Committee Reports
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Overseers Committee Reports
Third Haven Monthly Meeting
Overseers Annual Report
Calendar Year 2009
During the year 2009 the Overseers Committee, attended to pastoral care, keeping in touch with members via a calling tree by dividing the membership directory alphabetically, publishing that in the directory and online, and also responding to answering machine and website messages. Should inclement weather take place it is agreed that the clerk of meeting and communications clerk will e-mail closing information to the meeting and Overseers will contact local computer free members and attenders. Friendly support was offered privately to members and couples experiencing a variety of life challenges. Oversight committees from marriages in years past were reminded to continue their oversight as part of the couple being "under the care of the meeting."
The file of Declarations of Intentions was maintained by Nancy Mullen and Marsie Hawkinson. Members wishing to complete a declaration of intentions for death may complete the form in the upcoming newsletter.
Under the organization of John Hawkinson with contacts made by the Overseers the directory was updated.
Memorial Meetings for Worship were held for John Shoffner, Laurence G. "Pinny" Claggett, and Wayne Flanagan.
The clearness process as detailed in Faith and Practice was followed for membership requests and marriages under the care of the meeting. Clearness committees may also be used to resolve issues between members in conflict or for confidential clearness around personal discernment issues.
Friendly presences were provided for wedding parties using Third Haven buildings by Doreen Getsinger and Aiyana Paterson Zincand.
New member clearness committee volunteers were Ann Williams, Doreen Getsinger, Helen Womack, Candace Shattuck, Norval Thompson, Marsie Hawkinson, John Schreiner, Dee Rein, Ralph Young. New members Robert Gladney, Aiyana Paterson Zinkand, Connie Pullen, Michael Pullen and Joan Wetmore were welcomed and each received a 6 month gift subscription of Friends Journal from the meeting.
A New Members and Attenders recognition luncheon was well attended on March 22th. Speakers included Connie Lewis, Bill Lane, Monimia Barker and Winslow Womack. Overseers and members provided a groaning board!
Friendly Eights created three groups for January-June 2009 and were enjoyed by the participanrs.
Members were contacted intermittently throughout the year in an effort to keep in touch and encourage participation in the aforementioned events. To this end notecards and postcards with the line drawing of Third Haven on them were purchased in bulk. They are available for sale in the corner closet of the Common Room should Friends want one.
During the year the committee reviewed a number of topics, including the Overseers Committee role, the role and process of clearness committees, and the meaning and execution of "under the care of the meeting" for unions.
Per Faith and Practice, "A Committee of Overseers is appointed to assume leadership in maintaining a caring community, helping all members to find their right roles as nurturers of others." Overseers goals include providing oversight to the ministry of the life of the meeting and acting as a conduit for clearness, especially in cases of membership, unions (marriage/commitment) or personal discernment. All members and attenders are encouraged to allow Overseers to be of service in times of need. We stand at the ready to help and welcome your ideas for future efforts on behalf of the meeting. We thank all Friends who minister to each other as that is the essence of the Religious Society of Friends.
Respectfully submitted, Dee Rein, Clerk, Overseers with the considerable contributions throughout the year of Doreen Getsinger, Asst. Clerk, Norval Thompson, Betty Jean Wheeler, Ann Williams, Nancy Mullen, Helen Womack, Marsie Hawkinson, Irene Williams, and Candace Shattuck.
2010 OVERSEERS' CALLING TREE
OVERSEER RESPONSIBILITY
(All names in Third Haven Directory inclusive of these letters)
Doreen Getsinger 410-745-3485 A-Cl
Marsie Hawkinson 410-822-0589 Co-Fi
Molly Bond 410-745-9396 Fl-Gr
Norval Thompson 410-745-3550 Ha-Jo
Nancy Mullen 410-822-1616 K-Me
Lorraine T. Claggett 410-822-0669 Mi-Ow
Bob Marshall 202-812-4776 Pa-Sh, phone call help
from Dee as needed
Dee Rein 410-819-0529 clerk of Overseers
answering machine
Adrienne Rudge 410-822-4959 Si-Wa +Ann Williams
Ann Williams 410-770-3237 AZ We-Z
Irene Williams 410-819-3355 emeritus
Candace Shattuck 410-226-5787 assistant clerk of Third Haven Friends
"Overseers invites all members and attenders to make use of clearness committees. As individuals, or in our relationship with others, there are times when we may experience a sense of ongoing deep disquiet. For reasons that are unknown, discernment remains obscured -- the genuine nature of our feelings, or our sense of direction, is in question. The Meeting community is available to help all members and attenders who are experiencing such disquiet by offering the availability of a clearness committee. A clearness committee does not give advice or attempt to "fix" you. A clearness committee helps you remove the encumbrances to your discernment and thus allows you to move forward in in your journey to discover your True leadings. Everything about a clearness committee is treated confidentially. To request a clearness committee, please write to the clerk of Overseers. You can request that specific Friends be on the clearness committee. You will need to prepare a statement, well in advance of the clearness committee meeting, three to five pages in length, describing the problem and providing background. Overseers refers Friends to two references to learn more about clearness committees. One is Patricia Loring's Pendle Hill Pamphlet on "Spiritual Discernment: the context and goal of clearness committees". The other is Parker Palmer's concise and clear description of clearness committees (see http://www.couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/clearness-committee)."
Bob Marshall
Worship and Ministry Committee Reports
Worship and Ministry Committee 2009 Annual Report
Worship and Ministry Committee meets to support the spiritual enrichment of the Meeting community and with caring guidance it strives to deepen and strengthen meeting for worship. W & M chose to respond to this mission by organizing the following adult education activities and events.
Spiritual Journeys – Following a very successful Quakerism 101 series last year, W&M decided to look to our own members and Attenders for examples. Thus, we began a series of presentations to explore the histories of our member’s spiritual journey and learn how they came to practice Quakerism. September – Bob Marshall, October – Jim Paul, November – Paige Bethke, January - Ken Carroll, February - Ralph Young, March - Tatiana Harrison, April - Frank Ziegler, May - Rob Weiland. W&M expresses our gratitude for their willingness to open their lives to the Meeting. Brandt Bethke willingly provided child care for the Meeting.
Three summer book discussions with an average of 9 attendees were held in the Common Room. June - Tom Corl “Conversations with God an Uncommon Dialogue”, Book 1, July - Jamie Du Hoffman “Hope in the Unseen” by Ron Suskinda, and September - Aiyana Paterson-Zincand “Non- Violence: The History of a Bad Idea” by Mark Kurlansky . W&M critiqued the program and how to improve.
W&M arranged for an adult education program that combined living as a Quaker and raising a family and offered it to Third Haven. W&M hosted a four part series with the support of Testimonies and Concern and FDS titled “Exploring Our Quaker Faith and Family Life” with PYM “Parenting Initiative” Coordinator, Harriett Heath. Four Sessions were offered from Sept 27th through Nov 22nd with an average of 12 attendees. 1st Session considered some basic Quaker beliefs and practiced skills that support our efforts to live by our beliefs. 2nd Session looked at Quaker testimonies and how we use the various testimonies as guides when planning our lives. 3rd Session considered the needs and characteristics of our family members as we strive to live in a Quaker manner. 4th Session looked at how to live with those less supportive and even those who are antagonistic to our beliefs.
Other business: W&M reviewed and discussed the same sex marriage minute as requested by the Clerks Meeting of 29 August 2009. W&M met with Overseers to review the spiritual health of Meeting. W&M continues the practice of reading the Queries and Advises during Meeting for Worship as a reminder of our Faith and Practice. We discussed and approved a group discussion on the topic of suicide which will be offered to the Meeting in January and facilitated by Cindy Browne.
Respectfully submitted, Co-Clerks Meredith Watters and Paige Bethke; Committee Members Tom Corl, Tatiana Harrison, Bob Marshall, Jim Paul, Connie Lewis, Denny Bliss, and John Winterbottom.
Testimonies and Concerns Committee Reports
Annual Report of Testimonies and Concerns, November, 2009
Members: Chris Polk, Cynthia Browne, Gwen Beegle. Jamie duHoffmann , Leigh Anne Dodge, Lorraine Claggett, Nancy Mullen, Norman Hackland, Sarah Sayre, Susan Dabney, Tatiana Harrison. In 2009 T&C engaged in:
T&C authorized the spending of $3,000.00, as authorized by the Meeting for Business in January 2009, for emergency needs of the local community. $2,000.00 went to the Neighborhood Service Center, $200.00 each to the local soup kitchen at Asbury United Methodist, Scotts Methodist in Trappe and Bethel AME, and the remaining $400.00 to the Talbot Interfaith Shelter.
Talbot Interfaith Shelter: Last season, we housed 13 individuals for 81 nights and 51 days. Thirteen faith communities provided 417 volunteers, 238 bed nights and 714 meals. We received $3090 from individual donations, $2000 from faith communities, $330 from community organizations and $250 from businesses. The coalition hopes to find more permanent quarters this year. As they did not find a place for the shelter, the churches will be asked to host as they did last year. Our meeting is in unity to lend our support tyo TIS and serve as a host church this year.
Lobbying/Letter writing to Repeal Capital Punishment: With Jim Paul’s advisement, written & published in Star Democrat Feb. 2009. Forwarded to state representatives.
"Keep the Maryland Guard Home" campaign: Going on its seventh year, the Iraq war has taken its toll on not only the US military, but also on the states's National Guard units, which were called up when Congress passed the 2002 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) against Iraq. Now a growing state-level movement is working to keep the Guard at home. Its logic: The AUMF's goals have been fulfilled. The authorization's explicit purposes were to defend the US against the "threat posed by Iraq" and to enforce UN Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq's alleged ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein - along with his supposed threat - is gone, and the UN resolutions are no longer relevant, so there's no longer a mandate to keep troops in Iraq. Our Lobby Night for the Campaign was Feb. 23. Two Friends attended this lobby night and one was asked to return to speak before the house and senate committees considering the bill, Lobby Day Death Penalty Repeal,
Monday March 9th activists came to Annapolis from around the state to lobby their elected officials. Attended by one Friend
Lobbying/Civil Disobedience to raise awareness of our climate in crisis: Non-Violence Training in advance of the Capital Coal Action took place on 2/21/09 in Landover, MD. On March 2nd, the largest mass civil disobedience for the climate, Capitol Climate Action, occurred in Washington, D.C. Three Friends attended the training and the action in Washington, D.C.
Faith in Action speaker: February 15 (Sunday) following Meeting for Worship, T&C hosted a Simple Meal and Faith in Action Speaker. David Hosey shared his story after a year of mission work in the Middle East. He was working with a Palestinian/Christian organization called Sabeel, and is currently working in Washington, D.C. at the US Campaign to End the Occupation. We had 32 in the audience and about $165 in donations for the Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
Faith in Action speaker: April 5 (Sunday) following Meeting for Worship, T&C hosted a Simple Meal and Faith in Action Speaker PYM’s Ministry for Racial Justice & Equality speakers came to THFM to share their work in making Friends Meetings more open to all, how to heal the hurts of racism, and how to overcome fear and the practices of marginalizing of People of Color. Their focus is to 'take the plank out of our eyes...’ before taking the plank out of the other....
Multi-cultural festival: May 2 (Saturday) THFM participated in the Easton Multicultural Festival. T&C had a table with handouts and another table for children to draw a peace mural.
Haitian Bake Sale: To supprt the Oxford Holy Trinity Church and 3 other churches who are planning a trip to Haiti in November to bring medical and school supplies to impoverished Haitian villages, T&C held a bake sale, with the help of First Day School, on September 27, and raised $180 to support the mission.
ON-GOING PROJECTS & BACK BURNER ISSUES
Finding a volunteer to be the Host Site person for the Talbot Interfaith Shelter this coming winter. This person will be responsible for attracting and scheduling volunteers to help when the shelter is at Third Haven. This date is tentatively Feb. 28 through March 14.
Helping to find volunteers to help staff the lending library at Talbot County Detention Center, run by Ralph & Mary Young.
Continuing monthly workshops for the Alternatives to Violence Project at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Somerset Co, Maryland. AVP worked with 231 inmates in 14 3-day workshops and trained three more outside volunteers to assist at ECI.
Gathering and assessing information on a campaign to find answers to our questions regarding military recruitment in Maryland’s public high-schools.
How do we counter media biases and spin? Where do we find information that is reliable and accurate?
First Day School Committee Reports
First Day School 2008
Cathy Thompson read the Annual First Day School Report, for Susan Claggett, Clerk, and the First Day School Committee. Attendance averaged 13 children, with over 30 visitors, in First Day School this year. Some of the highlights of the year included Godly play, reliable child care for the meeting for business, food and hunger, wreath making, the Christmas play, middle school Friends gathering in Burlington NJ and being thankful. Many contributed to the success of the First Day School this year. After some discussion, the Meeting APPROVED the First Day School Annual Report with great thanks to Susan Claggett, the First Day School committee and all who nurture the children of Third Haven.
Submitted,
Susan B. Claggett, THFDS Clerk
Library & Outreach Committee Reports
Third Haven Friends Meeting - Library and Outreach Committee
Annual Report
January 10, 2010
The Library and Outreach Committee had an active year supporting the activities and needs of the Third Haven community. The ongoing activities included overseeing the Meeting’s collection of books and related media and keeping materials in order and reviewing options for improvement. The committee notes that members and attenders continue to access and use materials from the library in the Brick Meeting House, and gently remind users to return materials when they have completed using them.
The Committee was also active this year in supporting the 325th anniversary of the Old Meeting House. It thanks the members and attenders who participated in the events as well as the additional assistance and support from the First Day School, during the first ‘kick-off’ event during Quarterly Meeting, who produced a wonderful, illustrated ‘timeline’ of Third Haven’s history that decorated our Common Room. Particular thanks for help from Paige Bethke and Susan Claggett.
Through the efforts of Candace Shattuck, a commemorative 325th anniversary item was commissioned – a wood-block rendition of the Old Meeting House. [There are a few of these are still available at $25.]
Several additional events were held in conjunction with the 325th included a special ‘workshop’ by Orlando Ridout, Maryland’s renowned architectural historian, attended by more than 45 participants from Third Haven and other Meetings, as well as individuals from Talbot County. Ridout holds the Old Meeting House in a special light, and gave a detailed description of the original construction. The interactive/hands-on presentation included a walk-around and walk inside of the building, showing participants how to determine when materials now on/in the structure were made, including the ‘weatherboards’ now on the exterior of the building. He also shared how to ‘read’ clues as to how the building was constructed and renovated over time. Those who attended also got to view the ‘upstairs’ of the Old Meeting House, normally closed. Ridout showed the remaining evidence on how the building was conserved [and saved from tumbling down] during its most recent conservation in the 1980s. Excellent publicity and coverage of the event was provided by Clay Owens, Pete Howell and Candace Shattuck. Based upon notes and pictures of the workshop we hope to see a resource document prepared for the Meeting. Many thanks for Marsie Hawkinson for arranging Ridout’s visit.
In late September, during the Chesapeake Film Festival, in conjunction with the 325th anniversary, Third Haven sponsored the film “I Bring What I Love”, an inspiring movie about Senegalese Singer-Songwriter Youssou Ndour, and his effort as a practicing Muslim to bring his message of peace to the world. This visually and musically exciting movie touched all who saw it. Many thanks to Molly Burgoyne for enabling this special event, and to Tom McCall and all those who participated in the pre-screening of additional movies that were considered for showing and sponsorship. Additional thanks to those who attended the Festival viewing giving witness to Third Haven’s presence and relevance to the community.
During the culminating ‘official’ 325th anniversary weekend of October 3rd and 4th, two invited speakers gave special presentations to mark the occasion. On Saturday, internationally renowned artist and member of Third Haven Meeting, James Terrell, gave an illustrated talk entitled “Plato’s Cave and the Light Inside“. The standing-room-only audience of Quakers and other guests shared a fascinating and thought-provoking talk on Terrell’s work with the medium of light that included slides of his work sited around the world and as well as the completed Live Oak Meeting House in Houston, TX. During a reception that followed Terrell generously shared his experiences both as an artist as well as a birth-right Quaker.
On Sunday, following the rise of Meeting, Arthur Larrabee, General Secretary of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, spoke on ‘Carrying the Light of Quakerism into the Future’. Larrabee’s thoughtful ideas, assessment and insights into the challenges for the future of Quakerism were well received by those in attendance. It provided an appropriate conclusion to the anniversary events enabling us all to look back at our past and then to turn to take stock of our future. Following Larrabee’s talk, Hospitality provided a celebratory luncheon to mark the conclusion of formal anniversary activities.
On task yet incomplete, is an anticipated ‘planting’ of a White Oak sapling where the original ‘grove of oaks’ stood before our Old Meeting House was constructed.
Finally, later in the Fall Library and Outreach hosted our traditional Waterfowl Festival “Open House on Saturday November 14th. Our grounds looked wonderful, and while the weather dampened attendance we were very happy to welcome three sets of visitors from the Easton community, who expressed interest in learning more about what Quakers believe and what we ‘do’. One visitor mentioned she had attended the viewing of “I Bring What I Love” and wanted to learn more about the church that sponsored it.
Library and Outreach will be changing in 2010 and looks forward to meeting the needs of the Third Haven community in new ways. Many thanks to all those who have contributed time and effort to the work of the committee and the Meeting this past year.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Cotton
Clerk, Library and Outreach
January 2010
Hospitality Committee Reports
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HOSPITALITY COMMITTEE
THIRD HAVEN FRIENDS MEETING THIRD MONTH 2009
We have been blessed with many hospitality offerings throughout the year. We sincerely thank all friends who have provided both food and generous effort on First Days and for special occasions – most notably for: Southern Quarter Potluck January 20 th , 2008, Moving Up Day, June 1 st , for our First Day students, Cassie Thompson and Sam Mullen, Hospitality for the Carriage Shed Sale, September 27 th , the Christmas potluck, December 21 st , and Hospitality for the Winter Shelter Project, February 2009. We also warmly thank those who help out with hospitality for each Memorial Service held at Third Haven, whether it is for our own members or for guests.
It is helpful to schedule hospitality providers in advance. The program of sign-up, assigning one committee per month to be primarily responsible for hospitality for their assigned month continues to have mixed results. It seems that the same people end up doing Hospitality most of the time. Since there are 12 committees at Third Haven, each month is a different committee's responsibility. A list of committee assignments is posted on the refrigerator in the Common Room. We encourage clerks of the committees to consult the list and to remind their committee members when it is their turn. It is not necessary to cover each First Day, but it can be fun to do a potluck as a committee one Sunday out of that month. Or, if individuals from the committee wish to sign-up alone, that is also welcome.
This past year, a new list, involving Hospitality Committee members only, has been posted on the refrigerator, which is to ensure that at least coffee is always available on First Days. If the person posted is not free to prepare the coffee, someone else on the committee is contacted to fill in.
As a committee, we now have the following members: Peter Howell, Emma Leibman, Beth Mufson, Jacob Mullen, Heidi Wetzel, Ann Womack, and Ralph Young.
We have managed to stay within our annual budget of $400 and project similar activities, as well as a similar budget, for the next year.
We still encourage ALL members and attenders to participate in this wonderful program at Third Haven.
Reach out – it is a delight to work with one another.
Ann Williams, Clerk (410) 770-3237
Cathy Thompson, Co-Clerk (410) 714-3657
Property & Grounds Committee Reports
Third Haven Monthly Meeting - Property & Grounds Annual Report
10th Month 11th, 2009
Dear Friends: This year has been focused on maintenance our property and grounds and improvements in specific areas. We have kept to our budget for year ending 6th month, 2009.
Overall - $30,000 which is slightly more that half the overall Monthly Meeting budget. Some of the expenses of P & G have been paid by the Trustees.
Webster's compensation - $18,000 (includes salary and health insurance) which is 60% of the P & G budget. No increase in salary for this year. Note: Websters receive use of the caretaker cottage at no cost.
Maintenance costs - $5,000 which is 18% of the P & G budget (primarily for grass mowing and a few small contracts (tree removal, electric).
All Utilities (electric, oil, water, telephone) - $5,000 which is 18% of the P & G budget. Cost of oil is about half of the utility cost.
FICA taxes and workers insurance - $1,400 which is 4%.
Activities:
Spring spruce-up day. Great day and great success. Highlights include Bill Lane painting of the iron entrance gates and Jim Paul in deep discussion with Stephan Gerni while keeping a hand on a rake. Most thanks to the Meeting for their enthusiastic participation: Winslow repairing window sill in the old meetinghouse and trim on the common room. Leigh Ann pruning the rhododendron. Rob in caring for the trees in the meadow. Candace and Sam pruning the ivy at the brick entry posts.
A Contract with Duvall Brothers to grade and top dress all our drives and parking lots. The Trustees provided half the funds for this project.
P & G is working with contractors (and Trustees) to do more extensive pruning of trees (used to be an annual expense) and to repoint and putty the window in the old meeting house.
Butch, Clay, and Larny conducted a walk-about the buildings and grounds in November, noting and photo documenting the conditions. Randy Arnesen Termite and Pest Control did a separate walk-about, inspecting the crawl spaces of both meeting houses and caretaker cottage and the interiors of all buildings except the common room. No active infestations were found.
New refrigerator for the caretaker's house.
Caretaker: Sam and Vicky requested and took a weeks vacation this summer. First vacation in many years (ever?). Some rough patches (little advance notice and a discrepancy in vacation days), but will be smoother next time. To date the Websters have not expressed any desire to end their tenure as caretakers. But that day will come. The meeting should begin to address this.
Duties - Some have noticed a need for better general maintenance of the property and grounds. This is an on going issue. The Websters are responsive to direction on specific tasks, but the impetus seems to always come from the P & G committee and not from their own initiative. But they stepped forward and made our buildings and grounds present very well for the 325 celebrations. And they are continually integral in maintaining our peaceful sanctuary within bustling town. It was good that meeting members expressed thanks to the Websters for their effort and good work .
Committee: Leigh Ann Dodge, Stephen Gerni, Bob Kemp, Sr., Butch Kemp, Bill Lane, Jr., Clay Owens, Craig Smith, Sally Vermilye, Rob Weiland, Tylor Wrightson, Winslow Womack, Joyce Zeigler, and Larny Claggett. A great group and any interested are welcome to join - contact the nominating committee. We need to find a way for all to participate more.
Respectfully Submitted, Laurence G. Claggett, Jr., Clerk
Budget & Finance Committee Reports
Click on the below items:
Income & Expense - Budget vs. Actual (year to date)
Income & Expense - Prior Year Comparison
Common Room Comittee Reports
No reports at this time.
Nominating Committee Reports
2009 Annual Report of the Nominating Committee
Our Meeting is enriched when all members and regular attenders actively participate in the business life of the meeting. Involvement nurtures the spirit of the individual and strengthens our sense of community. In addition to committee work, some of us have additional unique gifts or leadings. These may be teaching our children on First Day, installing a new roof, standing as a Quaker peace testimony representative in front of the Court House, or delivering lunches to shut-ins. Some also contribute through thoughtful vocal ministry which was as a result of deep spiritual research and preparation for Monthly worship service. Recognizing all this time and effort, the Nominating Committee recommends committees consider consolidation of some of their activities with other committees whenever possible so as not to overly stretch and stress-out our members and attenders.
The Nominating Committee has tried to discern the gifts of all members and attenders to properly position them in the Meeting business activities. We hope the proposed composition of Committees for 2008 will bring new energy to the Meeting sustaining us through the coming year.
Click here to go to list of committee members.
Communications Committee Reports
Annual Report for Calendar Year 2008 of the Communications Committee to the Third Haven Friends Meeting for Business fourth month twelfth day, 2009.
Ralph Young is our chief photographer, mailer of newsletters, and continues to maintain the Third Haven Website, www.thirdhaven.org . Dee Rein provides the final editing to the assembled newsletter, in addition to writing specific articles, and provides the finished product to the printer and the e-mail version. Nancy Mullen provides the initial editing of all submitted material. Molly Burgoyne, not formally a committee member, prepares the latest minutes.
Our goals are to keep the meeting informed of future events, to provide a place for vital meeting information, and to record the current history of Third Haven.
Weekly announcements go out most Mondays by e-mail. The newsletter is scheduled for publication well in advance of monthly meeting for business. The deadline for submission of articles is set at the 22 of each month.
The 325 th Third Haven Directory of members and attenders is being prepared.
We are currently under budget.
John A. Hawkinson, Clerk
Scholarship
Annual Report of the Scholarship Committee September, 2009
The Scholarship Committee has been busy this summer, and five $500 scholarships have been awarded to Third Haven members and their families. Scholarship recipients were chosen on the basis of their academic accomplishments, their educational goals, their long-term plans, and their participation (and their families') in Third Haven. Financial aid has been awarded, in alphabetical order, to: Laura Claggett: A member of the up-and-coming generation of one of Third Haven's dynasties, Laura graduated in May from The George School. She participated in the International Baccalaureate (advanced placement) Program, and graduated with a 3.8 grade point average. She will attend The College of William and Mary in the fall, where she might -- or might not -- major in Classical Languages. Laura is the daughter of Larny and Lorraine Claggett, and the granddaughter of Pinny and Lorraine Claggett. She has received a generous financial aid package from the college, but her family is still expected to contribute almost 40% of the cost of her education.
Jamie duHoffmann: Has been pursuing a bachelor's degree in International Studies at Washington College. Her current grade point average is 3.55. She will transfer in the fall to the University of Maryland-College Park or Salisbury University, where she will major in Interdisciplinary Studies. In the future, she is interested in earning a nursing degree and specializing in pediatrics, labor & delivery, or community health. While grants will cover her tuition, her scholarship will help fund books and day care for her two sons, Gunther and Gabriel. Attenders for five years, Jamie and her sons have been actively involved in parish life for three years. She served as Third Haven's volunteer coordinator for the Talbot Interfaith Shelter this year. Evan Greene: Member Cindy Browne has been at Third Haven since 2002, and at Homewood Meeting, in Baltimore, prior to that. Her son, Evan Greene, wishes to train as a Wilderness First Responder at the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming. In fact, by time you read this, he may already be there. The school is completely “hands on,” and in addition to receiving emergency medical training, he will learn severe-weather survival skills, as well as multiple skills in wilderness and environmental preservation. When he returns, he plans to continue his studies and be certified as an Emergency Medical Technician. "Evan is thrilled about the prospect of attending this type of school, as it is his passion," says his mother. "I strongly believe that it will be a life-altering experience for him, particularly in terms of viewing himself as a successful man."" Jacob Mullen: The eldest son of Nancy and Mike Mullen, Jake just graduated from Easton High School. He is headed for The College of St. Mary's, which is Sarah Claggett's alma mater. He plans to major in philosophy. He chose St. Mary's in part because he will also be able to complete premedical curriculum. Jake plans to go to medical school and follow his father into medicine. He plans to specialize in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Aiyana Paterson: Already has two bachelor's degrees from Western Maryland College, one in Economics and one in Art History. But after a dozen years as a federal budget analyst, she feels that a career change is in order. More and more of her clients are doing business with the Department of Defense, making it harder and harder to reconcile her career with her Quaker beliefs. So she plans to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) and teach middle and high school math. The first step will be prerequisite courses at Chesapeake and Anne Arundel Community Colleges. Then she plans to enroll in the MAT program at Salisbury University. She will work full time while attending college and graduate school, and expects the entire process to take two-and-a-half to three years. Each student, except Evan Greene, whose scholarship will fund an intensive short course, will receive half of his or her scholarship before the fall semester, and the remainder before the spring semester, provided he or she remains a student in good standing. Each student in a multiyear program will be eligible to apply for additional aid next year. "We're proud of our young -- and not-so-young -- scholars," said Scholarship Committee member Pete Howell. "Although we don't yet have a lot of money to award, we look forward to being able to offer more support in the years ahead. In the meantime, these scholarships are an important symbol of our belief in their potential and our commitment to helping them reach that potential. They are our future, and it is not only our duty, but also our privilege, to help them in any way we can. When they learn and mature, our entire spiritual community benefits." The Scholarship Committee will accept applications for the spring semester in the fall. Although not yet set in stone, the application deadline is likely to be around November 15. For information about applying for scholarships, contact Pete Howell at piratepete@goeaston.net or 410-924-5752. To donate to the Scholarship Fund or learn more about planned giving, contact Mark Beck at mb4833@aol.com or 410-822-6481.
Talbot Association of Clergy and Laity (TACL)
TACL Annual Report for 2009
TACL activities this year included:
The annual Interfaith Seder Dinner
The annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Dinner
Ongoing support for Habitat for Humanity
Ongoing support for Talbot Interfaith Shelter
Now supporting the Mayors Prayer Breakfast
Continue to disseminate information about member churches activities
Promoted the Talbot County Peace Week and the annual Multicultural Festival
Monthly presentations and discussions on a variety of topics such as:
Elderly Sensitivity Training
Islamic/Christian Interface
Mental Health and Substance Abuse issues
Pastoral Grieving
The Death Penalty
Promoted a program for restoring and advancing Civil Liberties in Maryland and the Nation.
Continued to operate the Good Samaritan Fund primarily with generous donations from the Talbot County faith community.
Submitted on 11/10/2009 Ann Williams & Ralph Young
FCNL
FCNL REPORT FOR 2009
AFSC Annual Report for 2009 Over the past year, the AFSC has been very active. Here is a brief overview of the scope of their activities:
Fighting military recruitment in high schools around the US
Advocating for good public benefits and services to benefit economic justice in the US
Working towards marriage equality and LGBT rights in the US
The Wage Peace Campaign to end the war in Iraq
Working to promote a just and lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis
Distributing non-food necessities to refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Working to create peace and alleviate the suffering of war and disaster in many Asian states, such as China, North Korea, and Cambodia
A Community Gardens Project in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Work in Latin America and the Caribbean to address poverty, inequality, and social conflict
and much, much more. See their website (www.afsc.org) for more information.
Committee of Clerks Reports
Annual Report of the Committee of all clerks to the Third Haven Friends Meeting first month ninth day, 2008
Present: Norval Thompson, Dee Rein, Cathy Thompson, Larny Claggett, John Hawkinson, Susan Claggett., Ann Williams, Frank Zeigler, Molly Burgoyne, Candace Shattuck, Nancy Mullen, Winslow Womack, Paige Bethke, Mark Beck, John Schreiner.
Clerk's Points
Importance of timing: emphasis made to starting on time and sticking to agenda, its timeline, including a specific adjournment time.
Reaching out: Would like efforts made to reach out to new members, attenders and visitors. More greeters,more consistency with greeters, different faces on the facing bench. More participation in business meeting.
Would like to address, in due course in the coming year, same gender union once again and have efforts towards resolution, unity and atmosphere where all people express opinions and feel heard.
Quakerism 101: Would like to see this course offered again. It was well received and attended. It reached out to newer members and attenders. And, even some who attended missed some sessions and would like to fill in the blanks.
Involvement: Would like to involve members in multiple activities evn those who don't necessarily like meetings. First Day School show and tell to involve more members in those activities. Need brainstorming in committees on how to get people involved.
Afterthoughts: This was brought up as concern. Some felt afterthoughts were distracting and not helpful. Suggestions made to have the people on the facing bench to instruct all present re: purpose of afterthoughts and purpose of joys and concerns. Clerks should restudy this issue during April meeting. This topic should be discussed by Worship and Ministry at their next meeting.
Committee overlap and redundancy: Sorting out of function and duties of the committees would be helpful for the clerk with a hard look this next year regarding possible combination of committees or changing of functions; or, in some instances, even forming subcommittees or break-out groups for specific issues eg. Burial policy reworking.
Meeting for business: Lack of participation is disturbing. Experimentation with different times, strategies such as shortening one worship session, having business meeting first, or doing it in the common room, &/or with food available (or even beverages in the Meeting houses) should be considered.
Committee Work
PYM- Norval- This committee helps relay info to the Meeting re interim meeting and PYM functions in order to help monthly Meetings work better.
Overseers: Dee- Mission is to care for members of the Meeting. In charge of clearness committees, taking care of shut-ins, sending greetings to visitors, burials, weddings, answering machine and concerns of members. This is a tall order for one committee; perhaps sub-groups or focus groups might be useful.—
Nominating: Paige- Committees are currently understaffed and overworked. Don't have breadth and depth they need. Aging population a problem. Looking into combining work would be helpful.
Scholarship: Mark- They meet for the first time next week. This committee is new and will do the important outreach of furthering Quaker values beyond our walls, supporting students and Quaker institutions as well.
Property and grounds: Larny- Try to keep up the good work. Consider project to plant the lower meadow. Get more people involved. Suggestion made to give people more time to select an activity to their liking with an early sign up sheet for spruce up day.
Hospitality: Cathy and Ann- Each committee will be given a month to do hospitality. Calendar is already filled out. Committee currently reaching out to invole younger members.
First Day School : Susan- 25-30 kids on register (w/ 10-20 attending on a given 1st day). Need volunteers always. Currently have steady babysitter for business meeting.
Communications: John- Web site currently up to date. 4 years worth of newsletters and directory accessible. New directory being updated now. [a well crafted, current, complete, and colorful site; worthing of perusal by old time Friends and brand new attenders and visitors alike. Be sure to check out.
Library and outreach: Frank- space for new books and pamphlets have been made. Visitor envelopes currently updated amd were passed out.
Assistant clerk: Candace- currently picks up projects left behind such as the name tags and welcoming new people. …as well as guiding and helping the new clerk.
Testamonies and concerns: Nancy- recent crisis due to lack of participation. Will meet again in Feb. revamping recommendations for charitable contributions. Will bring this to business meeting in the near future. Resolution on the Meeting's charitable giving.
Budget and finance: Winslow- extract funds, allocate funds, dispense funds. Treasurer's report will be given next week in business meeting. [individual giving records held confidential, yet Meeting giving patterns and trends are available for scrutiny by all.
Trustees
Third Haven Friends Meeting Trustees
Annual Meeting Synopsis
March 26, 2009
Present: Marsie Hawkinson, Clerk, Allan Mielke, Treasurer, Sumner Parker, Monimia Barker, Ken Carroll, Diana Rein, Secretary.
The following topics were covered:
A Letter of appreciation to Jeanine Bartlett. on behalf of her husband Tom Bartlett for his 41 years of service as a trustee was read and approved for mailing.
Minutes and Treasurers Report were approved. The Operating Statement for December 31, 2008 (attached) was presented by Allan Mielke. The Trust is solvent.
Property and Grounds Committee submitted requests:
Extensive pruning of significant trees and removal of a broken tree off a corner of the old building to be done by Angus Ford for $1700 was approved.
Grading and stone for the meeting house lane may be supported in part by the Trustees once an estimate is received. Decision was tabled pending such an estimate.
Solar Panel installation is not currently a priority of the Property and Ground Committee.
Scholarship Committee progress was presented by Sumner Parker. The committee thus far has $18000 in donations and another $7500 in pledges plus the $1500 pledged by the Trustees. Sumner expressed concern that the donations came from fewer than 20 contributors rather than the entire meeting community. Marsie suggested he report at the next Meeting for Business in order to raise awareness of the scholarship program. Monimia expressed concern that a call she received soliciting a donation was not presented in the manner of Friends. Ken indicated the importance of providing scholarship aid to adult inquirers interested in learning about Quakers. It was agreed that the Scholarship Committee had formed and been approved by the meeting, had begun its work and therefore met the Trustees stipulations from March 2008. Hence, Allan will write a check to the Scholarship Committee for the agreed $1500.
A new Trustee, Laurence Claggett Jr. was approved.
Election of Officers by unity resulted in: President Marsie Hawkinson, Treasurer Allan Mielke, Secretary Diana Rein.
Membership Recorder's Report
Membership Recorder's Annual Report for 2008
Background The function of the Membership Recorder is to record membership information for the Monthly Meeting and to serve as a conduit for that information to the Yearly Meeting. Although the titles are similar, the Recorder has a different function from that of the Recording Clerk, who keeps minutes of our business meetings.
The information we keep track of is straightforward: names, birthdates and places, spouse's and children's names, birthdates and birthplaces; marriage information; when the individual joined our meeting and via what path (transfer, application, birth). We also record when and how an individual leaves membership: death, resignation, or release by the Meeting. The main vehicle for keeping this information is the Membership Records book, which uses a standard format for all PYM meetings. The records are kept on acid-free paper for archival purposes, and periodically forwarded to the Maryland Hall of Records in Annapolis . All other PYM meetings archive their records at Swarthmore , PA , where they are kept for use by historians and genealogists.
2008 Activities The Membership Records Book was given to me in early 2008, with the request to bring it up to date and in synch with PYM's records. This is a painstaking task. Although records are not automated and integrated with one another, an improvement was made over the summer when a PYM staff member created a computer template, which makes it possible to create individual forms on the computer. The product is cleaner, easier-to-read documents, and enables us to store a copy of our records on computer so there is backup to the main book. With the help of Marsie Hawkinson, we are reviewing each and every file. Our goal is to complete this task by summer.
2008 Statistics We began 2008 with 133 members, including 16 minors. Over the course of the year, we added 8 new members (including one reinstatement) and lost one through resignation, for a net gain of 7 members. New total: 140 members. This is an unusually large gain, a very encouraging sign.
To put our meeting in context, at year-end 2007 (the most recent year we have available) the Southern Quarter, by far the smallest of PYM's 13 quarters, had 244 members. Third Haven accounted for over half the Quarter's members, with Camden and Chester River each adding 18% (44 and 45 members, respectively) and Wicomico 9% (23 members).
The Future While the overall decline in membership in recent years and the high proportion of older members remain a concern, we are experiencing welcome signs of healthy growth.
With thanks to all members for your help, Candace Shattuck, Membership Records Recorder