Clear Creek Friends Meeting News

Third Trip to Iran Planned for April 28 – May 10!

Sam and Ruth N, for Neighbors East and West, are announcing plans for a third trip to Iran with visits to Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz and other cities in between. The cost will be appr. $1350 for ten-day program in Iran, with a possible three-day extension to Shiraz and Persepolis for an additional $350. Travelers also need to obtain return airfare to Tehran from the United States (appr. $1200) and a visa to Iran (appr. $110). More information about this trip, accounts of earlier trips, and more information about Neighbors East and West can be found at the website http://neighborseastandwest.org or by contacting Ruth and Sam  (email: samn@earlham.edu ).

The February “book” has changed to a poetry reading session. (The book we had originally selected is not readily available.) Participants are encouraged to bring a favorite poem to share and discuss. The discussion will be in the Friends Fellowship solarium on Sunday, 02/28 at 7:00 p.m.

In March, we will be reading James Mulholland’s and Phil Gulley’s book If Grace Is True. Contact Jan or Dan S if you would like to order a copy with the group.

Participate in an Exploration among Richmond Friends, January – May 2010

Friends from the three Richmond Friends meetings (Clear Creek Friends, First Friends, West Richmond Friends) will gather for eight sessions to explore the meaning of call, leadership, gifts development, community, the language and stories of faith. How can we renew Quaker traditions of discernment, the naming and nurturing of gifts, following our leadings, and envisioning the work of our meetings?

The course method will be shared exploration, rather than content delivery.  Participants should expect to be challenged and perhaps changed by one another and by the Spirit working in the group.  Organizers of the course hope that 6-8 participants from each meeting will commit to the series of eight Sunday evening sessions.

Jennie I, of Clear Creek Meeting, has developed this curriculum with the Earlham School of Religion.  She will facilitate the course with two other Friends from our Richmond meetings.

The tentative schedule for sessions is January 24, February 7 and 21, March 7 and 28, April 11 and 25, and May 2.  Sessions will be held Sunday evenings, 7:00 to 9:00 at the Earlham School of Religion. Participants are invited to come early at 6:30 and enjoy a brown bag meal together.

Cost of the course is only $30.  To register or to ask questions, contact Jennie I, Doug G, or Josh B.

Because our original date for Quaker Quest, Feb. 6th, was cancelled due to snow, M&O has rescheduled the event for Saturday, Feb. 20th, 9am-4pm. Friends are asked to let Jana S (or any member of M&O) know again whether you are able or unable to attend for this new date. Also, please let Mary G know again what food you can provide for the potluck lunch.

All local members and attenders are urged to attend this event sponsored by Clear Creek Meeting. This is an exploratory session for us to find out what Quaker Quest is (a structure first developed in the U.K. for both inreach and outreach for local meetings) and to see if we might want to sponsor some public Quaker Quest sessions in the future. It will include a sample panel with Clear Creek members and time for sharing with one another. Please make it a priority to attend!

Please Hold In The Light:  The family of Michael B. & Gwen H. for the passing of Michael’s father ; Leslie L. as she recovers from knee surgery; she expects to be able to return to work on April 27; Herb and Amanda F. as they recover from hip surgery– Herb said, “Hip, hip, hurray;”  Mary Anne G. as she deals with heart issues;  Larry H.’s niece who at age 10 is beginning to deal with the problems of childhood diabetes.

Mary Morrissett Mullin was born in Columbus, Ohio, on April 29, 1915, to Irving and Anna Rogers Morrissett.  She grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and graduated from Denison University.   After college, Mary worked with the American Friends Service Committee as a college secretary in New England and California, recruiting college students to work in AFSC projects.  She was active in the Emergency Peace Campaign in Philadelphia, where she met James P. Mullin of Brookville, IN.   They married on December 27, 1941.  In 1946 they settled in Brookville, where they raised four daughters.

A member of Clear Creek Monthly Meeting, Mary was active in many local, statewide and national organizations, including the executive committee of the Dayton Region of the American Friends Service Committee and the board of trustees of Earlham College.  She was a homemaker and worked as a tax accountant in the James P. Mullin Law Office in Brookville.  After her four children left home, Mary traveled widely with her husband, expanded her gardening interests, and became an enthusiastic “Quaker Quilter”.   She made more than 200 quilts, many of her own design, which she lovingly gave to many family members and friends.  She was an avid reader and computer user, reading the New York Times daily on the Internet.  In retirement Mary and Jim moved to Friends Fellowship Community, in Richmond IN.

Mary was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, one granddaughter and four siblings.  She is survived by her four children; eight grandchildren, two sisters, a brother, numerous nieces and nephews, and many good friends.  In an e-mail to her grandchildren in December, 2008, Mary told them that she was contemplating exploring the vast universe free of a frail body.  Her life ended at Friends Fellowship Community on January 16, 2009

The meeting opened with a period of silent worship. Fourteen Friends were present. The clerk read the Queries for the third month and Friends reflected on how we foster community within our Meeting.

• Treasurer’s report: income for the second month was $1066 and expenses were $1683.

• Nominating committee: recommend that David G remain as clerk for the rest of this year.

• M&O: Drafts of the State of the Meeting report and a memorial minute for Mary M were presented. The memorial minute was approved as written. Some revisions were suggested for the State of the Meeting report. A revised version will be brought next month for final approval.

• M&O report part 2: In the process of corresponding with distant members and attenders, we have received several requests for transfer or withdrawal of membership. Sam G has requested a transfer of membership from Clear Creek Monthly Meeting to Sandy Springs Monthly Meeting in Maryland and M&O recommended acceptance of this request. This transfer was approved by the Meeting. Jon L has requested a withdrawal of membership and M&O recommended acceptance of this request. This withdrawal was approved by the Meeting. Lisa N has requested a withdrawal of membership and M&O recommended acceptance of this request. This withdrawal was approved by the Meeting.

• Children’s Religious Education: thanks to all who are helping with the children. The schedule is filled for now.

• The Clerk read a letter from Habitat for Humanity of Greater Richmond thanking us for the lunch we provided.

• The Clerk reported that Kelly Burke, as director of Campus Ministries, is proposing a year long trial of holding College Meeting at 1 pm. This would give us the opportunity to change our time of worship and other activities. Several suggested changes were discussed. M&O will consider these and bring a proposal next month.
• The minutes were read and approved. Meeting closed with a brief period of waiting worship.

David G, Clerk
Dan S, Recording Clerk

Clear Creek ministry and oversight committee extends greetings on behalf of the meeting to our distant members and attenders. At this time of year we are reminded of the many wonderful people who have been part of our meeting community and are still held close in our thoughts and prayers. We hope that we may share worship and fellowship with some of you if you travel to Richmond during this season. We would also be happy to receive news of those who will be unable to be with us in person.

The following was brought to Meeting for Business by Ministry and Oversight (M&O). It grew out of concerns brought to M&O and discussions in M&O about those concerns. It was brought to Monthly Meeting for Business asking for it to be considered as a recommendation, and requesting feedback and direction. It will be considered again at August Monthly Meeting for Business, to determine if we feel we have the desire, energy, and commitment to move forward. Friends are asked to forward any thoughts about this to M&O prior to next Monthly Meeting for Business.

There have been concerns raised about the ebb and flow of attenders, the lack of welcome that new attenders sometimes feel, and the lack of children and young families. New and younger attenders bring energy, but it takes work to foster them. Clear Creek members sometimes feel overwhelmed by the needs of the many occasional attenders, and that can make it hard to be welcoming.
Without being welcoming, we are unlikely to see our numbers grow. We have often had the attitude that people will find us, and if we are right for them, they will stay. However, we have seen many just drift away. We have not been able to meet their spiritual needs.

M&O raised the question: what would it take to increase our numbers?

Many ideas came forth. We may have an opportunity to change meeting time and have use of the meetinghouse for longer on Firstday if College Meeting changes its time (a current possibility). That would open the possibility for meals after meeting, and the possibility of speakers that draw a wider audience.
What would happen if we approached this with intentionality as a meeting? Without expecting the burden to fall on a few members or committees, but if the meeting as a whole decided to try to grow? If we took a semester, or a school year, and made a commitment to try to grow? If we invited new faculty to meeting (as West Richmond does), if we invited friends and acquaintances to come to meeting with us (as many churches do)?

We bring this as a recommendation for consideration and as a request for input and commitment from the meeting.