February 20, 2022

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 – 10:00 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Keitha Herron; Zoom host – Stephen

10:15 – 11:00 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. Zoom host – Tom

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Judith James – speaker; care of meeting, Barbara Ziegenhagen; Zoom host – Tom

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

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

The meetinghouse will again open for in-person, public worship next Sunday, Feb 27, 2022. Hybrid worship is now supported so those unable to or uncomfortable with coming to the meetinghouse can worship via zoom with those gathered there, link above.

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: Friends School of Minnesota – Return and Renewal: Re-Building Community and Building Connections. Head of School, Joe Mueller, will share efforts to bring the school community back together after the first year of COVID, as well as efforts to grow the school’s presence in the wider community.

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. It has not yet been decided whether mid-week worship will move to in-person or remain online.

Friends Committee on National Legislation uses on bi-annual input from monthly meetings to set priorities for lobbying Congress. Doug and Jim are MFM representatives to FCNL and are facilitating MFM’s feedback. Please send your suggested priorities to Jim or Doug. There will be a listening session on Zoom, Mon, Feb. 21 at 7PM. Contact Jim, Doug, or Marilyn for the link.

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee is tasked with nominating a recipient (or recipients) of the meeting’s voluntary carbon tax, $1,000 that is included in the yearly budget approved by the meeting. The organization nominated to receive the funds must promote environmental protection and/or must work to address global warming. The organization should preferably be local and should not be one that the meeting has given to within the last three years. If you have a suggestion of an organization to be considered as a recipient, please submit it to Deborah by Feb. 28.

Ministry and Counsel Committee (M&C) asks individuals who feel led to share a prepared message or a reading during semi-programmed worship, to 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.

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

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.

Friends who plan to visit or meet at the meetinghouse during the week are asked to schedule those visits / meetings with the office to help avoid conflicts. Please wear a mask in the common spaces of the building – entryway, hallways, stairs, bathroom, etc. 612-926-6159; office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org

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. Contact Stephen for more.

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 by noon Friday 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 Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org for the link.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

WORSHIP

~ Friends General Conference hosts a weekly worship, Sat nights, 8PM: https://forms.gle/GgqEva4KUf4eHFo1A For other opportunities, see: https://www.fgcquaker.org/resources/online-worship-opportunities
~ 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; password, “worship”
~ Ben Lomand Quaker Center (California) meeting for worship daily 9:30 – 10AM. Instructions and to join visit
http://www.chatzy.com/frame/QuakerCenter
~ Quaker Center in California has a Wed worship sharing at noon (CT) with Friends from around the world responding queries based on short readings. JOIN HERE; password, email: BobFisher(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)QuakerCenter.org
~ Global meeting for worship is offered every Wed, 1 PM (CT). Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to get connected.
~ Quaker Earthcare Witness and Friends General Conference Thurs, Feb 24th, 7PM (CT) – gather in small groups to respond to queries, explore our experiences, and share deeply. Register here. This monthly event on fourth Thursdays, offers opportunities for spiritual support and connection for those engaged in environmental work and witness.

VOLUNTEER

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 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

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 the upcoming, in-person (we hope) Annual Sessions gathering this May to serve as registrar and housing coordinator. The majority of the work comes between March and May when the registration forms are coming in. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org with interest.

WORKSHOPS, FILMS, RETREATS, PROGRAMS, PRESENTATIONS

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

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

A new Northern Spirit Radio Podcast features Gerri Williams, presenter of a recent ”Beyond the Books: A Way Forward for White Allies in Democracy” event. Mark Helpsmeet (Eau Claire Meeting) hosts. Listen here.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

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. With over ten years of FGC support, there has often been a large attendance of Friends at the conference, creating a community that has enriched the conference and work after. Open to both Friends of Color and white Friends. More at FGC’s White Privilege Conference Landing page. Once you pre-register, FGC will send you a discount code which will give you the reduced rate. The pre-registration form does not register you for the retreat. You must register for the conference on their website once you get the discount code. Both in-person and virtual attendance are options this year.

OFFICE HOURS
Carolyn VandenDolder, the Meeting Coordinator, will be in the office Wed – Fri afternoons. Phone messages checked daily; email checked W-F. Bulletin deadline, noon Thur. Bulletin items can be phoned in to the office (612-926-6159) or emailed (office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org).