Presented to the Meeting for Business on 6 June 2010

Members

Susan, Stephanie, France, Dian, Dan, Anne, Alex

Comings and Goings

Alex returned from Wellington, New Zealand and has joined the committee.

In June, Susan left the committee. Susan has been on the committee since 2007 and was the previous clerk. We appreciate all her work and thank her for her efforts.

2009-2010 Review

During the 2009-10 season, the Friendly Eights Committee continued to offer informal gathering opportunities for small groups of Bethesda Friends Meeting members and attenders to enjoy dinner and fellowship.

As in the past, two separate programs were offered: one for adults and one for families with children. The adult program continues to be successful. Adults signed up in September and were randomly assigned to groups. This year there were thirteen potluck dinners for adults held in October, November, January, February, March and April. Each month there were two dinners, except for March when there were three, with an average group size of seven.

The family program did not work out this year. Our fall picnic ended up being an omen of what was to come. The picnic was rained out and for the rest of the year we were not able to schedule family dinners. For the first few months, we invited families using Evites as was done in previous years. For the March and April dinners, we emailed families directly, but still were unable to put groups together. Anne created a survey to find a sense of what the Meeting would like from Family Friendly Eights. We surveyed members and attenders in April and Anne provided a summary to the committee at our May meeting.

The Friendly Eights Committee provided hospitality in June.

Plans for the 2010-2011 Year

In 2010-2011, the adult dinners are being set up as in 2009-2010. Signups will be in late August and September; the dinners will be held on Sunday evenings at 6:30. It should be noted that the dinners may be held on the second, third or fourth Sunday--we attempt to schedule the third Sunday, but there are commonly conflicts with holidays. The dates are as follows: October 17, November 14, January 23, February 27, March 20, and April 17. One slight difference is that we will schedule all six dinners in September. We would like to get participants to put the dates on their calendars even if they cannot make a firm commitment.

Family dinners are going to be set up in the same manner as the adult dinners; Evites will not be used. As in previous years, the dinners will be held on Saturdays at 5:00. The dates are as follows: October 16, November 13, January 22, February 26, March 19, and April 16.

On September 19, the Friendly Eights committee will host a brown bag lunch outside the meeting house. The 19th will be the last day to sign up and we would like to get everyone together to start off the new season. This will provide an opportunity to see who is going to be participating.

The Friendly Eights Committee will provide hospitality in June.

Friendly Eights Spiritual Impact

The Friendly Eights committee continues our mission of bringing members and attenders together in an informal atmosphere where we can join each other in a spiritual way as well as in conversation. Of particular importance is showing new attenders our practices and explaining our beliefs. Our goal is to foster acceptance where all feel comfortable attending.

Final Comment

The Friendly Eights Committee looks forward to providing the BFM community with social and spiritual gatherings. We look forward to meeting new friends and learning more about current ones. We encourage comments and suggestions about Friendly Eights so that we can better serve the community.

As clerk, I would like to thank everyone who participated in the dinners and the Friendly Eights committee members for all their efforts.