December 29, 2015

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 AM    meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Sandy Olson

10:15 AM    Spiritual books. What spiritual book(s) have you read in 2015 that were so good you can confidently recommend them to others? Bring your titles to a lively discussion facilitated by Mary Jean Port and John Stuart.

11:15 AM    meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Mary Logue, speaker; Nancy Lichtenstein, musician; care of meeting, Lolly Lijewski

Sing and rejoice you children of the day and of the Light; for the Lord is at work in this thick night of darkness that may be felt. Truth does flourish as the rose, the lilies do grow among the thorns, the plants a-top of the hills, and upon them the lambs do skip and play.                            ~ George Fox

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Friends for a NonViolent World. Gail Daneker, head of FNVW’s Peace Education and Advocacy program, organizing conferences and evening speaking events for the last seven years, has officially retired.

UPCOMING MEETING EVENTS

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The Envelope Gift, the wintertime gift, previously known as the White Envelope Gift, will go to three recipients this year: Black Lives Matter, Mpls; the Syrian American Medical Society; and the Watan School for refugee children in Reyhanli, Turkey.

Black Lives Matter, Minneapolis: organizes against state violence against Black people. While their most visible activity is on police violence and killing of Black people, they also work to address broader criminal justice issues such as mass incarceration and racial profiling and the over-arching issues suppressing the Black community such as poverty and education.

Syrian American Medical Society: a nonprofit, nonpolitical relief organization, is on the front lines of crisis relief in Syria, serving the medical needs of hundreds of thousands of Syrians, supporting doctors and medical professionals, and rebuilding healthcare. The organization began in 1998 and has leadership from Syrian-American doctors in MN. Since 2011, 679 healthcare workers have been killed in Syria – shot, bombed, executed, or tortured – 90 percent by the government which targets them. When there are no doctors and other medical staff, the people leave that place, exacerbating the refugee crisis. SAMS supported over 1.4 million Syrians in need in 2014 and has already supported over 2 million Syrians so far in 2015. More at sams-usa.net/foundation

Watan School for refugee children: Over 2 million Syrian children are not in school because of the war. 3000 Syrian schools have been destroyed. Watan created and operates a school for hundreds of refugee children in Reyhanli, Turkey.  More, including photographs, at watanusa.org

Checks should be made out to Minneapolis Meeting with the memo: “Envelope Gift” and placed in a small white envelope.
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Adult program next Sun, Jan 3rd: Liz Oppenheimer on social justice sharing. Applicable to all forms of justice work – climate change, economic equality, racial justice, immigration – the program is also for folks who care about the world but don’t yet feel they have an issue to claim their energy. Experiential and hands-on, learn-by-doing, not by talking-about-doing. Liz helped organize Quakers across the state on marriage equality work and is now involved with Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) in the MN chapter.

Friendly Meals are again being organized for February, March and April, 2016! Friendly meals are one-time mixers. Sign up for all three months / meals or sign up as a substitute / on-call participant. Hosts will email the group assigned to them to set a date, provide an entree and coordinate what others are bringing. Other participants bring salad, drinks, appetizer or dessert. Keitha of Welcoming and Outreach Committee will mix and match those who sign up so it is a new group (as much as possible) every meal. Flyers with more details and the sign up sheet are on the elevator table. Sign-up deadline is January 27.

Caring for Creation Tip of the Week: According to the website “I Love a Clean San Diego,” more than 500 million plastic straws are used and thrown away daily in the U.S. Recyclable straws end up in landfills or as litter. Decline straws in restaurants or carry your own reusable straw. A variety of online retailers now offer easy-to-clean glass and stainless steel straws.

Offering boxes are located on small tables near the meetingroom doors.   If you would like to automate your financial contributions, please talk to Roland, clerk of Stewardship.

OTHER HAPPENINGS AMONG QUAKERS

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The Friends General Conference Gathering will be July 3rd-9th in St Joseph, MN. More than a thousand Friends of all ages from across North America are expected for a week of worship, workshops, recreation, fellowship, and much more. Evening plenary speakers: British Quaker author and scholar Rex Ambler; Mpls civil rights activist Nekima Levy-Pounds; Quaker pastor and author Peggy Senger Morrison. Larry Long, Wau-ban-ew-qway (Doreen) Day, and Tonia Hughes will provide an intergenerational concert one evening. Request vacation time now so you can attend! Encourage meeting for business to budget funds in 2016 for financial help for Friends who need assistance to attend. More at: fgcquaker.org/connect/gathering

The week-long workshops at the FGC Gathering will include workshops offered by Minneapolis Meeting people:

Terry Hokenson, Erin Pratt and Louis Alemayehu, “God Sent an Angel to Soothe the Lions.” Facing historic exploitation of the poor and communities of color and dire threats to Earth’s habitability evokes emotions that “prowl the heart’s chambers like lions.” We’ll explore how to convert demoralizing emotions into strong allies for action through role play and story in pursuit of leadings, humble, faithful, and bold;

Jeannette Raymond and Patricia DeBoer, “Narrative Change, Social Transformation.” Examine both socially dominant and Quaker narratives related to peace and war. Use case studies, including the American Friends Service Committee’s narrative change work, to explore how narratives can be shifted to encourage new understanding and to build social transformation;

Stephen and Mary Snyder and Marge Schlitt, “Alternatives to Violence.” Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) uses experiential activities focused on self-esteem, affirmation, community-building, communication, anger and non-violent conflict resolution to practice living non-violently in our personal lives, community and world.

Latrisha Chattin, Head of Friends School of MN, will do a workshop, “Exploring Quakers in Education.” Explore the rich history of Quakers in education from the founding of public schools to the Quaker schools of today. Through various methods, together as parents, grandparents, students, and teachers of all kinds, we will examine, share, and shape our experiences as Quakers in education.
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Young adult Quakers (age 18-40) from the Twin Cities are planning a camping trip Jan 22-24 at Camp Lakamaga in Marine on St Croix. Modern cabin, cooking our own food, enjoying each other’s company. Cost for both nights, including food, is $45, but all are welcome regardless of ability to pay. For more or to attend, email Elizabeth. RSVP by  Jan 4th.

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.