Council Minutes 4 January 2025

BSOW Council  22 September 2025 via Zoom

Next Council  Meeting  Wed Nov 11th at 9 AM via zoom

Present: Brothers John MacDuffie, Jerry Fuss, Bill Hamilton, Julian Hall, Marsh H-K

• Opening Prayer: Bro John

• Minutes: 2 corrections

• Bro Marsh has contacted Brothers David Andrews and David Keller asking for minutes of business meeting of Maine retreat to see if there were any concerns regarding the proposed changes in the bylaws and Rule.  

• Treas: Funds unchanged Checking 2314.30  CD 2266.24

• Bro Marsh will send out Bro David Keller’s suggestions for retreat leaders and Marsh’s old leader’s list to the membership as a potential resource for retreat  leaders.

• Possible Retreat at Pilgrim Pines:  Ask Bro David Keller to investigate cost, available dates, can we prepare and eat our meals, is there a meeting area for reading, and other dimensions of  a retreat site with which you are familiar.  We understand that some cabins have a kitchen,  Might a cabin with cooking facilities be able to handle a small number like 6 for meals?  Would there be a limit of number of sleeping cabins?

Nominating officers for chapters and order for 2026-2030 

• Order Nominating Committee: Decided to invite Sr. Judith, Sr. Pat Bart, Bro Bill, Bro John , Bro Andrew, Bro Rick Russell, Sr. Shelly.  Bro John will contact them and seek a date for them to meet and prepare nominations by the next meeting of the Council 

• Bro Julian  to reach out to get a nominating committee  for Mid Atlantic officers to report back by November meeting of the Council

• Bro John  will ask Bro Bill to get nominating committee for NE  to report back by November meeting of the Council

Proposed Bylaws:

• While we received an idea of changing “Privileges” to another word we decided to keep the word “Privileges” because of its long tradition of use.  We want to  shift focus from controlling duties of members to focus on the privileges of embodying the values of our order.

•  We reviewed the Bylaws and Privileges again and we want to move to a votes.   Bro Marsh will email our proposal Wednesday with  two week deadline for further questions or suggestions.  If no substantial questions are made we will then send out the proposal for a vote 

Alternately, if we receive substantial questions we may have an addition al meeting before seeking a vote.

For next meeting agenda:a thorough exploration of Digital Possibilities as more of us become unable to get to physical retreats. In particular we will discuss: whether mini-retreats are open for members to come as they are led or if the group needs to vote about accepting new participants; possibly scheduling meeting at different times of the month to make it possible for a person to go to a different mini-retreat when they have a conflict with their regular group; and the possibility that some members might want to participate in both gatherings.

Closing Prayer Bro Julian

Adjourned at 11:08

Next Council  Meeting  Wed Nov 11th at 9 AM via zoom

Addendum:

Bro Doug Dunlap emailed three very significant ideas which we did not explore at the meeting and I share them with the hope that we will explore them at the next meeting:

Thank you for including me in this mailing. I regret that I am not available for the 9/22 meeting .

Over the past year I offered some thoughts to Brother John about attentiveness to the needs of older members on retreat. These included considerations for cook and scullion duties; menus that accommodate dietary needs; accommodations to the schedule to allow for adequate overnight and daytime rest; and sufficient time between scheduled events to allow for the transition. Although I could not attend the Maine retreat in 2025, my understanding is that adjustments of this nature were made, at least in part. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to share such ideas. Surely others have thoughts as our membership as a whole, shed.

The relatively new Maine Conference Minister, Rev. Marissa Laviola, has begun an outreach ministry to retired clergy, whether they are active in ministry or might welcome connections and support if no longer active. I believe that there is a need that the BSOW might address, I.e., welcoming retired or near-to-retirement clergy as a focus of the Order.

Of course others among the Order I am sure have other ideas. Conversely, there is also a need for community among new pastors, who in rural locations - and  locations not so rural - serve on a part time basis, and often are bi-vocational. 

Their personal time, including time for retreats, is at a premium. I am not sure what the BSOW role could be for such pastors, but if we wish to pursue the matter, I suggest we partner with a Conference if UCC, or with the comparable entity if another denomination, rather than attempt to “market” ourselves on our own. We have an excellent 4-5 day retreat model to offer.

-Bro Doug

Marsh Hudson-Knapp

                                               Bro John’s Revised epistle

BSOW Future

Brothers and Sisters, please treat me gently as I carefully discuss what I believe BSOW should now be doing, and is emphatically capable of doing, for us all.

The physical retreats to which we have invited parish clergy for these 95 years were the most prominent of our activities, providing both immediate and memorable experiences, in which hundreds of pastors engaged for multiple years during their active ministries.

But like all folks who move into their later years, so that more and more of their former activities are denied them due to age and infirmity, including also mental decline in many forms, most of us cannot continue experiencing those physical retreats. We remember them with fondness, but only a few are now able to repeat them.

May I suggest a future scenario? 

1) Offer physical retreats only when there are or may be members who have the desire and ability for such, being sure to make ample and obvious accommodation for the handicaps of our aging bodies. Not only ramps, absent stairs, ample doorways and handicap bathrooms are essential, but also some program adjustments to ease our shorter attention spans and lower energy levels. But where all of these requirements are not present, let us not lament the ending of this particular beloved activity. Its time, we may accurately conclude, may be nearly ended. 

2) Encourage in every possible way the monthly on line one hour mini retreats which have already become an oasis in the desert of old age and changing times. More than a dozen of us are already engaged and feeling blessed in these “brief bright hours of fellowship” – with one another, yes, and surely with God in our midst. By personal contact and testimony as always, we can reach out to all our siblings with welcome and encouragement to give this experience a try as a blessing to be savored.

3) And let us continue to remember three former Obligations, now for some of us Privileges, possibly needing to be seen as Opportunities, Commitments or Endeavors:

A) The monthly time of quiet, not in isolation and loneliness but intentionally used for reading, praying, or writing in contemplative ways for which the Order could certainly offer appropriate resources on line or in print.

B) The weekly effort to reach out to someone whose days might be long and lonely, whose heart might be heavy with grief or depression. On the phone, by email or text or snail mail, this can be done without leaving the house.

C) The daily discipline which so many already find inspiring, the practice of prayer on behalf of others who have shared our call to ministry—particularly our sisters and brothers in the Order.

Can we not recognize in these practices of our Order’s members, all of us, the gentle comfort and support which we can still share as of old?

Why should we not rededicate ourselves to this Spirit of BSOW, surely that of our Founder, Bro. John Henry Wilson, and see ourselves as still ministering to the flock to which we gave our lives when we took our ordination vows?

So I plead with you, my beloved brothers and sisters, let us care for one another, and we will find rest and comfort and joy as our own souls are fed.

Bro. Abbot John MacDuffie

November 10, 2025

P.S. For this we need few By-Laws. We need no slates of officers. Rather, a few leaders and a volunteer Council who can listen for the Spirit and lead us forward. We no longer need Chapters. We need little money, though care of our artifacts might suggest a modest storage vault. So indeed we can be rich in the things that really do bring comfort and support.

I have proposed these changes to our Council at its recent meeting. The first result of the Council’s response is recorded in the attached minutes of that meeting, from our beloved Scribe, Bro. Marsh. At the next meeting it is our hope to move forward in a transitional framework as described. 

Please join us in prayer and intention that we will have Divine Guidance in this important work.

Bro. John

 BSOW Council Mtg

Nov 11. 3025 9 AM

Present: Bros Julian, John McD, David Andrews, Bill Hamilton, Marsh

Bro Julian led us in prayer.

Bro Julian recounted the wave of physical changes among Central Atlantic chapter members that makes their structure and retreats unlikely to sustain now.

Brother John reported on conversations with potential nominees for Abbot and NE Prior It’s unlikely to find a full slate for the chapter and order officers.

This has led him to draft the attached document which suggests that 

1. we stop trying to support multiple chapters and return to an order as a whole

2. we continue physical retreats by the order if and as a group is ready to hold them, the Maine retreat being the most likely’

3. we encourage monthly mini-retreats as the prevalent way for us to come together

4. that we streamline the Obligations and privileges to Daily, Weekly and Monthy ones

5. that leaders serve for a 1 year term with no responsibility for retreats or chapters.

6. Brother John will speak with candidates for two leader roles about a new title that would be fitting but not require a complex set of duties as in the past.

7. that the coming year be one of transition as with daily prayer and small groups and one possible in person retreat as the heart of our fellowship. 

8. Once we are more clear we will return to shaping bylaws to guide us.

Clerk, Treasurer roles will continue with a possible new treasurer for the order and the same clerk.

All current members of the Council will continue for the coming year as we discern the future shape of the Council. Additional members at large may be selected.

Next Council Meeting: Tues Nov 25th 9 AM

Bro John’s Revised epistle:

At the meeting today our Council voted to suspend the bylaws

pending the approval of the members

to allow us to explore new ways of being together.

Please reply to this email with your Yes or NO vote re: the suspension.

Please read below for more explanation,

BSOW Council

Via Zoom

Tuesday, November 25th, 2025

Present: Brothers Julian, David Keller, David Andrews, John MacDuffie, Jerry Fuss, Marsh Hudson-Knapp, Bill Hamilton.

Moved to Suspend the bylaws pending the approval of the membership. Motion:  Marsh  Second: Julian

There is no time limit on the motion.

Just because we suspend we do not remove opportunites of living in the order, like praying, caring for others…. 

This suspension is to enable  experimentation  outlined by the minutes from the last meeting and the letter from Bro John.  All responses to these steps from the order have been affirmative.  Passed unanimoiusly

Bro Marsh will circulate the suspension of bylaws  to the entire membership and ask for their approval.

Bro John MacD. Has been talking with three people about leadership roles for the coming year.

We see these areas of leadership for the coming time:

1.  Retreats

Bro David Keller agreed to facilitating a retreating discernment/planning process like this:

           Seeing retreating as an opportunity rather than a obligation.

Surveying members to see if they are  interested/able to retreat, 

seeking  best dates and location.

A date has been reserved at Alcyon for 2026.  It will require a larger financial contribution. Therefore by the end of January we need to discern if we have a viable retreat and where it will actually be held.

           Bro Keller is seeking  a “sidekick” to work with him on this project and Bro David Andrews agreed to be the one!

2. Treasuries

We are gradually heading toward Integrating the three treasuries: order and two chapters.          

Presently we  Invite tresurers to talk together toward that end.  Bro Bill offered to set up zoom if they request it.           Bro. Andrew MacLeod is willing to be Order Treasurer. 

Dues: During time of restructuring dues will not be collected.  If someone gives contributions they will  be received. Voted unanimously.

Bro Jerry, our current order Treasurer, urged us to think about ways of using funds responsibly,  discerning ways to sustain our purposes. Like for example assisting the Iona Community.  Amasing money does not seem to be our calling.

3. Bylaws

As we get clearer about our new life we will need a person to guide the process of refining bylaws for which Bro John MacDuffie agreed to facilitate. We will not spend lots of effort on this at first (unlike the last couple of years where we have met month after month trying for revisions) but we ask Bro, John to be ready to help us as our next form of life unfolds. 

4. Communications

Bro Marsh will continue as our scribe facilitating communications within our community.

5. Process Facilitator

Who will facilitate, for the coming year, our meetings and processes as we move into our new life? 

We ask for facilitator(s) to:

           Guide the conversations that involve finding a new way of being together.

           Call, lead and facilitate meetings of the Council

           Prepare agendas

           Work with the other leaders: of retreats (Bro David Keller), bylaws (Bro John MacDuffie)   treasuries (Bro Andrew MacLeod), and communications (Bro Marsh)

Bro John will speak with Sisters Judith and Jennifer about serving as facilitator(s)

Advent Letter-We asked Bro Julian to pen a letter to the Order as he completes his term.

Bro Abbot Julian’s retirement:

We feel deeply grateful to Bro Julian for the way he has reached out to new people, cared for members, organized an unforgettable reunion retreat at Fisherman’s Island and led us through the  process of change!  We are grateful that he will continue to work with us oj the Council!

The Council in 2026 will consist of present members plus volunteers.  Council meetings will be open meetings

Next Meeting 8:30 on Tuesday the 6th of January 2026.

Jan. 7 Elsie Louise will get a new knee.   We will pray God’s wonderful blessings as she heals!

Submitted by Bro Marsh