August 30, 2020

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

10:00 – 11:00 AM meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Jane Furnas

Sunday worship through September 13: email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org before the end of the day Thursday for the link.
It’s easy to be in worship for as long as you are able. Consider inviting the youth of the meeting to participate!
Bill is facilitating the worship on zoom this Sunday morning. He is available by phone or email if you have any trouble logging in.

THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO KNOW

Birthdays during Covid don’t have to be solo affairs! Happy birthday to Scott (Sept 5th,) Judith (Sept 6th,) Renae (Sept 24th,) Barbara (Sept 25th,) Gayle (Sept 27th,) and Jim L (Sept 30th)! If you would like to have your birthday acknowledged by meeting Friends, please send the month and date of your birth, (no year necessary,) to Judith.

There is an ad hoc committee considering what the “new normal” of Meeting life will look like and how we will accomplish it –safety protocols and inclusivity are priorities. Ideas? Contact clerk, John Kraft.

The Zephyra and Roland Shepherd Scholarship, created in 1977, is still administered by members of Minneapolis Meeting. Available to active MFM members of at least five years’ standing or children of active members of five years’ standing who have been accepted into a post-secondary educational institution, college or trade school. Applications available from the office: office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org

Looking for ways you can forward social justice during COVID? The Peace and Social Concerns Committee has a few suggestions of places to start (you can learn more about many online):
– ISAIAH has a list of a variety specific projects. Start with the general orientation and select one that appeals to you – like the Voter Engagement Project (training starts Sept. 1).
– FAITH IN ACTION also has a voter-related group. Training starts Sept. 10.
– NORTHPOINT HEALTH AND WELLNESS CENTER in North Minneapolis (where Paul Erickson and Heidi Flores work) sponsors a number of resources for the north side.
– SUPPORT BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES
– The American Friends Service Committee has recently posted the sessions it hosted on RADICAL FAITH IN ACTION FOR WHITE PEOPLE. Go to https://www.afsc.org/radicalAIF . A number of MFM Friends participated in the sessions and recommend them, finding the series challenging and deep. The sessions are one and a half hours each.

The August Newsletter from Northern Yearly Meeting is out! If you are not subscribed, read it here: PDF, or go to northernyearlymeeting.org. Northern Yearly Meeting publishes its e-News every month. Submissions are due by the 25th of the prior month. Of special interest in this latest edition is an update from the Anti-racism Working Group.

OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT WITH MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Mid-week worship on Wednesdays at 7PM: email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org before noon on Wednesday for the link.

Explore the foundations of Quaker faith and practice with Mary and Stephen Snyder with thirty minutes of worship sharing on a passage from George Fox and the Bible passage on which it is based: Zoom at 11:25AM on Wednesdays through Sept 23rd. Email Stephen or office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org before the end of the day Thursday for the link.

Looking forward to Mid-Morning Programs again? The first mid-morning program will be September 20th (time to be determined at business meeting on the 13th) on ISAIAH, an organization dedicated to building a just and abundant Minnesota through faith in action. The Peace and Social Concerns Committee is considering a recommendation for the meeting to become a member organization. Friends are encouraged to sample ISAIAH work or a training or to educate ourselves in preparation for that discernment. Annika Fjelstad, (from Twin Cities Meeting and active in ISAIAH) will facilitate the mid-morning program on the 20th. Upcoming ISAIAH training is available:
Sat, Aug 29, 9:30am – 12:30pm | Register Here / Sun, Aug 30, 1:00pm – 4:00pm | Register Here
Tue, Sept 1, 6:00pm – 9:00pm | Register Here / Wed, Sept 2, 6:00pm – 9:00pm | Register Here
Tue, Sept 8, 6:00pm – 9:00pm | Register Here / Wed, Sept 9, 6:00pm – 9:00pm | Register Here
Thurs, Sept 10, 6:00pm – 9:00pm | Register Here / Sat, Sept 12, 9:30am – 12:30pm | Register Here
Sun, Sept 13, 1:00pm – 4:00pm | Register Here / Tue, Sept 15, 6:00pm – 9:00pm | Register Here

First day school will start again before you know it! September 20th is the first day of the fall schedule. All school-age children and youth will be invited to zoom together for a story. After the story, younger children will sign off and older youth will stay online for further discussion, relating the story to their own experiences or current events. The theme for this year is the testimony of equality. Here’s where you come in: Do you have a story (Bible, Quaker, or other,) that you think every child of the Meeting should know? The Good Samaritan? The story of Benjamin Lay? Sign up to offer your story to the youth and young families of the meeting. Teachers will facilitate or help facilitate the discussion afterwards – so don’t let that intimidate you. For more or to get on the schedule, contact Linda. A successful program depends on us all!

Loaves and Fishes, TOMORROW August 31: Join other metro-area Friends, the Ismaili Community and the Mayim Rabim congregation to provide a nutritious meal at Holy Rosary Church in S Mpls, 2424 – 18th Ave S. Cook (2-4:30); pack up and hand out the meals (4:45-6:30,) and clean up (5-7:30.) Fruit donations, dropped off at Holy Rosary after 2:00, are needed as well. Email Christian at cbourdo(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)Loavesandfishesmn.org to sign up to make sure there is sufficient space for all the volunteers. Masks required. Please sign up to come if you can!

THANK YOU to those who have cleaned, fixed, brought food and other items, and generally prepped the Quaker Voluntary Service house to make it ready for this year’s Fellows, including MFMers: Ed and Betsy, Jane and Chuck, Stephen and Mary, Gayle, Sue, Jeannette, Jim H, Suzanne, Tom, and Carolyn. A couple volunteers are still sought to provide lunch for the Fellows their first week in town (Sept 4 and 6). To sign up, see Meals for QVS or reach out to Marybeth of TCFM.

OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT WITH OTHER FRIENDS

Non-Sunday morning opportunities to worship with Friends :
Prospect Hill Friends Meeting worships on Sunday afternoons starting at 3:45 PM for settling in, with worship at 4. (Programs follow worship from 5 to about 5:30 PM.) Email Michael for the link.
Laughing Waters Friends Preparative Meeting is worshiping Sunday afternoons at 1:30. More at laughingwatersfriends.org
Pendle Hill Study and Retreat Center has daily worship, M_F, 7:30-8:10 AM (CT): https://pendlehill.zoom.us/j/432071090?pwd=aU5OOWk4ZGJkcWNUbzI5TXdjdVpSdz09
Quaker Voluntary Service has daily worship M–F, 10:30-11AM (CST): https://zoom.us/j/5702463400.

OFFICE HOURS Wed – Fri afternoons. Phone messages checked daily; email checked W-F. Bulletin deadline noon on Thurs.