March 2, 2014

9:00 AM meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Kellie Rae Theiss

10:15 AM in the meetingroom, Kellie Rae Theiss, MN nature artist, will discuss her thirty years of studying and making portraits of many varieties of species and the heart reasons she is drawn to paint;
in the conference room, Doug Herron and Friends Committee on National Legislation priorities;
Friendly Philosophers will meet downstairs

11:15 AM meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Sigurd Hoppe, speaker; Dave Bostrom, musician; care of meeting, David Woolley

TODAY

Nursery care is available downstairs with Betsy Souther.

Visitors and regulars are enthusiastically invited to stay for the potluck at the rise of semi-programmed worship. Come to this relaxed time of fellowship!

Like most meeting activities, potlucks are do-it-yourself affairs. Look for opportunities to help in the effort – clearing and washing tables, washing and drying dishes, putting away chairs. Many hands make light work!

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Those whose burdens and sorrows are private and those whose lives are full of uncertainty, fear and/or violence.

MEETING MATTERS / CALENDAR

Adult program Sun, March 16th at 10:15: Terry Hokenson will speak about and demonstrate the climate conversations approach that is being developed by Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light based on the conversation campaign that was used to defeat the marriage limitation amendment in the fall of 2012.

Some call it worship sharing, others call it lectio divina. Come to this open-hearted study. 12-12:30 this Wed, March 5th, Kenwood Isles. Light lunch to follow. Call Steve or Mary for more.

“Exploring Together” is an event designed to introduce families and staff from Friends School of MN to the Quaker meetings in the Twin Cities and to Quakerism in general. On Sat, March 8th, Friends School participants will gather at Twin Cities Friends meetinghouse (1725 Grand Avenue in St. Paul) for a one-time program similar to our recent Quaker Quest. Quakers will speak on topics (simplicity, worship and peace), there will be small group discussions and a short worship. Quakers from our meeting are invited to come and help provide hospitality, facilitate small groups, work with children or simply participate in the event. Welcoming and coffee at 9:30 a.m; program from 10:00 to noon. Contact Ed or Joanne for more information or to volunteer.

Dig poetry? How about jazz? Come to the Metro Friends Poetry Jazz Café, an evening of original and favorite poems, here, Sat, March 22nd, 7 – 9:30! Greet old F(f)riends and make new ones! What could be better?

Four Doors to Meeting for Worship, a booklet by William Taber offering four doors or ways to access worship so as to experience the living Presence, will be read together and discussed at the next George and Elizabeth Watson Memorial Reading Group, here, Wed, March 12th at 7:00. Multiple copies will be available. All are welcome, especially newcomers.

Missed hearing about Northern Yearly Meeting programs and the opportunities they afford those at MFM? See the poster for a glimpse! A copy of NYM’s proposed budget as well as a flyer with a list of member meetings is also posted.

A Northern Yearly Meeting interim session in Milwaukee is fast approaching – March 14-16. Carolyn is making arrangements to go to this small, friendly gathering, a great introduction to some of the people and workings of NYM. Want to go too? Let Carolyn know. Hospitality is available.

Terry and his wife Ceile are hosting a gathering to watch a short documentary about surfide mining in Northern MN–closely related to copper-nickel mining — Wed, March 5th starting at 7 p.m. at 106 Water Street, W, #402, St. Paul. (People from Groveland UU are also invited).

A letter and supporting information from Duluth-Superior Friends Meeting about mining in northern MN as well as an opinion piece by Ranae Hanson, both of which appeared in the Star Tribune, are posted on the MFM website. There is a public comment period until March 13th about the proposed mining. Email comments, (include full name and legal mailing address,) to NorthMetSDEIS.dnr(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)state.mn.us . Letters via US Post (recommended by Duluth Friends): Lisa Fay, EIS Project Manager, MDNR Division of Ecological and Water Resources, Environmental Review Unit, 500 Lafayette Road, Box 25, St. Paul, MN 55155-4025.

Offering boxes are located on small tables near the meetingroom doors. Five weeks remain in our current fiscal year. In order to meet our budget obligations, contributions need to average $4500 per week. Thank you, Friends, for your generous support of the Meeting in all manner of ways.

OUR WIDER COMMUNITY

American Friends Service Committee’s Healing Justice Program is hosting a mini film series. The first film, this Thurs, March 6th, at 6:30, is “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North,” the true story of one white woman’s discovery of her family’s central involvement in launching the U.S. slave trade; how she begins to come to terms with the full truth about her family and the region; how she and eight other family members engage in a form of reparation. Sharon Goens-Bradley (AFSC) and Liz Oppenheimer (Laughing Waters Preparative Meeting) will facilitate a discussion following the film. Films will be shown in the building adjacent to Faith Mennonite Church, (2720 E 22nd Street, Mpls) to the west (left) of the main part of the church, closer to 27th than to 28th Ave. Use the left-hand entrance, set back from the street. Upcoming films: April 10 (tentative: Fruitvale Station), May 8 (tentative: The Prep School Negro), June 5 (TBA). No admission fee; donations welcome. More: sgoens(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)afsc.org or 651-789-3852.

Every Church a Peace Church will host a potluck and conversation – Why Should Christians Care about Climate Change? with Gwin Pratt, senior pastor at St. Luke Presbyterian Church on Mon, March 10th at 6:30 p.m. at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 8400 France Ave. S., Bloomington.

Tikkun Olam – Healing the World – is the theme of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC) Day on the Hill Thurs, March 13th RiverCentre and State Capitol, St. Paul. Rabbi David Saperstein from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in DC will be the keynote speaker. Register today to join an inspiring day of justice and advocacy: www.jrlc.org/register-for-day-on-the-hill

Friends are invited to a preview of the traveling exhibit Tracks in the Snow, the Minnesota Muslim Experience since 1880 at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts reception Hall, 2400 Third Ave S on March 15th, 2-5 PM. RSVP to irg(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)irgmn.org by March 10th. Adults only.

Minnesota Historical Society Press is celebrating a new book of interest to Friends, Her Honor: Rosalie Wahl and the Minnesota Women’s Movement by Lori Sturdevant with a foreword by Senator Amy Klobuchar on Tues, March 18th, 7 pm at William Mitchell College of Law Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase.

House of Hope Presbyterian Church and Mt. Zion Temple are presenting three days of lectures on topics related to Jesus and Judaism and the on-going issue of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. These are issues for the Biblical scholar but also for anyone concerned with how faith can unite or divide us. This Seminar on Religion and Contemporary Thought, JESUS, JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY, will be March 28-30, Friday – Sunday. See hohchurch.org/calvin-w-didier-annual-seminar-religion-and-contemporary-thought for more.

OUR WIDER QUAKER COMMUNITY

Iowa Yearly Meeting’s mid-year meeting will be April 12-13 at Bear Creek Meetinghouse near Earlham, IA. The topic: Our Faith, Our Practice. Program and registration information posted.

Friends World Committee for Consultation has three remaining consultations in March and April to examine mutually shared issues and topics of interest to each region. Continuing with the theme “Let the Living Water Flow! Friends serving God’s purposes,” all conferences offer workshops to develop inter-cultural communication skills for intra-Quaker dialogue and to support Quaker leadership in the 21st century. Sacramento, CA, March 14-16; La Paz, Bolivia, March 28-30; High Point, NC, April 11-13. Details: fwccamericas.org/events/2014-Consultations.shtml

Friends Committee on National Legislation Young Adult Spring Lobby Weekend is April 4-7. Join other young people (ages 18-30) for a weekend in Washington, DC. Learn effective techniques for influencing Congress and put those new skills to use as you meet with Congressional staff to share your perspective on the direction our government should be heading. The $75 registration fee covers food and housing. Email Heather Brutz at heather(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)fcnl.org for more.

OFFICE HOURS
Pat Jones will be in the office Wednesday from 2:00-5:00 and other times Wed, Thurs, Fri. and Sat.
Carolyn VandenDolder, the Administrative Assistant, will be in the office on Mon. only. Bulletin deadline, noon Thur. Bulletin items can be phoned in to the office, emailed or written and put in the bulletin file of the blue box.