Present: Mary Cadbury, Vonn New, Julia Giordano, Kathie Scanlon, Denise Sherman, Karen
Snare, Val Suter, Bob West, Nettie West.
Monthly Meeting began with a brief period of silent worship.
2011-12 Julia Giordano presents Ministry & Counsel’s recommendation that Bulls Head Monthly
Meeting ask the Quarter to sponsor a weeknight Meeting for Worship in the name of Jesus on a
monthly basis. They also recommend that Bulls Head serve as host for some of these meetings.
Friends are not prepared at this time to make this recommendation to the Quarter. Friends return
the recommendation to Ministry & Counsel for further seasoning, and ask them to bring forward
a recommendation at May Monthly Meeting. We ask Ministry & Counsel to labor with various
concerns that are brought to light by this recommendation. Some of the concerns voiced include:
the unspoken constraint against Christ centered ministry that some Friends have expressed, the
concern of exclusivity (in various ways) that some Friends have expressed, a general concern
about the nature of Jesus/Christ on which Friends have varying perspectives, the need for mid-
week Meeting for Worship in some form.
2011-13 Val Suter report as follows for Ministry & Counsel: Friends thank those who worked
closely with this issue and accept the report.
Report on our attempts at Restorative Justice with our teenage neighbor.
Following a session at the Dutchess Mediation Center between two
representatives from our Meeting and the neighbor who admitted to stealing the
Meeting’s Cell phone, that neighbor agreed to perform 12 hours of community
service at our Bulls Head site by March 31. The young man completed two hours of
community service on January 21, 2011. He did not fulfill his agreement to complete
more shoveling by Feb. 21, nor did he respond to several phone messages and a
card delivered to the family’s mailbox.
After clarifying with Dutchess Mediation that the report should go directly
to the Assistant District Attorney, our representatives, Kathie Scanlon and William
Leicht, in consultation with Valerie Suter, clerk of Ministry and Counsel and with
Karen Snare, Monthly Meeting Clerk, sent a letter to the Assistant District Attorney
reporting the outcome.
2011-14. NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Nettie West presents the attached list of 2011
nominations for a first reading: (see attached)
Friends receive the report, and ask Nominating to confirm that all the dates of service are correct,
and to fill in blank dates. The final report will be presented at May Monthly Meeting.
2011-15. Kathie Scanlon has requested release from service on the Committee for Ministry and
Counsel. Friends approve releasing Kathie from this service.
2011-16. At this time our cell phone has run out of minutes. Friends direct the Treasurer to
purchase more minutes for the time being.
2011-17. MINISTRY & COUNSEL Upcoming events:
April potluck – April 24 - Easter breakfast, a potluck at 9 am hosted by the hospitality
committee
May & June potlucks – May 15 we will formally welcome the Connolly family;
June 19 – program on the meaning of membership.
Spiritual Nurture – May 22 at 9 am; Julia Giordano will facilitate a session on the
Passion Narrative as set out in Mark 8 – 16. At the May meeting Julia will
work with others to ensure the continuation of this important group.
2011-18. TREASURER’S REPORT: Val Suter submitted the following report:
(see attached)
Friends accept the report.
2011-19. Friends accept Karen Snare’s determination that, due to her involvement with the
issue, she should not clerk the 4/17 threshing session about Oswego Meeting house. She is
directed to attempt to find someone to take on this duty.
Meeting closed with a brief period of worship, to adjourn again on May 8, 2011 at 12.30.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Snare,
Clerk
Denise Sherman
recording clerk
Thursday, April 28, 2011
MONTHLY MEETING FOR BUSINESS MARCH 13, 2011
Present: Leif Anderson, Mary Cadbury, Lee Haring, John Perry, Sybil Perry, Karen Snare, Bob Suter, Valerie Suter, Caroline Webster, Denise Sherman
Meeting began at 12.40 with a brief period of silence.
2011-08 The Meeting approved Valerie Suter to serve as recording clerk pro tem.
2011-09 Bob Suter, clerk of the trustees, presented a written report (attached) of options for disposition of the Oswego Meeting House. Members made suggestions and raised questions which the trustees will address prior to a threshing session to be held at 12:30 on April 17, 2011. Members approved these two requests from the trustees:
1. That Jonathan Boice, President of the Oswego Cemetery Association, be encouraged to explore the possibility of establishing a group to maintain the Oswego Meeting House as an historic site.
2. To allow the trustees to attempt to find an attorney who can help with find answers to legal questions regarding the property.
2011-10 The Meeting received a report from Lee Haring on the NYYM Meeting for discernment held February 26, 2011. This was a rich and rewarding extended Meeting for Worship focused on the query, “What concrete things have you (Monthly Meetings and Worship Groups) been doing to realize that which God is calling forth?”
2011-11 The Meeting had intended to continue our discussion of how to move forward as a Meeting to address our visibility, diminishing numbers, lack of funds, outreach, etc. . Because the queries for the March 20 potluck address the same concerns, Friends agreed to hold this discussion over until March 20.
The following queries are offered as a guide for this year’s State of Society reports.
1. Meetings are living bodies and thus experience cycles of growth and dormancy. What new growth do you greet in your meeting? What losses do you mourn?
2. Many meetings struggle with issues of the world such as racism, class inequality, and discrimination by sexual orientation. With what issues does your meeting struggle? How does your meeting labor with difficult issues?
For the March 20 potluck and discussion the Meeting approved to start the potluck at the rise of Meeting and schedule the discussion to begin at 12:45 and end at 2:15.
The meeting ended at 2:20 with a brief period of silent worship.
Karen Snare, clerk
Valerie Suter, recording clerk pro tem
Oswego Meeting House — Consideration of Options 13 March 2011
Bulls Head-Oswego Friends Meeting considered the fate of the Oswego meeting house several years ago. The meeting decided to discuss with Oakwood Friends School their interest in moving the building itself to the school, at the school’s expense, for use as a meeting house. Oakwood has since decided not to pursue that course of action.
At its January meeting for business, Bulls Head-Oswego Friends requested that the Trustees consider this issue anew, assembling information that would be useful in a subsequent threshing session about the fate of the Oswego meeting house.
Below is an annotated outline of the Trustees’ current information and deliberations.
(1) Significance of the meeting house’s designation as an historic site — Oswego meeting house was listed on the state and national registers of historic sites in April, 1989. Listing in the registers allows the site to apply for federal grants and matching state grants for historic preservation. Private foundations that could serve as sources of grant funds also look favorably on sites that are on the national and state registers.
The listing of the meeting house on the national and state registers does not, in itself, restrict our use of the property and does not prohibit demolition of the building. The only restrictions would be those imposed by grants, and we have not received any grants directed at the Oswego meeting house. There could also be restrictions based on local codes and ordinances, but Union Vale has none that apply in this case.
[These two paragraphs repeat information that was collected and reported in the consideration of the fate of the meeting house that took place several years ago.]
(2) Legal status of the property — The Oswego site is listed as a single parcel of 1.9 acres (see attached map) that includes both the meeting house and the cemetery. The parcel is listed as being owned by “Oswego Friends.” Because it is listed as a single parcel, we could not sell or give away the part on which the meeting house sits without either (a) including the cemetery in the exchange or (b) subdividing the parcel into a building part and a cemetery part or (c) demonstrating to the satisfaction of the town that the listing of the parcel is incorrect and should, perhaps from the beginning, have been listed as two separate parcels.
(3) Assessment of property value — The 1.9-acre parcel is assessed at $224,400 in total, with the meeting house assessed at $114,400 and the land assessed at $110,000. Land in the immediate vicinity of the meeting house is assessed at an average of about $71,000 per acre, with actual assessed value per acre decreasing with increasing parcel size (e.g., a 4.1-acre parcel is assessed at only $25,365 per acre).
(4) Zoning — The 1.9-acre parcel is in a Residential Agricultural 3 (RA3) District. RA3 implies the following:
Other zoning restrictions would also be applicable if the meeting were to decide to subdivide the parcel into a meeting house part and a cemetery part. For example, subdivision would probably mean that the meeting house part would be on a “flag lot,” a main area (the flag) and a narrow access area (the flagstaff), a shape that is explicitly discouraged in the zoning code and that must have at least 50 feet of frontage.
(5) The Trustees identified six ways we might proceed:
Friends are encouraged to consider the information in this report in preparation for a threshing session later this spring, possibly in mid-April.
MONTHLY MEETING FOR BUSINESS FEBRUARY 13, 2011
BULLS HEAD-OSWEGO
Present: Mary Cadbury, John Perry, Sybil Perry, Denise Sherman, Karen Snare, Valerie Suter, Bob West,
Nettie West
Meeting began at 12.30 with a brief period of silence.
2011-05. A. MINISTRY & COUNSEL: Friends received a Memorial Minute for Chris Cadbury, which
was approved as attached with minor changes. The clerk will forward the minute to the QM with the
recommendation that it be forwarded to the YM.
B. Friends receive a report about the theft of the cell phone. Bill Leicht and Kathie Scanlon met with the
young man involved and his mother for a RestorativeJustice session at the Dutchess Mediation Center. They
determined that he would perform 12 hours of community service for the Meeting, which Leif Anderson has
been facilitating to this point. When his service has been completed, Kathie, Bill and Leif will meet with him and
send him a note to document the successful completion of his service.
2011-06. TREASURER’S REPORT:
Val submitted the attached 2010 end of year report:
The funds over which we have control without restriction (Checking account, General Fund and Maintenance
fund) have been depleted by almost half: In 12/2006 the combined funds were $44,568; in 12/2010 they were
$22,846. During that time, approximately $7000 was spent to maintain the Bulls Head Meeting house, and
$9000 was spent to maintain Oswego Meeting house.
2011-07. Laid over from January Monthly Meeting, we enter a consideration of how to move forward as a
Meeting to address our visibility, diminishing numbers, lack of funds, outreach, etc. Friends float various ideas
about how to reach out, as well as different ways of looking at the concern:
Engage (and invite the community, the quarter) in some kind of Quaker education like Quaker quest.
Explore as a quarter doing an ‘information push’ to let the surrounding community know about us and about
Friends in general.
Use community bulletin boards, local restaurants, motels, libraries, periodicals, etc, to alert the community and
visitors to our presence.
Offer community suppers, soup or breakfasts to invite others to get to know us.
If new people do come, what will they find? Have we been thoughtful about how we welcome or inform
newcomers about Friends. Is our physical environment inviting or helpful?
Find a way to help people who are supported by the food bank come together to make food with Meeting
members.
Have informal work mornings on Saturdays to work on various aspects of the building.
A concern is expressed that people do not know how much Friends have to offer spiritually.
The issue of worship vs silence vs meditation needs to be explored.
It is noted that there are 8 people today at Monthly Meeting, which is a very small number of people to tackle so
large a question. Our ‘people resources’ seem to be used up. What have we got to deploy?
Queries for each of us to ask ourselves: How could each of us personally be engaged in addressing the larger
concern. Is there something that I am doing now that I could omit to open up more time for the Meeting?
Val will write something for the newsletter expressing her concerns.
Friends who are present today are asked to let at least 1 other Friend know about this discussion and ask that
others come to Monthly Meeting next month so that more people can engage the conversation.
Friends agree to continue this discussion at next Monthly Meeting.
Monthly Meeting ended at 2.40 with a brief period of silent worship.
Karen Snare, clerk
Denise Sherman, recording clerk
ATTACHMENTS:
Memorial Minute
Christopher Joel Cadbury
September 5, 1921 – October 1, 2010
Christopher Joel Cadbury, 89, died on Friday, October 1, 2010, in Rhinebeck, New York. Born
September 5, 1921 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he was the son of Henry Joel and Lydia Caroline (Brown)
Cadbury. He was the second oldest and last surviving member of a close group of siblings: a brother, Warder
Henry Cadbury, and two sisters, Elizabeth C. Musgrave and Winifred C. Beer. In addition to his wife Mary of
Rhinebeck, New York, he is survived by a daughter, Vivian C. Cadbury of Rhinebeck, two grandsons, Anatole
Christopher and Maksim William Malukoff, and several nieces and nephews.
Chris graduated from Westtown School and Haverford College. As a student at Westtown he
experienced what he described as the "dense social network of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting," and he later
found similar networks among Midwestern Friends in Chicago and again in New York Yearly Meeting. On the
occasion of his 50th reunion at Westtown, Chris wrote:
“I recently saw a report about me that had come to my parents from Westtown that said I was
democratic. Were they referring to my packing sixty boys in my room (to see if it could be done), or the
dates I had (to the consternation of my friends) with girls three classes below me?
Westtown was good for me. In the years before and after I did some stagnating, but at boarding school
l did some growing and defining of myself. It might simply have been my internal timetable, but l am
impressed looking back at how specific the school’s philosophy was, and how it matched my upbringing.
l certainly could not have articulated this then, but it included how to think, when to be unselfish, what is
a lie, what to share with others, how to marry.” (His uncle, Master Carroll told him to marry a Westtown
girl if he wanted it to last. He married a Barnesville girl and it lasted.)
Immediately following his graduation from Haverford College in 1943, he entered Civilian Public Service
as a Conscientious Objector. He wrote of this experience: "l was somewhat cowed by the nation's hostility to
conscientious objectors, but on the other hand I was being tremendously stimulated by the fantastic collection
of idiosyncratic but principled men. They had little in common but their objection to war. My assignments
were forestry in New Hampshire, the care of the mentally retarded in Delaware, and finally a trip with cows to
Bremerhaven for UNRRA."
After he finished his CPS assignments, Chris taught for three years at Friends Boarding School
(now Olney Friends School) in Barnesville Ohio. Of teaching he wrote: "I became discontented with trying to
persuade students to adapt to group goals, and developed more interest in motivation and psychotherapy.”
In 1949 he moved to Chicago, where he studied client-centered psychotherapy under Carl Rogers and
received his Master’s Degree in Human Development from the University of Chicago. He worked as a counselor
for three years but, as he later wrote, “drifted away from that and worked at a number of jobs of a mechanical or
technical nature. Some of them were making equipment for research in animal psychology, and some were in
the building trades."
On June 17, 1950, he married Mary Charlotte Foster under the care of Providence Meeting in Rhode
Island. Mary's three years as a teacher at Friends Boarding School had overlapped his by two years. Their
daughter, Vivian, was born in 1956. The family was active in 57th Street Meeting in Chicago, Chris serving at
one point as Clerk of the Meeting. He also played a large part in the renovation and ongoing care of Quaker
House, which the Meeting purchased in 1952. He worked with the regional office of the American Friends
Service Committee, including supervising work on Project House and responding to the political turmoil of 1968.
In 1970, Chris and his family moved to Clinton Corners, New York. He worked as a clinical psychologist
at Hudson River Psychiatric Center until his retirement in 1990. For his 50th reunion at Haverford College, Chris
wrote the following in reference to his 20 years as psychologist at Hudson River Psychiatric Center:
“I tend to like mentally ill people. Of the many patients I have liked, I definitely have helped a few, and
of course with many it is impossible to evaluate what effect one has had. I weathered the coming and
then going of behavior modification, and when I would eventually start hearing questions from the staff
like, ‘Who was this Freud person?’, I felt I had lived a long time.”
Living on a small dairy farm with several other Quaker families and across the road from Bulls Head-
Oswego Meeting house also gave him full opportunity for agricultural, mechanical, and building work. Inventing
a solution in a crisis was a specialty, and often involved a new use for baling twine.
Throughout his life Chris worked at and enjoyed the family-run resort, Back Log Camp, in the
Adirondack Mountains, which offered another dense social network, this one of extended family, and another
venue for fixing things that needed fixing. Even after moving from the farm to the village of Rhinebeck in 1997,
Chris kept a big collection of objects that might be useful someday. He had to leave many projects undone, but
he remained fully present in his "dense social network" of Friends and family.
The Cadbury family was very active in Bulls Head Meeting. Chris and Mary were unfailingly faithful in
attendance at Meeting for Worship, for business, quarterly Meeting, Yearly Meeting, and most other Meeting
functions. Both served on a number of committees over the years, and each served as Clerk of the Meeting.
Bulls Head Friends were the beneficiaries of the wide range of Chris’s talents. Among his concrete gifts
to the Meeting was contributing to the preparation in the Bentley Farm carriage house of a space for the Sunday
school when it was no longer feasible to hold it in members’ homes. He was deeply involved in the decisions
to build the “new building” and then to expand it, and was one of the most dedicated workers during the two
construction phases.
All who knew Chris knew that they could count on him to be fully present in every conversation, to ask
insightful questions, and to respond thoughtfully. Many Friends particularly valued Chris’s ability to bring a novel
perspective to most topics. He had a remarkable talent for being simultaneously forthright and compassionate.
At least one Friend remembers Chris as the individual who reached out with a warm welcome on her first visit to
Bulls Head.
Friends remember Chris for his integrity, which was remarkable, even among Quakers. His presence
was a gift and he is deeply missed.
TREASURER’S REPORT WILL BE ATTACHED AS 3 SEPARATE DOCUMENTS
Present: Mary Cadbury, John Perry, Sybil Perry, Denise Sherman, Karen Snare, Valerie Suter, Bob West,
Nettie West
Meeting began at 12.30 with a brief period of silence.
2011-05. A. MINISTRY & COUNSEL: Friends received a Memorial Minute for Chris Cadbury, which
was approved as attached with minor changes. The clerk will forward the minute to the QM with the
recommendation that it be forwarded to the YM.
B. Friends receive a report about the theft of the cell phone. Bill Leicht and Kathie Scanlon met with the
young man involved and his mother for a RestorativeJustice session at the Dutchess Mediation Center. They
determined that he would perform 12 hours of community service for the Meeting, which Leif Anderson has
been facilitating to this point. When his service has been completed, Kathie, Bill and Leif will meet with him and
send him a note to document the successful completion of his service.
2011-06. TREASURER’S REPORT:
Val submitted the attached 2010 end of year report:
The funds over which we have control without restriction (Checking account, General Fund and Maintenance
fund) have been depleted by almost half: In 12/2006 the combined funds were $44,568; in 12/2010 they were
$22,846. During that time, approximately $7000 was spent to maintain the Bulls Head Meeting house, and
$9000 was spent to maintain Oswego Meeting house.
2011-07. Laid over from January Monthly Meeting, we enter a consideration of how to move forward as a
Meeting to address our visibility, diminishing numbers, lack of funds, outreach, etc. Friends float various ideas
about how to reach out, as well as different ways of looking at the concern:
Engage (and invite the community, the quarter) in some kind of Quaker education like Quaker quest.
Explore as a quarter doing an ‘information push’ to let the surrounding community know about us and about
Friends in general.
Use community bulletin boards, local restaurants, motels, libraries, periodicals, etc, to alert the community and
visitors to our presence.
Offer community suppers, soup or breakfasts to invite others to get to know us.
If new people do come, what will they find? Have we been thoughtful about how we welcome or inform
newcomers about Friends. Is our physical environment inviting or helpful?
Find a way to help people who are supported by the food bank come together to make food with Meeting
members.
Have informal work mornings on Saturdays to work on various aspects of the building.
A concern is expressed that people do not know how much Friends have to offer spiritually.
The issue of worship vs silence vs meditation needs to be explored.
It is noted that there are 8 people today at Monthly Meeting, which is a very small number of people to tackle so
large a question. Our ‘people resources’ seem to be used up. What have we got to deploy?
Queries for each of us to ask ourselves: How could each of us personally be engaged in addressing the larger
concern. Is there something that I am doing now that I could omit to open up more time for the Meeting?
Val will write something for the newsletter expressing her concerns.
Friends who are present today are asked to let at least 1 other Friend know about this discussion and ask that
others come to Monthly Meeting next month so that more people can engage the conversation.
Friends agree to continue this discussion at next Monthly Meeting.
Monthly Meeting ended at 2.40 with a brief period of silent worship.
Karen Snare, clerk
Denise Sherman, recording clerk
ATTACHMENTS:
Memorial Minute
Christopher Joel Cadbury
September 5, 1921 – October 1, 2010
Christopher Joel Cadbury, 89, died on Friday, October 1, 2010, in Rhinebeck, New York. Born
September 5, 1921 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he was the son of Henry Joel and Lydia Caroline (Brown)
Cadbury. He was the second oldest and last surviving member of a close group of siblings: a brother, Warder
Henry Cadbury, and two sisters, Elizabeth C. Musgrave and Winifred C. Beer. In addition to his wife Mary of
Rhinebeck, New York, he is survived by a daughter, Vivian C. Cadbury of Rhinebeck, two grandsons, Anatole
Christopher and Maksim William Malukoff, and several nieces and nephews.
Chris graduated from Westtown School and Haverford College. As a student at Westtown he
experienced what he described as the "dense social network of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting," and he later
found similar networks among Midwestern Friends in Chicago and again in New York Yearly Meeting. On the
occasion of his 50th reunion at Westtown, Chris wrote:
“I recently saw a report about me that had come to my parents from Westtown that said I was
democratic. Were they referring to my packing sixty boys in my room (to see if it could be done), or the
dates I had (to the consternation of my friends) with girls three classes below me?
Westtown was good for me. In the years before and after I did some stagnating, but at boarding school
l did some growing and defining of myself. It might simply have been my internal timetable, but l am
impressed looking back at how specific the school’s philosophy was, and how it matched my upbringing.
l certainly could not have articulated this then, but it included how to think, when to be unselfish, what is
a lie, what to share with others, how to marry.” (His uncle, Master Carroll told him to marry a Westtown
girl if he wanted it to last. He married a Barnesville girl and it lasted.)
Immediately following his graduation from Haverford College in 1943, he entered Civilian Public Service
as a Conscientious Objector. He wrote of this experience: "l was somewhat cowed by the nation's hostility to
conscientious objectors, but on the other hand I was being tremendously stimulated by the fantastic collection
of idiosyncratic but principled men. They had little in common but their objection to war. My assignments
were forestry in New Hampshire, the care of the mentally retarded in Delaware, and finally a trip with cows to
Bremerhaven for UNRRA."
After he finished his CPS assignments, Chris taught for three years at Friends Boarding School
(now Olney Friends School) in Barnesville Ohio. Of teaching he wrote: "I became discontented with trying to
persuade students to adapt to group goals, and developed more interest in motivation and psychotherapy.”
In 1949 he moved to Chicago, where he studied client-centered psychotherapy under Carl Rogers and
received his Master’s Degree in Human Development from the University of Chicago. He worked as a counselor
for three years but, as he later wrote, “drifted away from that and worked at a number of jobs of a mechanical or
technical nature. Some of them were making equipment for research in animal psychology, and some were in
the building trades."
On June 17, 1950, he married Mary Charlotte Foster under the care of Providence Meeting in Rhode
Island. Mary's three years as a teacher at Friends Boarding School had overlapped his by two years. Their
daughter, Vivian, was born in 1956. The family was active in 57th Street Meeting in Chicago, Chris serving at
one point as Clerk of the Meeting. He also played a large part in the renovation and ongoing care of Quaker
House, which the Meeting purchased in 1952. He worked with the regional office of the American Friends
Service Committee, including supervising work on Project House and responding to the political turmoil of 1968.
In 1970, Chris and his family moved to Clinton Corners, New York. He worked as a clinical psychologist
at Hudson River Psychiatric Center until his retirement in 1990. For his 50th reunion at Haverford College, Chris
wrote the following in reference to his 20 years as psychologist at Hudson River Psychiatric Center:
“I tend to like mentally ill people. Of the many patients I have liked, I definitely have helped a few, and
of course with many it is impossible to evaluate what effect one has had. I weathered the coming and
then going of behavior modification, and when I would eventually start hearing questions from the staff
like, ‘Who was this Freud person?’, I felt I had lived a long time.”
Living on a small dairy farm with several other Quaker families and across the road from Bulls Head-
Oswego Meeting house also gave him full opportunity for agricultural, mechanical, and building work. Inventing
a solution in a crisis was a specialty, and often involved a new use for baling twine.
Throughout his life Chris worked at and enjoyed the family-run resort, Back Log Camp, in the
Adirondack Mountains, which offered another dense social network, this one of extended family, and another
venue for fixing things that needed fixing. Even after moving from the farm to the village of Rhinebeck in 1997,
Chris kept a big collection of objects that might be useful someday. He had to leave many projects undone, but
he remained fully present in his "dense social network" of Friends and family.
The Cadbury family was very active in Bulls Head Meeting. Chris and Mary were unfailingly faithful in
attendance at Meeting for Worship, for business, quarterly Meeting, Yearly Meeting, and most other Meeting
functions. Both served on a number of committees over the years, and each served as Clerk of the Meeting.
Bulls Head Friends were the beneficiaries of the wide range of Chris’s talents. Among his concrete gifts
to the Meeting was contributing to the preparation in the Bentley Farm carriage house of a space for the Sunday
school when it was no longer feasible to hold it in members’ homes. He was deeply involved in the decisions
to build the “new building” and then to expand it, and was one of the most dedicated workers during the two
construction phases.
All who knew Chris knew that they could count on him to be fully present in every conversation, to ask
insightful questions, and to respond thoughtfully. Many Friends particularly valued Chris’s ability to bring a novel
perspective to most topics. He had a remarkable talent for being simultaneously forthright and compassionate.
At least one Friend remembers Chris as the individual who reached out with a warm welcome on her first visit to
Bulls Head.
Friends remember Chris for his integrity, which was remarkable, even among Quakers. His presence
was a gift and he is deeply missed.
TREASURER’S REPORT WILL BE ATTACHED AS 3 SEPARATE DOCUMENTS
MONTHLY MEETING For Business January 9, 2010
BULLSHEAD OSWEGO MONTHLY MEETING
JANUARY 9, 2010
Meeting began at 12.40 with a brief period of silent worship.
Present: Leif Anderson, Nancy Angell, Mary Foster Cadbury, Julia Giordano,
Vonn New, John Perry, Sybil Perry, Denise Sherman, Karen Snare, Bob West
and Nettie West.
1. MEMBERSHIP: Friends receive a letter of transfer from Uwchlan Monthly
Meeting for Robert Connelly, Virginia Connelly and Candace Connelly.
This transfer comes with the approval of Ministry & Counsel. Friends
accept the transfer.
2. NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Nettie West reports as follows for the
Nominating Committee: Val Suter has accepted service as treasurer for
the year 2011. Nancy Angell has agreed to serve as assistant treasurer.
Virginia Connelly has agreed to serve as a member of Ministry & Counsel
in the class of 2013. Friends approve these nominations.
3. TRUSTEES REPORT: Trustees submit the following report:
I have consulted with the other members of Trustees about the advisability of discontinuing our
electrical service at Oswego Meeting House. We are all in agreement that discontinuing the
electrical service is a sound idea, so this message conveys our recommendation to the Monthly
Meeting that we do so.
We note that, in recent years, the only consumption of electricity at the site was to provide power
to a vacuum cleaner in preparation for the annual meeting for worship, and that Jonathan Boice
has an electrical generator that we can use to provide power as needed in the future.
Bob Suter
Friends approve the recommendation.
4. FINANCE COMMITTEE: John Perry submitted the following report for the
Finance Committee.
Minutes of Bulls Head Finance Committee – January 2, 2011
The meeting was held in the gathering room after rise of meeting. In attendance: John
Perry, Nancy Angell, Valerie Suter, and Mary Williams.
The meeting began with silent worship.
1. Val Suter reported that contributions are significantly lower for 2010 than at any time
in the past several years. Depending on the amount of the cash flow in the checking
account, we may need to transfer funds from the general reserve to cover the deficit.
2. In recognition of this financial situation, the committee agreed to recommend an
austerity budget. The budget eliminates discretionary expenses and contributions.
The Yearly Meeting amount was reduced from $12,000 in 2010 and has already
been committed to the Yearly Meeting budget. We do not recommend reducing
this further for 2011.
The fire department is an offering in recognition of our tax exempt status and we
recommend continuing this contribution.
Assuming the trustees stop the electric at Oswego Meeting, there is a $300 saving
in utilities.
3. Even with the austerity budget, if contributions do not increase in 2011, we will need
to use our general reserve to cover expenses. We may find ourselves with a decimated
general reserve fund as we start 2012.
4. We recommend that the Meeting form an ad-hoc committee to explore ways of raising
additional funds. We feel it would be best to form this committee from volunteers rather
than from the Nominating committee process.
5. Although the expense of maintaining Oswego is not part of the operating budget, the
expense has strained our maintenance reserves and may require additional repair and
maintenance in the future. The Oakwood option is unlikely to happen as Oakwood is
struggling with the capital campaign that would have funded the move. We recommend
that the Meeting reactivate the Oswego committee to consider the sale of the property as
a way to build up our reserves and minimize our maintenance expenses.
The meeting ended with a period of silent worship.
Friends approve the recommended austerity budget with changes to the
following budget lines:
Ministry & Counsel
$200
Publications
50
Religious Education
50
Friends ask trustees to initiate a process by which the Meeting can discuss the
future of the Oswego Meeting House, including its possible sale. Trustees are
further asked to be able to present to the Meeting all the relevant practical (legal,
financial, etc) ramifications that are part of the ownership of the Meeting House.
The trustees recommendation to form an ad hoc committee to raise additional
funds sparks a discussion of the larger issue of the long-standing problem
(shared by many Meetings) of dwindling numbers. We recognize that our
financial concerns are only a symptom of many larger and deeper issues.
Friends comment with some distress of about the diminished visibility of Friends,
lack of outreach, as well as feelings on the part of some that Bulls Head MM
could be more welcoming to newcomers. A suggestion is made to conduct a
year long Meeting-wide effort to address these concerns, but there is not unity
at this time as to how to proceed. We agree to lay over further discussion to the
next Monthly Meeting. Friends are encouraged to hold these concerns in the
light and be prepared for a prayerful consideration at the next Monthly Meeting of
how we are led to move forward in addressing these concerns.
Meeting closes at 2.25 with a brief period of silent worship, to reconvene on
February 13, 2011.
JANUARY 9, 2010
Meeting began at 12.40 with a brief period of silent worship.
Present: Leif Anderson, Nancy Angell, Mary Foster Cadbury, Julia Giordano,
Vonn New, John Perry, Sybil Perry, Denise Sherman, Karen Snare, Bob West
and Nettie West.
1. MEMBERSHIP: Friends receive a letter of transfer from Uwchlan Monthly
Meeting for Robert Connelly, Virginia Connelly and Candace Connelly.
This transfer comes with the approval of Ministry & Counsel. Friends
accept the transfer.
2. NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Nettie West reports as follows for the
Nominating Committee: Val Suter has accepted service as treasurer for
the year 2011. Nancy Angell has agreed to serve as assistant treasurer.
Virginia Connelly has agreed to serve as a member of Ministry & Counsel
in the class of 2013. Friends approve these nominations.
3. TRUSTEES REPORT: Trustees submit the following report:
I have consulted with the other members of Trustees about the advisability of discontinuing our
electrical service at Oswego Meeting House. We are all in agreement that discontinuing the
electrical service is a sound idea, so this message conveys our recommendation to the Monthly
Meeting that we do so.
We note that, in recent years, the only consumption of electricity at the site was to provide power
to a vacuum cleaner in preparation for the annual meeting for worship, and that Jonathan Boice
has an electrical generator that we can use to provide power as needed in the future.
Bob Suter
Friends approve the recommendation.
4. FINANCE COMMITTEE: John Perry submitted the following report for the
Finance Committee.
Minutes of Bulls Head Finance Committee – January 2, 2011
The meeting was held in the gathering room after rise of meeting. In attendance: John
Perry, Nancy Angell, Valerie Suter, and Mary Williams.
The meeting began with silent worship.
1. Val Suter reported that contributions are significantly lower for 2010 than at any time
in the past several years. Depending on the amount of the cash flow in the checking
account, we may need to transfer funds from the general reserve to cover the deficit.
2. In recognition of this financial situation, the committee agreed to recommend an
austerity budget. The budget eliminates discretionary expenses and contributions.
The Yearly Meeting amount was reduced from $12,000 in 2010 and has already
been committed to the Yearly Meeting budget. We do not recommend reducing
this further for 2011.
The fire department is an offering in recognition of our tax exempt status and we
recommend continuing this contribution.
Assuming the trustees stop the electric at Oswego Meeting, there is a $300 saving
in utilities.
3. Even with the austerity budget, if contributions do not increase in 2011, we will need
to use our general reserve to cover expenses. We may find ourselves with a decimated
general reserve fund as we start 2012.
4. We recommend that the Meeting form an ad-hoc committee to explore ways of raising
additional funds. We feel it would be best to form this committee from volunteers rather
than from the Nominating committee process.
5. Although the expense of maintaining Oswego is not part of the operating budget, the
expense has strained our maintenance reserves and may require additional repair and
maintenance in the future. The Oakwood option is unlikely to happen as Oakwood is
struggling with the capital campaign that would have funded the move. We recommend
that the Meeting reactivate the Oswego committee to consider the sale of the property as
a way to build up our reserves and minimize our maintenance expenses.
The meeting ended with a period of silent worship.
Friends approve the recommended austerity budget with changes to the
following budget lines:
Ministry & Counsel
$200
Publications
50
Religious Education
50
Friends ask trustees to initiate a process by which the Meeting can discuss the
future of the Oswego Meeting House, including its possible sale. Trustees are
further asked to be able to present to the Meeting all the relevant practical (legal,
financial, etc) ramifications that are part of the ownership of the Meeting House.
The trustees recommendation to form an ad hoc committee to raise additional
funds sparks a discussion of the larger issue of the long-standing problem
(shared by many Meetings) of dwindling numbers. We recognize that our
financial concerns are only a symptom of many larger and deeper issues.
Friends comment with some distress of about the diminished visibility of Friends,
lack of outreach, as well as feelings on the part of some that Bulls Head MM
could be more welcoming to newcomers. A suggestion is made to conduct a
year long Meeting-wide effort to address these concerns, but there is not unity
at this time as to how to proceed. We agree to lay over further discussion to the
next Monthly Meeting. Friends are encouraged to hold these concerns in the
light and be prepared for a prayerful consideration at the next Monthly Meeting of
how we are led to move forward in addressing these concerns.
Meeting closes at 2.25 with a brief period of silent worship, to reconvene on
February 13, 2011.
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