There has been a great yearning among members to return to worship in the meetinghouse and to the comforts that provides. A major endeavor for Minneapolis Friends Meeting during the last year has been planning and creating a system so that we can meet in person again while also including all who wish to attend worship via Zoom. Since Covid has remained with us, plans have been devised and fulfilled for hybrid worship. Two Friends, men who have worked in videography/film, have spearheaded this project. Many members have been involved with them in the design, acquisition and setup of the meetinghouse for hybrid worship. Members of the synagogue that meets in the building have volunteered as well. A special fund was authorized for equipment required (sound system update, video cameras, tv monitor) and contributions were quite substantial and adequate for the task.

There was a mounting sense of anticipation over the year as this system was created and installed. Every month at meeting for business reports of the advances have buoyed spirits. Many have felt great joy in being able to return to in-person worship, even with masks and distancing.

Minneapolis Friends Meeting has an early unprogrammed first worship. This is followed by a midmorning program, with presentations and talks. Second worship at 11:15 AM is semi-programmed. In the summer there is just one morning service.

Minneapolis Friends Meeting is a group demographically characterized as mostly white and middle aged and older. The pandemic seemingly has swept away younger families with children and that continues. There is a high level of involvement by members in the activities of the Meeting. Attendance has declined very little over the last year. Meeting established a Covid Relief Fund that has provided funds to members and attendees through the Care and Counsel Committee.

There are many views on how the last year has been; they have been across a continuum. One member stated “We have learned again the disappointment of putting our faith in institutions and parties. So many of the cares and troubles that were with us last year remain as troubling this year – the need for police reform, the need for voter rights protections, the existing, disenfranchising structural racism, the increase in violence and threat of violence throughout the world. Even as crisis after crisis break upon us, we remain deprived of the easy, one-on-one interactions that help comfort and console us. In our discouragement, we lean on God for courage, watching for openings where we can practice love instead of fear.” Another member has summarized that the spiritual State of the Society has been maintained, she feels, by Zoom meetings; it has been enhanced by small groups, movies, Friendly meals, and the quality of the worship. It has been challenged by the uncertainty of life at this moment. Several responses have been hopeful that the year will be more like the past, despite masks and social distancing.

Much of the focus of the Meeting over the last year has been directed toward support of members and attendees rather than in person with the wider community. A gift to a medical facility in a part of city with fewer resources is new to the budget; members volunteered in the food pantry there. The Winter Gift was to the Division of Indian Works to support its family programs; Under the Same Sun, an organization supporting the welfare of Africans with albinism; and the Golden Rule Peace Boat Project, a Veterans for Peace project. Voluntary Carbon Tax recipients were a Native American CSA farm and an organization protecting the Mississippi River and its watershed. Minneapolis Friends Meeting participated in Loaves and Fishes, providing to-go dinners to participants.

Minneapolis Friends Meeting has continued to work on community problems despite the pandemic. The death of George Floyd and the acknowledgement of the ongoing problems of racism and violence by police have been a huge impetus to promote change. In the summer of 2020 twenty plus members/attendees together read and considered a book on racialized trauma, My Grandmother’s Hands. Two groups grew out of this. The Police Reform group, led by a former public defender, understands that violence by Minneapolis police has been pervasive and unequally inflicted upon minorities The Police Reform group has met with the Mayor Frey, police officers, the former acting police chief, and several city council members and has advocated for police reform. The Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice group has worked on making implicit biases more conscious through a variety of activities. Many members were in both groups. In the summer of 2021, another group formed to read My Grandmother’s Hands.

Covid has been a blow to the Religious Education program not only here, but in other Meetings as well. Early on a Zoom program was initiated but didn’t work out and children were referred to the religious education programming offered by Northern Yearly Meeting. Over the course of the year there has been much labor around hiring a religious education coordinator to support and reestablish this vital work. The discussion is ongoing. With those under five still not able to be vaccinated, it is a difficult situation. At present there is no Religious Education Committee.

The standing committees of Minneapolis Friends Meeting were active this past year. Ministry and Counsel continues to care for worship, check phone messages, line up closers and speakers, and has a new clerk. The Care and Counsel Committee was formed two years ago to oversee and facilitate pastoral care for the Meeting; this covers requests for meals, rides, care of loved ones and financial assistance. Fifteen Covid Relief Fund grants have been disbursed. Care and Counsel keeps a list of those with ongoing needs to make certain the needs are addressed, not specifically by the committee. Seven individuals have stepped up to volunteer assistance. Care and Counsel has also tried to identify fun activities, as requested. The committee is exploring ways to identify financial needs not directly related to Covid; strengthen programs for children; and address interpersonal conflicts.

The Liaison and Review Committee serves as the liaison between Minneapolis Friends Meeting and Meeting staff. The committee conducted its annual review and requested input on needs. Liaison and Review has worked with the Meeting Coordinator to ensure the meetinghouse remains a safe work environment.

Highlights of the past year included the fall gathering at Fish Lake Regional Park, a renewing time in the midst of the pandemic, gathering outside for fellowship and worship on a beautiful day, and the excellent work of Quaker Voluntary Service in Minneapolis.