Burlington Quarterly Meeting
Minutes Of Meeting
Third Month 15th 2008 

Friends of the Burlington Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends gathered for fellowship before nine in the morning of Third Month 15 th at the Meetinghouse in Crosswicks.

Minute No. 1. Opening Minute. Friends of Burlington Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends gathered for Quarterly Meeting at the Meetinghouse in Crosswicks Third Month 15 th 2008 and settled into worship near the appointed time of half past nine in the morning. After a break for fellowship near half past ten, Friends gathered for business at before 11, with 25 Friends present. Clerk was Tad LaFountain, recording Susan White. The Monthly Meetings and numbers of Friends in attendance were: Barnegat: none; Crosswicks 10 Friends; Little Egg Harbor 1; Mt. Holly 3; Princeton 6; Rancocas: 3; Trenton 2.

Minute No. 2. Milestones .

Minute No. 3. Reports from Monthly Meetings. .
Clerk reminded Friends of the schedule of Monthly Meeting reports planned for the rest of this year:

A. Report from Crosswicks Monthly Meeting:
John Andrews, Clerk, and other Friends of Crosswicks Meeting, lifted up the following:

B. Report from Trenton Monthly Meeting
Jada Jackson, Clerk, and other Friends of Trenton Meeting lifted up the following:

Minute No. 4. Queries .
Clerk read Queries from Faith and Practice for the upcoming quarter of the year, that is for Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Months. These are: Query 4, Care for our Meeting Community; Query 5: Education; and Query 6: Equality. Clerk offered that Quarterly Meeting is a Meeting for Worship within our Religious Society, even as our Monthly Meetings are, and that it could be well for us to consider the Queries as do our Monthly Meetings

Minute No. 5. Treasurer's Report. No report. 

Minute No. 6. Coordinator's Report.
Fran Campbell, Quarter Coordinator, lifted up the following highlights of her work in the last quarter.

As to Yearly Meeting, a Friend asked what matters of business are addressed at the March sessions, and which at Summer Sessions. This is a shifting topic among us, but business is not planned to be addressed at the March Sessions. Also, the Yearly Meeting Nominating Committee now makes appointments to be completed at the end of Seventh Month each year, instead of Third Month, so consideration of appointment previously considered at the March Sessions has now shifted to the Summer Sessions.

A Friend asked if Mansfield is reaching out to the local community. Fran reported that the Meetinghouse is close to ready for regular visitors, but now quite yet. There is still cleaning that needs to be done. Clerk lifted up a sense that this needs careful planning.

Minute No 7. Ad Hoc Committee.
A written report from the Ad Hoc Committee was distributed to Friends present. Joy Smith, clerk of the Ad Hoc Committee, lifted up the following from that report:

Friends of Burlington Quarterly Meeting approved this recommendation.

Joy noted the clarification that the Mansfield Property Committee is a subcommittee of the Trustees of Burlington Quarterly Meeting. She also lifted up a recommendation from the Ad Hoc Committee that it continue its work, and plan to report back to Sixth Month Quarterly Meeting. Friends of Burlington Quarterly Meeting approved that committee doing so.

Minute No. 8. Called Session on Quaker Quest.
Clerk reminded Friends of the Called Session on Quaker Quest of our Quarterly Meeting which was held Second Month 9 th In considering this session, a Friend suggested that Quaker Quest could be a powerful tool for outreach. It may well be that several Meetings in our Quarter will be led to combine their resources to provide the necessary support for a successful program. Haverford Meeting in Haverford Quarter is putting on a Quaker Quest Program this spring, the first one in North America . The program was developed by Friends in Britain Yearly Meeting over the last five years. Our Coordinator plans to attend Haverford sessions to learn more about the program, and welcomed any Friends who are interested to go with her.

Minute No. 9. Threshing Session on the Future of the Burlington Meetinghouse Conference Center . Friends considered the Threshing Session of the Future of the Burlington Meetinghouse Conference Center held there Third Month 9 th. Clerk noted that while the announcement of this session was phrased in terms which did not bode well for Burlington 's future, there was at the session support expressed for this facility and for the programs held there. Of special note at the session were the following:

•  The financial situation for the facility was examined, and it was noted that the endowment has not provided the income which had been planned;

•  Programs held there are highly successful in meeting the financial goals set for them;

•  Three Yearly Meeting Coordinators - for Middle School Friends, for Young Friends, and for Young Adult Friends – each reported that Burlington is an excellent facility for their meetings and events;

•  A Friend lifted up the possibility of using the building for community outreach.

By the time that the Threshing session was done, there was encouragement for continuation of the programs, and a sense that we need to work on getting better financial support for the facility.

As Burlington Quarterly Meeting considered the Threshing Session, a Friend lifted up appreciation for the energy and value of the work being done with our youth by our Youth Coordinators, and other Friends concurred.

Minute No. 10. MidWeek Worship at Burlington.
Jada Jackson brought to Friends of Burlington Quarter a leading that there should be a Meeting for Worship at the Burlington Meetinghouse on Wednesday nights. She has looked into whether there are evening mid-week Meetings for Worship in New Jersey , and there do not appear to be any. Friends present reported that Crosswicks Meeting has a Meeting for Worship at 10:30 on Wednesday morning. Another Friend noted that Brainerd Street Commons in Mt. Holly has a Meeting for Worship from 12 until 12:30 on Thursday mid-day. In the past, Princeton had an evening mid-week Meeting for Worship in the summer on the Meetinghouse porch, but does not do so at the present time. However, no evening Meetings for Worship are held at present in our Quarter.

A Friend lifted up a sense that we should go forward with this proposal on faith. Another Friend offered that we could go forward informally with this proposal, and then work on a more permanent arrangement at a later time.

Clerk then lifted up the lack in our Quarter of a Worship and Ministry Committee which might season the possibility of mid-week Meetings for Worship in the Quarter. Could this leading be an impetus to create such a committee?

Friends then offered that we could both work to develop a Quarter Committee for Worship and Ministry, and another for Religious Education, and at the same time bless this Friend's leading to open mid-week Meeting for Worship at Burlington .

Friends then offered blessings for Jada to go forward. Fran Campbell offered that as our Coordinator she could support this effort. Jade will work with the Interim Director of Burlington Meetinghouse, to go forward as way opens. She welcomes both blessings and help from others in the Quarter.

Minute No. 11 Announcements and Minutes.
Friends were reminded again of the upcoming March Session of our Yearly Meeting, Young Young Friends Weekend at Blairstown, and Tri-Quarter Gathering in the fall. Also, Crosswicks will bring forward to Sixth Month Quarterly Meeting a minute opposing torture by the U.S. government. Little Egg Harbor will bring forth a Minute of Celebration for its 300 th Anniversary.

Minutes of today's meeting were then read, corrected, and approved.  

Minute No. 12. Closing.
After a period of worship, with 20 Friends present, meeting rose near the hour of one in the afternoon, to meet again in Steering Committee Fifth Month 19 th 2008, and in Quarterly Meeting Sixth Month 21st, 2008, according to Divine Will.

Susan White, recording clerk