August 28, 2016

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

10:00 AM meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Susie Kanemitsu, speaker; Nancy Lichtenstein, musician; care of meeting, Judith James and Tom Hoey

Today’s picnic table conversation at 9:00: the testimony of simplicity.

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Students, teachers, instructors, and families as a new school year starts.

UPCOMING MEETING EVENTS

During the summer schedule, there is a 9 am picnic table discussion (inside if raining). The two remaining discussions are: Sept 4th, next Sun, how mysticism informs Quaker activism; Sept 11th, how Quakers got their name.

Calling All Musicians! Do you have a musical gifts to share at semi-programmed worship. If you play an instrument or would be willing to lead singing, please consider offering your talents for preludes, leading acapella singing, and/or playing piano accompaniment for hymns. Would you like to be part of an ad hoc choir call list? Worship Planning Committee is considering sending out an email to such people when we are without an instrumental accompanist. They will learn the chosen hymns ahead of time and co-lead them acapella. Contact Barbara with interest.

Loaves and Fishes TOMORROW, Mon, Aug 29th at Holy Rosary Church. One set of volunteers helps with prep (cutting veggies, washing fruit, buttering bread, etc) from 2:00-4:00 pm, (4-6 people needed); another set prepares and serves and starts clean-up from 4:45 – 6:15, (20 people needed); the last crew cleans up: doing dishes, putting leftovers away, cleaning the stove, cleaning tables and chairs and the floor, (8-10 people needed). If you cannot come on the 29th, bring 3 dozen pieces of whole fruit to the meetinghouse on the 28th or to Holy Rosary before 4. Minneapolis Meeting participation has been light this year. Please sign-up if you are able to help with this very concrete service commitment. Sign-up sheet is on the bulletin table.

Celebrate 60 Years of Fall Camp, now only five weeks away – Oct 1-2. Brochures and registration forms are available on the table by the elevator. Please pick yours up today to save on postage; any remaining will be mailed out on September 6th. Feeling shy about giving Camp a try? It is ok to bring a friend! Come to camp for as long as you are able – a morning, an afternoon, a day, a meal, for the talent show, the weekend, or any combination in-between! A rideshare sign-up is posted for part-time attenders. Registrations are due back on or before Thurs, Sept 15th.

Your Help Needed at Camp! Three specialized volunteers are needed to make Fall Camp safe and fun: a lifeguard to supervise the pool time, (two hours on Sat afternoon, and possibly again Sat evening); one person certified in CPR/AED and First Aid to be our “go to person” should anyone need medical help at Camp; and someone to help Allen and Nettie lead a dance on Sat night. Share your talents! Contact Wina if you meet any of these needs.

Fall Camp Memories and Photos Do you have photos from Fall Camp weekends of yore? Bring a couple of your favorites for a display at the meetinghouse, (put your name on the back!) Include a note to explain what it is about! Do you have a special memory you’d like to share? Just drop off a note in the designated box on the elevator table.

The school year schedule will resume on the third Sunday in Sept, the 18th: 9:00 unprogrammed worship; 10:15 adult program; 11:15 semi-programmed worship and first day school for children.

OFFERING BOXES are located on small tables near both meetingroom doors.

OTHER HAPPENINGS AMONG QUAKERS

Conference for Quakers in Pastoral Care and Counseling, “Centered in Wholeness: Body and Spirit,” at Quaker Hill in Richmond, IN, Sept 15-18. See QPCC.us for more.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) seeks a General Secretary to lead the organization, advancing its vision of a world in which lasting peace with justice is achieved through active nonviolence and the transforming power of love. See www.afsc.org/jobs for details. Resume and letter of interest to Wstreater(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)afsc.org ; must be received by Sept 6, 2016.

Pendle Hill is offering Quaker Studies Online. “Quaker Faith, Sustainability, and the Renewal of Creation” will be taught Sept 5 – Nov 20 by Doug Gwyn, (author of the book with that title.) “Radical Faithfulness” about spiritual calls, non-violent action, and grassroots organizing will be offered Sept 26 – May 22. For more about the online program, contact Steve Chase, Pendle Hill’s Director of Education, at 484-234-4490 or schase(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)pendlehill.org or see pendlehill.org/learn/quaker-studies-online

From Friends Committee on National Legislation: President Obama invoked the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force to launch airstrikes in Libya. This law has allowed two presidents to take military action around the world. In Jan 2017, it could continue and give our next president the power, alone, to wage war. When Congress has to vote on wars — and are accountable to their constituents — the U.S. is less likely to pursue military action. The president acting alone, has yielded: special ops in 150 countries; drone strikes with countless civilian deaths; warrantless surveillance of Americans; indefinite detention in Guantanamo Bay. For more and to easily contact lawmakers to urge restoration of 1973 War Powers Act integrity, google “FCNL Questions for Candidates: Endless War”.

Ben Pink Dandelion is offering a free online, three-week course on the beginnings of Quakerism, starting Oct 3rd (but enroll any time.) Friends will need to register with Futurelearn (an easy process) which manages the course operation. Register and more information at futurelearn.com/courses/quakers/1 Pat Jones, Carolyn VandenDolder, Steve Snyder, Tom Smith and Roland Barrett have registered for this course which promises to be first-rate as well as free. Please tell Pat if you register too.

Earlham School of Religion’s Ministry of Writing colloquium, “Eye of the Beholder”, will be in Richmond, IN Nov 4-5th. A brochure is posted, or see more at: http://esr.earlham.edu/news-events/events/writers16

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Lisa First (of MFM) and her nonprofit Link Vostok are presenting award-winning Hungarian dance artist and choreographer Ferenc Feher in a captivating duet with Balazs Szitlas from Slovakia; Bedlam Theater in St. Paul; this Thurs, Sept. 1st, 7: 00 pm. Ferenc’s style is a combination of highly physical dance and movement theater with inspiration taken from the natural world. Tickets are $15.00. Contact Lisa at 612-816-5472 with questions.

Mayim Rabim, with Jewish Community Action, will host presentations/discussion, at MFM, on the US criminal justice system. MFMers are invited, first this Wed, Aug 31, 7 – 8:30 PM. Topics: racism and mass incarceration, historical perspectives, how Jewish sources can guide us, how we can help improve the system. Wed, Sept 14, 7 – 8:30 PM, the conversation continues with The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, (Michelle Alexander) book discussion.

United for Peace and Justice has been working to stop US military weapon sales to Saudia Arabia, a human rights violator and currently engaged in committing deadly war crimes in Yemen. There is a brief window to stop the most recent sale. See http://www.unitedforpeace.org/tag/saudi-arabia/ for more and to easily contact your Congresspeople.

Construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline to transport crude oil from ND’s Bakken oilfields to Patoka, IL has recently been given approval by the US government. Last weekend, hundreds, primarily Lakota and Dakota from Standing Rock, Rosebud, and Lower Brule Lakota reservations, gathered to protest at the edge of the Standing Rock reservation in ND. The pipeline would travel through lands sacred to the Lakota people and cross under the Missouri, Mississippi, and Big Sioux Rivers. A spill, which can occur with any pipeline, would contaminate farmland and drinking water for millions. Protesters have succeeded in temporarily halting the beginning stages of construction. Google Sacred Stone Camp for more. A list of protest supplies requested at: facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100929011849618&set=p.10100929011849618&type=3&theater .

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, Admin. Assistant, will be in Wed, Thurs and Fri afternoons. 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.