by Editor
How One Meeting Re-Infused its Financial Connections with Spirit
By Jill Hoyenga
When my term as Presiding Clerk had ended, I expected a quiet retirement for a few years until I had recharged by spiritual batteries and then planned to dive back into committee work. However, the incoming Presiding Clerk had attended a workshop on non-profit organization governance and brought back some ideas on changes in our financial reporting to Meeting for Worship for Business. She came to me with a sparkle in her eye and asked if I would clerk a committee to season these ideas. As often happens with leadings, I said “Yes,” without knowing quite what I was getting into. It will be four years in February 2010 since Eugene Friends Meeting in Eugene, Oregon, formed our first Finance Committee.
Our membership roles record about 110 members. Each First Day twelve to twenty persons attend early morning worship; 25–50 persons attend adult and children’s meeting at eleven o’clock worship. We own our Meetinghouse without a mortgage. About eight years ago we began hiring part time employees and now employ three part-time employees, paying for bookkeeping services. Our fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30 each year. We do not have an endowment but are just beginning to explore establishing one. These bare facts may explain why our Meeting, established in the late 1940’s, only recently formed a Finance Committee.
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