May 1, 2022

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM
TODAY

9:00 – 10:00 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Roland Barrett; Zoom host – Bill

10:15 – 11:00 New Member Welcome! Come welcome and celebrate four (relatively) new members: Linda Ferguson, John Cutler, Patrick Higgins, and Mary Bosserman. Short program, visiting, and treats outside (weather permitting) Zoom host – Bill

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): planned speaker unknown; care of meeting, Diane Barrett; Zoom host – Stephen

The link for worship and mid-morning program this Sunday is available by emailing office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org by noon the preceding Friday.

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

People around the world who are suffering from conflict, racism, colonialism, displacement, loss, and the climate crisis, and all those who are aiding victims and the dispossessed.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Let’s celebrate each other! Happy birthday to: Barbara Z (May 6th) and Terry K (May 30th)! Let Friends acknowledge and celebrate you! Send the month and date of your birth, (no year necessary,) to Judith.

Monthly Meeting for business is next Sunday, 9:45-11:15AM. On the agenda: the State of Society Report, discussion about hosting the Friends for a NonViolent World Holiday Fair, Trustee Funds consolidation, memorial minute updates for Sue Murray and Barbara Coffin.

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 individuals who feel led to share a prepared message or a reading during semi-programmed worship, to contact John C 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.

Donate to a NorthPoint food drive on Fri, May 13, from 10AM – 3PM at the meetinghouse. You may leave your donations just outside the York Ave door (someone will bring them inside) or bring them into the building yourself if you want, (wear a mask.) Most-needed items include oatmeal, canned meat, (tuna, chicken, and salmon,) and hygiene products such as shaving cream and razor blades. Organized by the Peace and Social Concerns Committee. If you have questions, email Deborah.

Come celebrate the end of an intense year of challenges and successes at mid-morning program, 10:15-11AM, May 22nd! We have a wide spread in what folks are comfortable with in terms COVID safety. To encourage the spirit of celebration while protecting the vulnerable among us, we will have live and recorded music, no community singing. If a musician sings, they will remain masked and will sing solo. We will stick to non-wind instruments. Bring your stringed instruments, drums, tambourines, triangles, rhythm sticks, maracas, etc., to join the beat of the music in whatever way you are comfortable, including clapping, swaying, or moving. Masks are required for all. Refreshments may be offered on the patio outside if weather permits. If you play a (non-wind) instrument, or have a song to share (masked,) contact Tom Wells.

Registration has begun for Northern Yearly Meeting’s Annual Sessions at this link (via Zoom.) NYM meets over Memorial Day weekend (May 27-30). Registration for the IN-PERSON Family Camp at the Lion’s Camp in Rosholt, WI over the same weekend is here. Minneapolis Meeting has funds to help cover expenses if needed. Contact Linda C for more. More on both events is available in the Northern Yearly Meeting E-News.

Friends who visit the meetinghouse or who want to meet in the building or on the meetinghouse grounds are asked to schedule those visits 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 .

CONGRATULATIONS to Ranae Hanson, winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative NonFiction for her title, Watershed: Attending to Body and Earth in Distress. Read an interview with Ranae here.

SMALL GROUP 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. Rather than reading for information, in Lectio, read for insight – open to the Divine and allow the text to speak to our life and times. Followed by a time of worship sharing. Email Stephen for the link.

The Writing Group will meet TOMORROW, May 2nd, 7-9PM. This is a chance to connect with each other, writing with prompts and sharing what we write. ALL INVITED, whether or not you have participated before! Contact Jane for the link.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

WORKSHOPS, FILMS, RETREATS, PROGRAMS, PRESENTATIONS

From Northern Yearly Meeting’s AntiRacism Working Group: Land Acknowledgement Open Forum, Thur, May 12, 7-8:30PM. The land where we live and worship was once the home of Indigenous people. While Friends wish to raise our awareness of this history and its implications, we are concerned about adding meaningless repetition to gatherings. Sometimes the list of tribes in our particular area is long and complex. Do we need to name all tribes at each meeting? Do we need to vary our statements to avoid dull rote and ritual? Can we address how land acknowledgements affect our anti-racist actions? Share our hopes and fears, our thoughts and feelings and look for Divine direction. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolis.org for the link.

The 2022 Friends General Conference Gathering, “. . . and follow me” will be July 3-9, online. Registration will open in May. Advanced Programs with a list of workshops will be available soon here. Learn more and register for the Gathering on the FGC website. The Friends General Conference Young Adults and Youth (YAY) event will be in person (held at Radford University in Radford, Virginia). Registration for YAY will also open in May. See https://www.fgcquaker.org/ for more.

Early Bird registration is now open for Friends for a NonViolent World’s People Camp 2022, Building a Change Community: 50 Years of People Camp (Aug 7-13). People Camp is an intergenerational experience of cooperation, exploration and community living. Come rest and refresh your mind, body, and spirit through a variety of workshops, group activities and recreation. More here.

Reflecting with Quakers about These Walls Between Us: A Memoir of Friendship Across Race and Class, a Pendle Hill first Monday lecture with Mary Norman and Wendy Sanford, will be May 2, 6:30-8PM (CT). More and register here.

Friends General Conference is offering the Spiritual Deepening eRetreat, Building a Meaningful and Connected Life May 19th – June 16th. Explore and practice the spirituality of meaning-making, resiliency, renewal and life transitions. Participants will ask themselves and each other, what choices can we make and what steps can we take now to nurture our inner life, creative life, and connected life? More here.

VOLUNTEER

Quaker Voluntary Service has two program Fridays each month. Could you provide a vegan lunch for seven (and one gluten-free option) on May 13th or 27th? 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 School Plant Sale – a few volunteers are still needed: FriendsSchoolPlantSale.com/volunteer / (651) 621-8930. The Plant Sale, the largest in the nation and an important source of funding for FSMN, is May 6-8 at the State Fair Grandstand. Volunteers shop early! Find a catalogue at the meetinghouse or look online: FriendsSchoolPlantSale.com.

Friends for a NonViolent World will host a Walkathon fundraiser to support FNVW’s programs teaching alternatives to violence and championing a foundation of nonviolence upon which to build a society that respects the dignity of every human being. Sat, May 21, Lake Nokomis, Mpls, 9:30AM – 12:30PM. More at: Walkathon Sign Up and Pledge Form.

Members of Congress are in their districts for their spring recess. Friends Committee on National Legislation suggests that Quakers concerned about climate change and income disparities write or call their Senators and Representatives with their concerns. Congress has not given up on these concerns and will try to advance them in a reconciliation process, which requires only 50 Senate votes. Find more and help contact your Congresspeople at: https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/37304/?utm_source=fcnlaction

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

Heart of the Beast and the MayDay Council with the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue invite you to celebrate International Workers’ Day with an emphasis on immigrant rights at a block party, May 1, 1-4PM, Four Directions Family Center parking lot, 1527 E Lake Str, Mpls.

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).