February 13, 2022

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 – 9:40 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Mary Bosserman; Zoom host – Bill

9:45 – 11:15 monthly meeting for business: John Kraft, clerk; Stephen Snyder, recording clerk; Zoom host – Sandy

11:15 – 12:00 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Mary Gochnauer – speaker; care of meeting, Linda Coffin; Zoom host – Sandy

Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org for the link to worship and mid-morning program in February.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: Minneapolis Police Reform. A group has been working on police reform issues for a year and have met with many city officials. We will report on that experience and our plans for 2022.

There is mid-week worship every Wed night, 7PM. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org by noon Wed for the link.

Ministry and Counsel Committee (M&C) asks Friends to attend to their day and thoughts, examining if any elements might become planned vocal ministry in worship. Those who feel led to offer planned ministry / a reading during second worship, please contact Bill or other members of M&C. M&C is also looking for closers for both worships. Serving as a closer is a ministry of service to the meeting.

Don’t miss the Friendly Meal (via Zoom)! The Welcoming and Outreach Committee invites you to dinner THIS Sat, Feb 19, 6PM. We will break into groups for fellowship as we eat our own meal, together online. When signing up, let us know if your significant other will join you on one screen or two. On the night of the Meal, prepare your food and drink, load up your plate(s) and log into Zoom at 6PM, sharp. As soon as all registered participants have logged in, we will go into breakout rooms. Promptness matters! Register by emailing office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org by noon THIS Wed (Feb 16,). The link will be sent to participants by the Fri the 18th. Come enjoy the friendly fellowship!

Financial contribution statements for 2021 have been sent out and should be arriving soon. Thank you, Friends, for your support of the Meeting. Please email Mike, clerk of Stewardship and Finance Committee, with any issues.

Need to schedule a Zoom meeting for a committee meeting or Minneapolis Meeting activity? More and more gatherings are happening in the MFM community. Consider consulting the office calendar before setting a meeting date to minimize scheduling conflicts. Send requests, including possible dates, time, and purpose to office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to get a gathering / meeting set up.
Zoom support and hints: General Zoom how-tos: Participant controls in a meeting – Zoom Support ; General Zoom video: https://youtu.be/w7AkwVW02Dg ; Tablets/iPad: https://youtu.be/KL3fAvmKCMo. Still have questions about the basics? Contact Terry or Roger with specific equipment name and model and we will try to help get some answers for you. The most recent Zoom update and instructions for installation can be found here.

Northern Yearly Meeting’s Spring Interim Session will be next weekend, Feb 17-20. Minneapolis Meeting is a member of NYM along with 31 monthly meetings and worship groups in the upper Midwest. NYM is a vehicle for are Meetings to support and nurture each other. Recently, NYM’s Anti-Racism Working Group and Zoom first day school offerings have offered opportunities for collaboration and resources for individual meetings. Get to know and be inspired by the life and witness of Meetings in our area! Find details and registration information here.
Some schedule details include:
~ Thurs, Feb. 17, 7PM – Friends in Action: Bismarck-Mandan Friends Acting on Indigenous People’s Issue will kick off the interim session,. Hear about three actions relating to Native American issues in which Bismarck-Mandan Meeting has engaged. There will be time to consider what questions their experience raises for your own meeting/worship group’s anti-racism efforts.
~ Fri, Feb 18, 7-8:30PM – small group creative games and community-building
~ Sat, Feb 19, 8:20AM – singing leading into worship at 8:30 leading into meeting for business. Likely agenda items: Long Range Sessions Planning; Doctrine of Discovery minute; Finance Committee next steps; Friends Committee on National Legislation, Annual Sessions Planning Committee deliberations.
~ Sun, Feb 20, 8:20AM – singing moving into meeting for business (any held over business items).

Northern Yearly Meeting has annual sessions over Memorial Day weekend – a time for Friends in the upper mid-west to gather together to worship, play, learn, and conduct business. Two volunteers are needed for these in-person (we hope) annual sessions in May to act as registrar and housing coordinator. Most of the work comes between March and May when the registration forms are coming in.

Quaker Voluntary Service has two program Fridays each month. Could you provide a vegan lunch for seven (including one gluten-free option) on March 4th, or March 18th? Sign up with Miranda, QVS Local Coordinator: miranda(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)quakervoluntaryservice.org . THANK YOU, Friends, for this gesture of care and support.

SMALL GROUPS OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

Join Lectio Divina at 11:25AM on Wednesdays. Hold a short reading from the Bible, Quaker, or other spiritual text to see if and how it might speak to us today. Followed by a time of worship sharing. Email Stephen for the link.

The Right Relationship with Indigenous People group will meet this coming Mon night, Feb 14th, at 7PM. Open to all interested, this group meets every second Monday night. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org by noon the preceding Friday for the link.

The Police Reform Group will meet this Tues, Feb 15, at 7:00. Councilmember Linea Palmisano will join us at 7:30 to discuss police accountability. Contact John S for the link.

Dave and Marilyn invite Friends and friends for casual singing, remotely, with Song Circle, Feb 19th, 7PM. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to get the link.

Come to a virtual craft night with the Quaker Voluntary Service Fellows Fri, Feb 25, 7PM! Bring a craft project you’re working on or one you’ve been meaning to start for an informal night of connection and creativity. All are welcome. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org for the link.

Save the Date! In honor of Black History Month, the Peace and Social Concerns Committee will show the film Harriet on Tues, March 1, at 7PM via Zoom. Harriet is the dramatization of the life and work of Harriet Tubman, an African American woman who, in the 1840s, was enslaved, escaped, and then helped more than 70 people to freedom. Tune in to watch this inspiring film about the woman called “the Moses of her people.” Discussion will follow.

IN THE WORLD OF FRIENDS

The Jan 30th mid-morning program on Yemen inspired the desire for more information. Currently, two U.S. Representatives are introducing a bill to stop U.S. support for the Yemen war. Read this Nation article which explains it.

American Friends Service Committee announces the FIRST Black Quaker Lives Matter Film Festival, Feb 12 – April 9. Quakers of Color have remained within the margins of the Society of Friends and the wider world. Every-other Saturday at noon (CT), from Feb 12th until April 9th, a film centered on a Quaker of Color with an introduction from a guest expert and a follow up discussion facilitated by Black Quaker Project’s Dr. Harold D. Weaver, will be screened. Register here.

Friends for a NonViolent World is offering February community education classes on violence prevention and conflict resolution. More information and registration links found in their recent e-newsletter.

Friends School Plant Sale – volunteer sign up has begun: FriendsSchoolPlantSale.com/volunteer / (651) 621-8930. The Plant Sale will be held May 6-8 at the State Fair Grandstand. Volunteers are needed! Volunteers get to shop early!

Friends General Conference Spiritual Deepening eRetreats in Feb: Silence and Light (Feb 16-March 16) and Silence and Light for Quaker Newcomers (March 12-April 9).

Friends Committee on National Legislation will show a powerful documentary on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Hunger Ward, on Thurs, Feb. 17th at 6:30PM: fcnl.org/events/hunger-ward-yemen-film-screening-and-panel-discussion

Peace! Love! Joy! Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns (FLGBTQC) welcomes everyone to the 2022 Midwinter Gathering, via Zoom, Feb 18-21. You need not be present for the whole weekend to participate! The schedule can be found here; register here, and spread the word to others who might be interested!

MFM Friends are welcomed to Twin Cities Meeting’s online workshop, Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change, a Paula Parker workshop, on Sat, Feb 26, 2-4PM (CT). Learn the real history of this country through the voices of Native Americans, Euro-American colonists and historians; experience the history anew; understand why this history matters; and begin to build relationships based on truth, respect, and justice. Register here. Space limited.

Quaker United Nations Summer School is accepting applications for 2022. Summer school will be virtual this summer, July 4-15. QUNO Summer School seeks to bring together a diverse group of young people, offering the, a unique opportunity to engage with issues of disarmament, economic justice, human rights, and climate change on international political levels. Click here for more. Application deadline, Feb 27.

Friends for a NonViolent World is powered by volunteers! If you are looking to join a team of engaged, passionate people, dedicated to nonviolent social change, check out the many ways YOU can get involved with FNVW! More at https://www.fnvw.org/volunteer

IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

TODAY: In the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of young Black man, Amir Locke, Showing Up for Racial Justice –Twin Cities will have a virtual gathering from 5-7PM to:
+ reflect on this tragedy, and the many before it
+ share information about actions and responses
+ hear and discuss some of SURJ’s and our local Black-led partners’ analysis in this moment
+ connect with a community of people committed to anti-racism
+ find ways to get involved and recommit to long-haul anti-racist organizing
Register here

White Privilege Conference, March 9-12, in Charlotte, NC. Friends General Conference will again offer a pre-registration form for the conference providing a lower group rate registration cost. More at FGC’s White Privilege Conference . The pre-registration form does not register you for the retreat. You must register for the conference on their website . For in-person attendance, the hotel conference rate is available only through Feb 13.