monthly Meeting in our Quarter, “Do we need a quarterly meeting coordinator program and what do we want that program to be?” Reports should be made to the Steering Committee or to the next Quarterly Meeting (6.11.05.14)

MINUTE FROM MOUNT HOLLY MEETING ON IRAQ : The Meeting APPROVED the following minute on Iraq : “Burlington Quarterly Meeting, in session June 11, 2005, asks our government to begin the withdrawal of U. S. troops from Iraq because of the loss of life and degradation of that country. We encourage Monthly Meetings of Burlington Quarter and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to support the position taken by Burlington Quarterly Meeting as we prayerfully abhor the devastation we are imposing on a small country and the loss of life on all sides.” The Clerks were instructed to send this minute to Interim Meeting, asking that it be adopted by that body, recorded in its minutes, and copies be sent to the President of the United States , the Secretaries of State and Defense, and the U. S. Senators from New Jersey and Pennsylvania . (6.11.05.15)

MINUTE FROM PRINCETON MEETING ON THE SURVEY FROM PYM FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE : Princeton MM asked BQM to send to a minute to Interim Meeting based on Princeton 's minute of concern about the 2005 budget survey done recently by the Financial Stewardship Committee (attached). A Friend pointed out that Quaker process has been ignored in this survey. After discussion, Friends APPROVED the Princeton Monthly Meeting Minute and AGREED to sending it to Interim Meeting, asking that body to answer the questions contained in the minute. (6.11.05.16)

MEETING ON WORSHIP AND MINISTRY : The Clerk reported to us that he has received a letter from the Clerk of the PYM Meeting on Worship and Ministry supporting BQM's minute concerning the Quarters and requesting each Quarter in PYM nominate two people to that group. (6.11.05.17)

In the past BQM had a Worship and Ministry Committee but it had only one member and it held no meetings. Until recently, the Monthly Meetings that had hosted the preceding Quarterly Meeting were responsible for a Worship and Ministry program at the next Quarterly Meeting. The Clerk suggested that we revive the Meeting on Worship and Ministry at the Quarterly level for the nurture of our collective worship and ministry and to get more members participating in the life of the Quarter. The Meeting APPROVED sending a memo to the clerks of each Monthly Meeting in our Quarter asking them to appoint two members to this new group. (6.11.05.18)

PYM AD HOC COMMITTEE ON ROLE OF QUARTERS : The Clerk described recent events in the formation of an ad hoc committee to find a process by which the Yearly Meeting can consider the role of Quarterly Meetings. Six members were appointed by the Naming Committee of Interim Meeting at the request of the then clerk of that body. However, the Yearly Meeting in its last Annual Session agreed that the ad hoc committee be enlarged by the PYM Nominating Committee and that one member of Burlington Quarter be named to the ad hoc committee. The Meeting APPROVED sending a minute supporting the appointment of Harold Jernigan to the ad hoc committee. The Recording Clerk was instructed to send this by email to the clerk of the Nominating Committee. (6.11.05.19)

OTHER CONCERNS : Jada Jackson reported on the planning for a trip to Japan , sponsored by PYM, to participate in the peace celebration in Hiroshima on the 60 th anniversary of the bombing there. Due to problems getting housing, the dates have been changed to July 26 to August 4 (before the celebration on the 6 th and 9 th of August). After careful consideration Jada decided that she was not led to join this group but will instead go to the “Many Stories, One Vision for a Nuclear Free World”, a conference and a peace vigil on August 4 – 7 co-sponsored by AFSC at the University of Nevada . She hopes to raise awareness of what we can do as Americans within the United States to protest against the continued production of nuclear weapons. This trip will cost about $500. Jada said that she appreciated our holding her in the Light as she came to clearness about how to proceed with this concern. If time permits, she will ask Trenton Monthly Meeting to approve a traveling minute for her and to forward the minute to the BQM Steering Committee for approval in place of the Quarterly Meeting as a whole. The Meeting APPROVED this plan. (6.11.05.20)

The Meeting APPROVED holding our September session in Mansfield Meetinghouse, if that is possible, and doing so as a celebration of the reopening of that building. (6.11.05.21)

The Meeting APPROVED liberating Friends to hold a fundraiser for the Mansfield Meetinghouse restoration project at that time. (6.11.05.22)

After a period of open worship, the Meeting adjourned to meet again on Saturday, September 10 th at Mansfield Meetinghouse as way opens according to Divine will. (6.11.05.23)

Respectfully submitted,

Osborn Cresson, Recording Clerk.