6 Friends gathered for MHQ’s first meeting after the quarter, where this proposal was approved:
Mid Hudon Quakers Proposal:
Several Friends are currently meeting regularly to plan ways to show our Quaker witness in this geographic area. The group formed after the Nine Partners Quarterly Meeting retreat in November 2025 at Powell House.
The group developed a banner using the name Mid-Hudson Quakers to encompass the meetings in this geographic area. The banner and an informal overview of the group were presented at the last Quarterly Meeting in Poughkeepsie.
The banner was recently used at the No Kings rally in Poughkeepsie, which was attended by Friends from New Paltz, Poughkeepsie, Bulls Head, and Cornwall meetings.
To move forward in developing a shared mission and purpose for all the meetings in the geographic area, the group is proposing this minute for approval at quarterly meeting:
Nine Partners Quarter recognizes the need to establish a task group to continue the work of the ad-hoc group. In following Quaker process, each meeting is asked to name two representatives to the task group – some of those named may already be part of the ad-hoc group. The named representatives would be responsible for reporting to their monthly meetings and approving the vision, purpose, mission, and ongoing activities of the group.
Jules clerked provisionally for this meeting, and assembled these notes:
We considered our next steps as a group:
Bring the above proposal to our next business meetings to seek approval of representatives to MHQ.
We are hoping that this process will help us establish more effective communication between our meetings.
Claudia will find out more about how we can be involved in the freedom quilt project and report back.
Don has contacted folks at Walkway over the Hudson and gotten approval for us to have a presence on the bridge. We should consider what this might look like.
We are hoping to have a website up by the end of May.
Jules and Claudia are taking initiative on this, following discernment at a recent meeting at Bulls Head-Oswego meeting. (see Jules’ unorthodox meeting notes here)
We will have a table at Oakwood Friends school for the freedom walk on May 28th.
This requires the most time-sensitive planning, and we will discuss it at our next meeting.
We considered a bit of our group’s purpose.
Central communications between meetings
Noted that we do not meet or communicate regularly between meetings
It would be helpful to make an assessment of how each meeting does communications currently.
Outward communications
Outward witness
Discerning on witness statements
Coordinate shared statements
Talk to press