May 3, 2015

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 AM    meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Connie Archbald
10:15 AM    Mary Jean Port, writer and long-time Meeting member, will talk about her journey as a poet and memoirist
11:15 AM    meeting for worship (semi-programmed): speaker, Bill Hendricks; Dave Bostrom, musician; care of meeting, Lolly Lijewski   

PLEASE COME TO THE POTLUCK TODAY at the rise of semi-programmed worship – even if you didn’t bring anything! And if everyone can help do dishes, clear tables and put away chairs, everyone will be able to enjoy more of the beautiful weather this afternoon!     

UPCOMING MEETING EVENTS

Next week: 9:00, worship (unprogrammed); 9:45, meeting for business; 11:00 worship (semi-programmed). Friends are encouraged to come to business meeting and participate in this integral part of Meeting life.

Minneapolis Friends Meeting has launched a planning process to consider how to care for the future of the meeting. The first step in this process is to do an assessment of the current state of the meeting and consider opportunities for the future. Last week during adult program, a brainstorming session was held to consider the strengths, challenges, risk and opportunities facing the Meeting. If Friends have additional thoughts or were not able to attend on the 19th, there is an online survey where you may contribute additional thoughts: surveymonkey.com/s/WM2VT2J . The responses collected on-line will be folded into those generated last Sunday. During a second adult program on May 17th, the strengths, challenges, risks and opportunities lists that have been generated will be reviewed. 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 Meeting’s school-year schedule will end May 17th. Beginning May 24th, there will be a combined worship on Sunday mornings at 10:00. There will be time for relaxed coffee and conversation after worship on Sundays except for potluck Sundays, (the first Sunday of the month.) See the sign up sheet on the bulletin table to help host a coffee/tea time!

MFM and Mayim Rabim will host a showing of Inequality for All, a film about wealth disparity in the US, on May 20th. For more about the movie, see IFA.com. Plan to come and bring friends or family members.

Zephyra and Roland Shepherd Scholarship applications and eligibility criteria are available on the long table in the east hall and are due June 1st.  This scholarship for post-secondary education was started by the Shepherds in 1977. Applications should be mailed back to the meetinghouse or put in the Shepherd Scholarship file in the blue box.

Offering boxes are located on small tables near the meetingroom doors. Thank you, Friends, for your financial support of the Meeting’s budget. Copies of the Meeting’s new 2015-16 budget are available on the table in the long hall. Stewardship and Finance Committee will report on the final numbers from last fiscal year at a monthly meeting for business, likely next Sunday.

OTHER HAPPENINGS AMONG QUAKERS

Don’t miss the Friends School of MN Plant Sale! May 8-9-10 at the MN State Fair Grandstand. All you need to know about the sale can be found in the catalogs near the elevator. All Friends School plants are neonicotinoid-free (bee-friendly!)

There is still time to register for Northern Yearly Meeting Annual Session (May 22-25), “Climate Change: Turning awareness into action.” Registration and schedules are available – paper copies are on the elevator table; online, see: northernyearlymeeting.org/article/2015-annual-session-may-22-25 .

Friends are welcome to come celebrate Mukosa Shimaka’s graduation on Sat, May 9th, at the home of Phena. Festivities start at noon. No reservations, just bring yourself!

Come to an open house honoring Lili Herbert and thanking her for her years of service and leadership as head of Friends School of MN, May 17 at Friends School, 1365 Englewood Ave, St. Paul, 10-2. RSVP by May 5th  to lili-farewell(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)fsmn.org.

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 and Northern Yearly Meeting offers many ways to engage in the life of the yearly meeting. Working with children and youth, budgeting, annual sessions planning, inter-Meeting outreach, spiritual nurture, or connecting NYM Friends with national and international bodies of Quakers are some of the opportunities. If you already enjoy the NYM annual session and would like to deepen your connection, or if you would like to start to engage in NYM, let us know how!

Pendle Hill’s Continuing Revolution: A Young Adult Friends Conference on Equality, a six-day intensive exploration of spiritually-rooted activism, will be Jun 5th-10th, exploring the Equality Testimony. Work to unpack your own privilege and power, and develop a greater capacity to confront the many intersecting systems of oppression in our communities and in the world. Workshops, lectures, small group opportunities, fellowship, and both programmed and unprogrammed worship. Rolling application; space is limited. More at: pendlehill.org/learn/conferences-institutes/yafcon .

Friends General Conference (FGC) Gathering will be held July 5-July 11, 2015, at Western Carolina University in the Smoky Mountains. Worship, workshops, kids’ program, speakers, films, art, bookstore, Friends from all over the U.S. and Canada. Info at FGCGathering.org. Registration has begun. Financial aid may still be available from FGC. Funds remain through Northern Yearly Meeting. Thinking to help plan the Gathering in 2016? Take this opportunity to experience the event!

COMMUNITY EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Twin Cities Meeting is looking for a new resident caretaker to start in July! Live rent-free in the meetinghouse in exchange for taking care of the building. For more about the job and application, see tcfm.org . Applications accepted through May 15.

Every Church A Peace Church’s next potluck meeting is Mon, May 18th, 6:30 PM at St. Joan of Arc Church, 4537 – 3rd Ave. S, Mpls. Veterans for Peace’s Steve McKeown will speak on “The Path to Nonviolence: One Man’s Journey.” ECAPC is a national network of people committed to the premise that the Church could turn the world toward peace if every church lived and taught as Jesus lived and taught. ECAPC members embrace the radical nonviolence of Jesus including his call to love enemies, his teaching on the futility of violence, his examples of creative, active, nonviolent resistance, and his faithfulness to a nonviolent God.

Over 2000 organizations, including Friends Committee on Legislation and Friends for a Non-Violent World, oppose Fast Track Trade Legislation. Read about the costs of the Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement and the implications of fast-tracking at: capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=65456626

OFFICE HOURS

Pat Jones’ work week is Wed-Sun. She will be in the office Wed. 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.