January 21, 2018

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 – 10:00 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Doug Herron; Dan Jensen (mic)

10:15 – 11:00 Alissa Abelson, Conflict Resolution Coordinator and middle school humanities teacher at Friends School of MN, will describe the conflict resolution program used there.

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Marilyn Johnson, speaker; Stephen Snyder, musician; care of meeting, Terry Hokenson; Dave Bostrom (mic)

“…think of all the mud that didn’t even get to sit up and look around.” – Kurt Vonnegut in Cat’s Cradle

Save the Meeting the cost of postage! If you made contributions to the Meeting in 2017 via check, stock transfer or direct deposit, your Annual Contribution Statement is now available. Please pick up yours by the elevator TODAY. Thank you!

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Those who are suffering.

UPCOMING MEETING EVENTS

Upcoming Mid-Morning Programs, 10:15 – 11:00
~ Next Sunday, Jan. 28th: Explore 160 years of meeting history through the “Quaker section” at Lakewood Cemetery. Learn more about how current members’ end-of-life plans can include burial plots owned by the meeting there. Linda Coffin presenting; brought forward by the Death and Memorial Service Committee.
~ Feb. 4th: Hallowing One’s Diminishments. Whether it is our own physical diminishment or diminishments in those we love; the loss of a personal dream or the loss of the expected health of our society or Earth, explore and discover the grace we can gain in diminishment. Based on a Pendle Hill pamphlet; brought forward by the Ministry and Counsel Committee. A summary of the pamphlet is at quakerquickread.blogspot.com/2017/02/271-300.html . Scroll to pamphlet #292.

OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL MEETING ATTENDERS AND MEMBERS TO INFORM THE MEETING’S FUTURE LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE, Sat, Feb 24th, from 9:30 – noon at the meetinghouse. Please participate to inform the meeting’s next steps around its leadership structure. AGENDA: The ad hoc Transition Committee will summarize the community’s experience since Oct 1, 2017. The Friends gathered will further reflect on the experience and discuss possible next steps. The ad hoc committee will bring forward options to the March monthly meeting for business. Questions? Reflections on your experience in the Meeting since October? Ideas for the Feb 24th agenda? Please contact someone from the ad hoc Transition Committee directly or leave a message on the Meeting office phone and someone will get back to you.. Committee members are Tom, Roland, Maddi, Renae, Jeannette and Evelyn.

Want to learn more about Quakerism and being a Quaker? Ministry and Counsel and Welcoming and Outreach Committees are offering a four-session series in March on Sunday afternoons and repeated on Tuesday evenings. Sunday sessions will be at 1 pm on March 4, 11, 18 and 25. Tuesday sessions will be at 7 pm on March 6, 13, 20 and 27. All the sessions will be at the meetinghouse. Childcare provided. Details and more are in flyers on the table by the elevator Sign-up there too!

The Nominating Committee’s work for the upcoming year is underway! Please respond to phone calls and emails from Nominating Committee members. If you wish to become more involved in Minneapolis Meeting, participating on a committee is an excellent way to meet people and learn more about how the Meeting functions. Want to know more about what the committees are and what they do? Ask Nominating Committee members: Doug, Annamary, Gayle, or Ed. Thank you for your commitment to MFM.

As we live into our interim organization, it can be unclear where to take questions and issues. Committee clerks and the monthly meeting clerks, Linda Coffin (assistant clerk) and David Woolley (presiding clerk,) are good starting points. A list of committee clerks and contact info is posted on the long bulletin board. Carolyn VandenDolder, the Interim Coordinator, can help direct you as well. Confused about the Interim Meeting Coordinator position? The job description is posted too.

Mary and Stephen invite Friends to their home at Kenwood Isles, every Wed until Feb 28th, from 12-1 pm for lectio divina. Thirty minutes with passage; a light lunch following. RSVP to Mary.

Loaves and Fishes: Monday, Jan 29th is the next opportunity for MFM to help serve dinner to the people of the Phillips neighborhood at Holy Rosary Church, 2424 18th Av. S, Mpls. Please help if you have a few hours between 1:30pm and 7pm that day. Volunteers sign up for shifts: chopping veggies or prepping dessert fruit 1:30 4:30pm; serving food 4:45 6:30pm; clean up 5:30 7pm. Fresh fruit donations for dessert are needed, too. A sign-up sheet is on the bulletin table.

Donate furniture for Quaker Voluntary Service house! QVS has signed a lease to rent a house in Powderhorn Park for the QVS Fellows arriving in Sept. The house needs beds, couch(es), easy chairs, a dining room table and chairs, lamps, dishes, pots and pans, bedside tables, bookshelves, dressers, etc. Donations made now will help ensure we have a welcoming space for the Fellows and will also create a furnished apartment which can be rented from now until the QVS Fellows arrive, helping reduce the cost of holding the space for QVS for the next 6 months. Photos really helpful. Contact the meeting office for where to send them, office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org / 612-926-6159. And don’t forget to save space the weekend of Feb 10 / 11 to visit with visiting QVS Director, Mike Huber!

A Northern Yearly Meeting high school retreat is scheduled NEXT weekend of Jan 26-28 in Duluth. Details posted on the bulletin board in the long hall. Request to have details emailed to you at office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org.

OTHER HAPPENINGS AMONG QUAKERS

Friends for a NonViolent World’s Bridging the Divides: Policing that Works for Everyone is hosting a community event, Police Use of Force: Laws and Practice, this Tues, Jan. 23rd, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 1636 W. Van Buren Ave in St. Paul. For more, visit fnvw.org and click the Bridging the Divides tab at the top of the page.

Northern Yearly Meeting (NYM) continues to search for a High School Coordinator to offer three retreats and programming at annual sessions and to help NYM High School youth find/participate in new experiences related to spiritual development, service, and leadership. This paid, part-time position could be shared. Details and application information at fgcquaker.org/cloud/northern-yearly-meeting/announcements/job-opening-nym-high-school-coordinator .

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Pay Taxes or Fund Peace? Minnesota War Tax Resisters is hosting a discussion of the various methods and consequences of tax resistance and ways to redirect refused taxes to peaceful endeavors. TODAY, Jan 21st, 3:30-5 pm at the Wedge Table, 2412 Nicollet Ave, Mpls FFI: Paying4Peace(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)gmail.com or see Paying4Peace on Facebook.

The Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (the largest public interfaith interest group in MN) is having its Day on the Hill on Tuesday March 13. This is a chance to go to the State Capital and speak to your Congressional Representatives as a member of a faith community. MFM members and attenders have been participating in this event for many years. It is a half day agenda with a cost of $45. The Peace and Social Concerns Committee will sponsor an MFMer who wants to attend! If you are interested, contact Debbie or Roland. More information can be found at jrlc.org.

OFFICE HOURS: Carolyn VandenDolder, the interim Meeting Coordinator, will be in the office Wed – Fri, 10:30-4:00. Phone messages checked daily. Bulletin deadline, noon Thursday.