April 10, 2016

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 AM meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Carol Bechtel

9:45 AM worship with attention to business: David Woolley, clerk; Tom Ward, recording clerk

11:15 AM meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Barbara Coffin, speaker; care of meeting, Joanne Esser

Early registration, online or via phone, closes TODAY for the Friends General Conference 2016 Gathering. Registering by today gives you the best opportunity to get the workshop and housing of your choice. View information online by googling: 2016 FGC gathering advance program. Find paper copies on the elevator table along with financial aid and work grant information sheets. The FGC Gathering is from July 3-9 at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN.

UPCOMING MEETING EVENTS

Adult Program at 10:15 next Sunday, April 17th: Peace and Social Concerns Committee will be leading a discussion about current racial justice issues and finding our place in the struggle.

Adult Program at 10:15 on April 24th: Sharon Goens-Bradley, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s St. Paul office, will talk about the Restorative Justice work being done.

The George and Elizabeth Watson reading group will meet this Tuesday, April 12, at 7:00, and will read (together) an article about Thomas Merton. We will also be talking more about a new book choice. Come!

Care for Creation Tip: Take shorter showers. Every two minutes you save on your shower can save more than ten gallons of water. If everyone in the country saved just one gallon (shaved 12 seconds) from their daily shower, over the course of the year it would equal twice the amount of fresh water drawn from the Great Lakes every day. Check out water-saver washers (hardware that goes into your shower head), which can reduce water flow up to 25% without affecting the pressure.

A memorial service for climate losses will be held here on Sunday, April 24th at 1:15, to grieve, hope, celebrate and be present.

There will be a Northern Yearly Meeting Middle School Retreat April 15-17 at the Twin Cities Friends Meeting: nymyouth.org

A memorial service for Adolph Burckhardt will be held here on Sunday, May 15, at 2 pm.

Northern Yearly Meeting 2016: Spiritual Deepening – Bringing the Full Depth, Joy and Fire of Quaker Faith into Our Lives is over Memorial Day weekend. Find schedule and registration information on the elevator table. Questions, ask Pat, John, or Carolyn.

Minneapolis Meeting Fall Camp is turning sixty! Save the dates Oct 1st and 2nd to trek to Camp Courage and celebrate the years of community, friendship, and fun.

OTHER HAPPENINGS AMONG QUAKERS

The American Friends Service Committee’s campaign, Governing Under the Influence, has trained more than 1200 people to talk with the presidential candidates and ask questions about the excessive influence of Pentagon contractors, the for-profit prison industry, and a corrupt system that enables powerful corporations to drive American policy toward their own interests. Read the responses collected from candidates and more about the effort at gui.afsc.org .

Jenn Hamrick, the new Executive Director of Friends for a NonViolent World, is hosting three meet and greet and listening sessions – opportunities to get to know her, share what you most value about FNVW, suggest openings for growth and change, and express hopes and dreams for the future of the organization. RSVP to FNVWJenn(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)gmail.com or call 651-917-0383 and mention which session you will attend. All sessions will be at the FNVW Office, 1050 Selby Ave, Saint Paul. Sat, April 16th, 9-11:30; Tues, April 19th, 5-7:30; Wed, April 20th, 1:30-4:00.

Healing Minnesota Stories (HMS) Sacred Sites Tour Sat, April 30th, 11 – 3. Visit sacred sites in the vicinity of B’dote, the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Tours offer an opportunity to learn, from Native story-telling perspectives, parts of Minnesota history too-often ignored. Register at: spinterfaith.org/healing-minnesota-stories/educational-events.html Six people from Minneapolis Friends have registered. Questions: Nettie.

The School of the Spirit offers Inner Journey, Outer Journey, a contemplative retreat in the manner of Friends next spring, April 21-24 at the DeKoven Center in Racine, WI. Brochures available on the long table. Or see schoolofthespirit.org

Embracing Our Young Women, an organization started by Nettie and others to support young women living on the North Side, is seeking used, functional sewing machine donations.

A Memorial for David Stanberry, member of Prospect Hill Friends Meeting who died January 19, will be held at Twin Cities Meeting, 1725 Grand Ave, St. Paul on
April 24th at 2:00.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

“A Relationship Transformed: Jewish Gratitude for Catholic Initiative: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate” next Sun, April 17th, 4:00 – 5:30, here at the meetinghouse with Yiscah Brachah of the Jewish Community Resource Center. In 1965 the Second Vatican Council passed Nostra Aetate [In Our Times], a Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions. This signaled a significant change in attitude toward non-Christian religions, with a special focus on Jews.

MN Interfaith Power & Light is looking for people to plan and promote community solar arrays throughout the metro area. The “Just Community” solar program supports faith-based teams to find potential locations for new solar arrays. Teams in several areas around the cities are already in place and could use more help, and new teams are also wanted. To find out more, visit mnipl.org or email communitysolar(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)mnipl.org. Also, members of MFM’s Peace and Social Concerns Committee would be like to know of your interest. (Leave a note in the Peace and Social Concerns file of the blue box.)

Climate is changing. Shouldn’t we? Join the Reflective Circle to seek the seeds of change in ourselves: Mon, April 25th, 6:30-8:30, St. Cecillia’s Church, 2357 Bayless Place. A welcoming place to reflect on our global climate crisis, we respond to simple questions that spark our thinking about the natural and human systems we live in. Plan to stay for the full two hours. The group meets monthly. Attend as often as or infrequently as you wish. See TransitionASAP.org for more.

A series of rain garden workshops will be offered by the City of Minneapolis – to help keep lakes and rivers clean and recharge groundwater while creating a beautiful and pollinator-friendly habitat: April 23 at Hiawatha Park; April 28 at Audobon Park; May 18 at Pearl Park; May 21 at North Regional Library. Space is limited. Register or more: metroblooms.org; 651-699-2426.

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.