April 5, 2015

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 AM meeting for worship (unprogrammed)

10:15 AM Fare thee well and God go with you, Adolph! This is the last Sunday Adolph will worship here before he moves to Texas.

11:15 AM meeting for worship (semi-programmed): speaker, Ed Souther; Tom Wells, Kate Coon and Dave Bostrom, musicians; care of meeting, Sarah McClellan

Thank you to Betsy and those others who offered a gracious, friendly welcome in the nursery during the months when Susie was away.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! First day school students, their parents, and teachers thank you all for your generous donations to the first day school bake sale! $500 was raised for Feed My Starving Children. That amount will provide over 2,200 meals! The children were thrilled with your support! It is just awesome! (We hoped you liked the goodies too!)

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

All those carrying grief and other burdens and those in transition.

The Meeting’s new clerks and newly constituted committees.

UPCOMING MEETING EVENTS

Chuck Fager will visit Minneapolis Friends Mtg this Sat, April 11, at 2:30. A Quaker now living in NC, former mail carrier, author of books on his experience in the Civil Rights campaigns of the early 60s, writer of Quaker stories, publisher of Quaker news (The Friendly Letter), discussion leader at Quaker gatherings, and former resident and Director of Quaker House, a center for conscience located near a military base in NC, Chuck will tell of being a cellmate with Martin Luther King and answer questions. Come and bring friends to this general interest program.

Come celebrate Barbara and the gift of her 95 years with a birthday celebration at the rise of semi-programmed worship next Sunday, April 12th! Cake, punch and a chance to congratulate Barbara on a life well-lived!

Prepare for next Sunday’s monthly meeting for business( 9:45). Peace and Social Concerns Committee will present the joint statement of Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Quaker United Nations Office, and Quaker EarthCare Witness “Quaker Statement on Climate Change” for consideration. Paper copies near the elevator or see online at: (quakerearthcare.org/article/jan-2015-facing-challenge-climate-change-shared-statement-quaker-groups). This is a different statement than was presented last month.

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Care Of The Future

Sunday, April 19, 10:15, the adult program two weeks from today– Step 1 of planning process to care for the future of the Meeting: Active members and attenders of the meeting are invited to brainstorm the current strengths, challenges, risks and opportunities Minneapolis Friends Meeting faces. This will be conducted during adult forum; however, Friends will have an opportunity to add ideas through an on-line survey and in phone calls to member of the ad hoc Care of the Future of the Meeting Committee from April 19th to May 5th.

May 17, 10:15– During a second adult form, the strengths, challenges, risks and opportunities lists that were generated will be reviewed, and those in attendance will be asked to draw conclusions from this assessment. These conclusions and the brainstorm lists will inform the rest of the planning process.

The draft of a proposed planning process to care for the future of the Meeting is available on the website: minneapolisfriends.org/2015/01/11/care-of-the-future/ Please take a look and hold the Meeting’s planning process and its future in prayer and reflection. Comments and questions can be directed to Jeannette, Gayle, Pat, or David.

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The George and Elizabeth Watson Memorial Discussion Group will meet Weds, April 22, 7 pm. We are starting Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life. Everyone is welcome!

Game Night! There will be a family-friendly game night April 25th, 7-9:30. Put it on your calendar and start considering which board game you’d like to bring! Potluck appetizers and desserts.

MFM and Mayim Rabim will host a showing of Inequality for All, a film about wealth disparity in the US, on May 20th. Save the date! For more about the movie, see IFA.com.

Offering boxes are located on small tables near the meetingroom doors. Thank you, Friends, for your financial support of the Meeting’s budget. It appears our income for the 2014-15 fiscal year, now over, is less than our projected expenditures. Stewardship and Finance Committee will report on the final numbers at a monthly meeting for business, likely in May.

OTHER HAPPENINGS AMONG QUAKERS

Old Friends will meet tomorrow, April 6th, at noon for a potluck at Twin Cities Friends Mtg (1725 Grand Ave, St. Paul). At 1:00, four TCFM writers, Barbara Simmonds, James Riemermann, Mary Gardner, and Lydia Caros, will share their work.

Teaching and Learning Opportunity in El Salvador: The El Salvador Committee of Northern Yearly Meeting (NYM) announces a one-month teaching and learning opportunity for adults 18 and over this July to assist El Salvador Yearly Meeting’s (ESYM) two sponsored schools to provide English language education to their students; build on the relationship between Friends in El Salvador and NYM Friends; explore the similarities and differences between Latin American Evangelical Friends and North American unprogrammed Friends; and provide an opportunity to grow deeper in your own faith. The past two summers, NYM has sent a pair of volunteers to assist with language enrichment and conversation activities under the supervision of teachers at the two schools. NYM offers assistance with travel. ESYM provides a homestay in the communities where the schools are located. An intermediate level of proficiency in Spanish is required. Application deadline is April 15.

Are you interested in building broader Quaker connections and enjoying deeper involvement with Friends in the region? Minneapolis Friends is a member-meeting of the regional gathering of Friends called Northern Yearly Meeting (NYM). For some, the best way to build connections is by working together. NYM offers many ways to engage in the life of the yearly meeting. You can work with the children and youth at the annual session and throughout the year, or help with operations in finance, budgeting, audit, or participate in annual session planning. You could support the spiritual life of the yearly meeting through Ministry and Nurture and outreach or serve as an NYM representative to a national and / or international Quaker organization like Friends General Conference, American Friends Service Committee, Friends World Committee for Consultation, Quaker Earthcare Witness, Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, & Queer Concerns. NYM also has a relationship with El Salvador Yearly Meeting and sponsors inter-visitation. If you are already enjoying Northern Yearly Meeting annual session and would like to be more engaged, please let us know.

Northern Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions are Memorial Day weekend, May 22-25 at the Lions Camp near Rosholt, WI. The theme is “Earth in the Age of Climate Change.” Registration and schedules are available online at northernyearlymeeting.org/article/2015-annual-session-may-22-25 . Paper copies are available on the elevator table.

Bottom, a play on sex trafficking: The Interfaith Children’s Advocacy Network and an all-youth cast of blank slate theatre present this original play on human sex trafficking, Sat, Apr 25th, 7:30 pm, at The Bridge for Youth’s Community Room, 1111 West 22nd Str, Mpls. If the demand for sex trafficking were to end, would the supply end too? Recently defected from a sex trafficking ring, Amber has immunity and a story to tell. Will she cooperate and aid the side of justice, or will she continue her deep allegiance to her former pimp? Purchase tickets online at blankslatetheatre.com (Performance includes a post-play discussion with trafficking experts and blank slate theatre artists). Adam Arnold, Executive Artistic Director of blank slate theatre, is an MFM attender.

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 Wed. afternoon and Fri. 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.