FEBRUARY CALENDAR

Jan 29 – Feb 2:  NEYM Junior High Retreat at Westport Meeting
7-9 – NEYM/NYYM Elders Retreat at Powell House, Old Chatham, NY
–  8 – NEYM Committee Day at Moses Brown School
-9 –  Second Sunday format is followed today. More info
15 –  NEYM Ministry and Counsel Committee at Cambridge Friends Meeting
NEYM Permanent Board. Location TBA
16 – Monthly Meeting for Business, 8:30 AM
18 – Market Ministries  Soup Kitchen, New Bedford. Details

Dates to Save:
March 2 at rise of meeting. Coffee Hour to welcome Susanna Sylvia into membership! All are welcome!
March 7-9, NEYM 6th Grade Retreat at Westport Meeting
March 16, Monthly Meeting for Business, 8:30 AM

FEBRUARY  BIRTHDAYS

1        Jennifer Lee Moura
2        Isabelle Bossom
4        Richard Hess
4        Gail Nixdorf
6        Jason Foley-Marsello
7        Annie Cloutier
10        Jeffrey Hodge
10        Joel Andrade
17        Martha Lang
19        Greg Marsello
22        Cory Foley-Marsello
25        Barbara Wicks

MONTHLY MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

Following Ministry and Counsel’s recommendation, Friends were in unity to accept Susanna Sylvia into membership within Westport Friends Meeting. A special observance will be held at the rise of worship on March 2, 2014, to recognize and celebrate the Susanna’s membership. Please come and join us!

Dean Chase updated Friends on the condition of Stewart Kirkaldy. ( See M and C report below for Stewart’s new address.)

Friends reported that Sandwich Quarterly Meeting, which was hosted by our Meeting on Saturday, January 25, went smoothly. Friends present enjoyed a discussion led by Jay O’Hara of  Sandwich Meeting.  Our Meeting provided soups, breads, salad and deserts that were enjoyed by all. Betty Ann Lee, Clerk of Meeting, thanked everyone from our Meeting who helped to make the day-long program a success.

Barbara Wicks  relayed a message to business meeting stating that more help is needed for our Meeting’s monthly commitment to staffing the Market Ministries Soup Kitchen in New Bedford. Friends from our Meeting join with other Quaker Meetings to staff the soup kitchen from 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM on the third Tuesday of each month. If you would like to help out please contact Barbara at 508-636-5815.

AFSC/SENE News: Deana Chase reported briefly on a new focus developed jointly by AFSC and FCNL called “Shared Security.” Friends can learn more about this important new focus in a joint working paper recently published HERE. by the American Friends Service Committee and Friends Committee on National Legislation, titled “Shared Security: Reimagining US foreign policy.” 

Ministry and Counsel:
Friends expressed concern for Stewart Kirkaldy, who is receiving ongoing care at a convalescent home in Middlebury, VT. Notes and  cards may be sent directly to Stewart’s new address as follows: Stewart Kirkaldy, 350 Lodge Road, Middlebury, VT 05753.

Following a report of a clearness committee on membership, Ministry and Counsel is pleased to recommend to business meeting that Susanna Sylvia be considered for membership within Westport Friends Meeting.

Over the next several months Ministry and Counsel will be exploring various ways to promote awareness of our Meeting community and times of worship, First Day School program and Seekers Group to the surrounding towns, cities and nearby university. Beth Collea, the Religious Education Coordinator for NEYM, has agreed to come and meet with us and share what other meetings and faith communities have done that has proven successful. A specific date and time will be announced soon

Finance Committee:
Greg Marsello, Clerk of Finance, submitted a report detailing the following financial matters:

• Income for FY13 was $1,595.81 short of Budget, primarily due to not renting the Parsonage as planned. Offering Donations topped $8,000, which was the Budget.
• Operating Expenses exceeded Income by $12,178.42, thus we lost money this year. The loss was projected due to catch up maintenance work.
• The Sale of the Parsonage netted $278,399.25.
• With the FY13 loss of $12,178.42, Net Income was $266,220.83 ($278,399.25 – $12,178.42)
• Assets increased by $206,723.68 which was $266,220.83 – $65,045.41 (Pooled Fund Expenditures for Meeting House) + $5,548.26 (Unrealized Gains from Pooled Funds). Assets as of 12/31/13 was $332,187.04.
• The FY14 Budget is break-even as we work hard not to spend more than we take in. If we select to generate Capital Property Fund and/or Helping Fund costs, they would come out of Unrestricted Funds.

Book Fair Committee

Greg Marsello reported that Katey Baker-Smith will do P.R. work in advance of this year’s Book Fair scheduled for July 12, 2014. Greg reports that donations of books are coming in steadily as well.

Property Coordinator Report:

Gretchen reported that the exterior light fixture above the side-door entrance to the meetinghouse has been replaced. The electrician also replaced the exhaust vans in both handicap accessible bathrooms in the Community House. Property Committee also met on January 23 and reviewed the Meeting’s Five Year Capital Plan as requested by the Finance Committee and reviewed several matters related to rentals and facility maintenance. The Committee also reviewed a preliminary estimate that was prepared by Messier Construction Company (they did the work in our meetinghouse last year) on the cost to replace all windows in the Community House. More details on this will follow in time.  Previous Property Coordinator Reports are on our site and can be viewed here.

New England Yearly Meeting News

The New England Friend is a publication of New England Yearly Meeting  (NEYM) which is available in hard copy (in our meetinghouse) and online HERE.

NEYM.org: An excellent resource for Friends and attenders to learn about New England Yearly Meeting of Friends, the structural organization to which Westport Friends Meeting belongs. Here, you can learn about the ongoing work of various standing committees, revisions to our book of Faith and Practice, Retreat Programs, NEYM Staff, Sessions reports,  the NEYM Finance Committee, etc.

From our Photo Galleries!

Recent photos of our December 2013 Advent Potluck. Please click here… Thanks!

 Meeting Contacts

Clerk of Meeting, Betty Ann Lee,  508-994-1638 | EMAIL 
Ministry and Counsel Clerk: Melinda Foley-Marsello, 401-624-9840 | EMAIL
Finance Committee Clerk, Greg Marsello, 401-624-9840 | EMAIL
Property Coordinator, Gretchen Baker-Smith 508-636-4963 | EMAIL
Meeting Newsletter Editor, Kevin Lee, 508-994-1638 | EMAIL