October 23, 2022

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 – 10:00 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Gayle Dreon; Zoom host – Rae Beth

10:15 – 11:00 Hybrid Update: Technology Tips and More. Roger Miller, Terry Kayser, and Marilyn Johnson will help us explore the ins and outs of our new hybrid reality; Zoom host – Stephen

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Jim Lovestar, speaker; Jacque Wiersma, musician; care of meeting, Jim Lovestar; Zoom host – Stephen

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

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: Staying Power. Long-time members and attenders of Minneapolis Meeting, Allen Gibas, Connie Archbald, Tom Ward, and Nettie Smith, will speak about their experience with Quakerism and the meeting and why they have stayed. Moderated by Linda 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.

Scattergood Friends School – Plan to linger after worship next Sunday, Oct. 30 (about 12:30), and attend a question-and-answer session with Ethan Huelskamp, Director of Development at Scattergood Friends School in West Branch, IA. Scattergood is a community-living school that offers college-prep courses, farm experiences, and a shared work program for students, grades 6 – 12. Ethan will talk about Scattergood’s mission and philosophy and will focus on the school’s new middle-school program. Learn why students come from around the world to attend this unique Quaker school. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org for the link.

Meeting life is starting to hit its stride. With our new integrated worship, there are even more roles needed to allow MFM life – worship, member care, mid-morning program, first day school, outward witness – to unfold. One important way to get to know others and become known in Meeting, (and to ensure that MFM continues to offer spiritual support, challenge, and nurture,) is to labor with others through committee work. A description of committees and their area of focus is attached. Need help discovering where you might flourish? Contact anyone on the Nominating Committee: Connie A, Bill H, Jim L, or Carolyn V.

Attend the Northern Yearly Meeting Fall Interim Session October 28-29, held in-person here at the meetinghouse and online. Northern Yearly Meeting, a gathering of monthly meetings and worship groups in the upper mid-west for mutual support and nurture, has an annual meeting and two interim sessions. Interim sessions are a wonderful opportunity to hear about what NYM is doing, meet Friends from the wider family of Quakers, and to experience a different flavor of Quaker practice. Please come to all or part. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org by noon on Friday the 28th for the link.
NYM Interim Sessions Host Homes needed. If you are able to host out-of-town interim session attenders on Friday Oct 28th and Sat, Oct 29th, please email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org ASAP to be put in touch with the coordinator, Annika.

Northern Yearly Meeting high school youth will be having a retreat across the river at Twin Cities Meeting next weekend (the same weekend as NYM interim session). For more about the retreat, email hscoordinator(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)northernyearlymeeting.org.

Loaves and Fishes,Mon, October 31: Join other metro-area Friends, the Ismaili Community and the Mayim Rabim congregation to provide a meal at Holy Rosary Church in S Mpls, 2424 – 18th Ave S. Prepare dinner (2-4:30); pack up and hand out the meals (4:45-6:30,) or clean up (5:30-7.) Fruit donations needed. Covid-19 has created more need and fewer volunteers (and fruit donations.) Email Sue K to sign up for a shift to make sure there is sufficient space or to arrange to drop off fruit. Masks, gloves, and hats required; Halloween costumes optional! This remains a COVID risk. Enough food to make 400 meals has been ordered – sign up to come if you can!

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee receives nominations, then reviews and recommends recipients for the meeting’s Winter Gift in December. If you would like to nominate an organization to be a recipient, please send an email to Deborah J or email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org.

Need to schedule a Zoom meeting for a committee meeting or Minneapolis Meeting activity? Please send a request, including date, time, and purpose to office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to have it set up.

UPCOMING SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

FUN WITH FRIENDS: Attend a very special excursion on Thurs, Nov 3 at 7:30PM when a group will attend the one-man show of our own John Cutler in Six Points Theater’s Uncle Philip’s Coat. The Star Tribune named Uncle Philip’s Coat one of the 10 best and brightest theater shows to catch this fall. More and tickets at Sixpointstheater.org

Established writers as well as dabblers will have an informal writing session Mon, Nov 7th, 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 D. with questions or interest.

The Right Relationship with Indigenous People group will meet Mon night, Nov 14th, at 7PM. We will be working on a minute repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery to recommend to monthly meeting and planning a visit to Hocokatati, a Dakota Cultural Center. Open to all interested, this group meets every second Monday night. Contact Rick or Carolyn for more.

The Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice group will meet Tues, Nov 15th, 7-8:30PM. (Note that we usually meet on the second Tuesday but Nov 8 is Election Day.) All are invited, whether you have come before or not! We will be reading and processing Resmaa Menakkem’s book The Quaking of America: An Embodied Guide to Navigating Our Nation’s Upheaval and Racial Reckoning, a profound and inspiring guide for developing / nurturing an anti-racist culture (a world of feeling and seeing no strangers) and community that practices settling our bodies so we can be fully present to what is happening in our country. And to respond effectively. Come in Nov and Dec to explore if this endeavor is right for you at this time. In January, attenders will commit to the group for six months. Questions and to get the link for Nov 15, contact Nettie or Jimbo.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

VOLUNTEER

Planning has begun for the 2022 Friends for a NonViolent World Holiday Fair! FNVW would love your assistance in gathering the following items to sell at the fair this winter: handmade crafts, donated services, used books, Quaker treasures, desserts, donated items from local businesses. Sign up here to help: Donations Form

From Friends Committee on National Legislation: Tell your Senators to repeal the 2002 Iraq War Authorization! Contact Senators at https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/37344/?utm_source=fcnlaction ; for more: www.fcnl.org/updates/2022-10/20-years-ago-iraq-war-authorization-became-law-congress-can-make-year-its-last

WORKSHOPS, FILMS, RETREATS, PROGRAMS, PRESENTATIONS

Quaker parent mutual support groups provide a forum in which Quaker parents can talk about their parenting and their faith. Parents celebrate one another’s successes and provide fellowship for one another through difficulties. Each group has two co-facilitators who will structure the conversations. Groups are free and open to any Friend currently raising children under the age of nineteen. Groups meet for one hour, via zoom, every-other week, Nov, 2022 through Apr, 2023. Find more here; register by Nov 1 here.

Friends for a NonViolent World will offer an Alternatives to Violence Project Basic, Advanced and Training for Facilitators Combo Virtual Workshop. In the context of a supportive community, you’ll discover your power to build safer communities and transform conflict and frustration in your life. Thurs, Nov. 3rd evening; Sat, Nov. 5th; Thurs, Nov. 10th evening; and Sat, Nov. 12th. Sign up now to reserve your spot: AVP-MN Combo Community Virtual Workshop – November 2022 Registration Form.

Registration is now open for the Friends Committee on National Legislation Annual Meeting and Quaker Public Policy Institute, “Brave and Constant,” Nov 16-20. Help make decisions that will guide FCNL’s work during the coming Congress and to connect with people who share like values. Underlying this whole experience is the worship that anchors and strengthens our connections. In-person (in DC) and via Zoom. Schedule and more here. Reg deadline, Nov 9th.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

The Minnesota Council of Churches has commenced a program on Minnesota’s Racial Legacy, Finally Telling the Truth. In order to work for racial justice there are truths that must be faced, even about the faith practiced in most Minnesota churches. White Church Truths will be offered at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Nov 5 9AM-3PM, and will focus on identifying and facing the truths hidden in our own beliefs. With open eyes, we will more clearly look to the future – and our role in creating it. The first MN’s Racial Legacy program is available online: http://www.mnchurches.org/what-we-do/minnesotas-racial-legacy.

Overcoming Racism: The Power of Truth-Telling will be held Nov 11-12 at Metro State University, St. Paul. The conference features keynote speaker Kao Kalia Yang, author of The Latehomecomer, and entertainment keynote JUSTMove. Learn more and register here.

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).

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MINNEAPOLIS MEETING COMMITTEES

Fall Camp Committee
Plans and develops structure to run the annual MFM Fall Camp, usually held in October. Currently work is concentrated in the summer and early fall.

Liaison and Review Committee
Serves as liaison between Minneapolis Meeting and staff, conducts annual performance review of staff, reports annually to monthly meeting, and makes salary recommendations to the Stewardship and Finance Committee.

Mid-Morning Program Committee
Plans and coordinates programs for 10:15 to 11:00 a.m. Sundays, taking into consideration the needs of the meeting for Quaker-related education and community well-being and growth. Meets approximately quarterly.

Ministry and Counsel Committee
Oversees and cares for the worship, spiritual, and community life and care of the membership of the meeting. Supports and guides ministry and pastoral care. Attends to requests for membership. Membership is requisite.

Death and Memorial Service Committee (a subcommittee of Ministry and Counsel Committee)
Assists at the time of a death in the meeting by offering care and help, and by co-planning, with those closest, the service and reception. Encourages meeting members to think and plan ahead, making decisions in advance as they are ready. Offers educational programs related to death, bereavement and ministry.

Care and Counsel Committee
Provides oversight of the pastoral care offered to individuals and families in the meeting community. Facilitates pastoral care for those facing challenging life situations, within the limits of its resources, recognizing some situations may require intervention by professionals and extended family members. Membership is requisite.

Nominating Committee
Prepares a slate of nominations for leadership roles and committee membership, to be presented to monthly meeting in February and March. Exercises discernment in considering the meeting’s needs and leadings and the gifts, knowledge, experience and leadings of individuals. Can recommend adjustments to committee structures. Heaviest work is December through March. (This committee is named by the Presiding Clerk in consultation with others)

Nursery Committee
Determines the need for and/or oversees the operation of the nursery. Supervises nursery staff, which includes conducting an annual performance review and making salary recommendations to the Stewardship Committee. Recruits and oversees volunteer staff according to child protection guidelines, when the nursery population calls for such staffing. Attends to the physical environment of the nursery and other nursery matters.

Peace and Social Concerns Committee
Reviews opportunities for Quaker service and peace witness and recommends priority focus for the coming year to monthly meeting. Sees that two programs or actions related to each of the priorities happen each year. Reviews and makes recommendations for contributions section of meeting budget and for winter envelope gift and voluntary carbon tax recipients.

Property Committee
Oversees and cares for the physical meetinghouse and grounds. Oversees paid and volunteer work, including annual review of and salary recommendation for custodian. Makes recommendations to Stewardship Committee and recommendations to trustees for contracted work.

Religious Education for Children Committee
Oversees MFM First Day religious education program for children and youth. Responsible for overall planning, including teacher selection, training and recognition; consideration of structure and program; and occasional social activities.

Shepherd Scholarship Committee (Committee members not approved by monthly meeting)
Administers scholarship fund with grants to members and children of members, of five years standing, for post-secondary education. The scholarship fund, a gift of Roland and Zephyra Shepherd, is a trust (separate legal entity) established by the meeting. The Nominating Committee does not nominate people for membership on this committee.

Social Committee
Plans and runs social events for the meeting, including monthly first Sunday potluck lunches. Assists with new-member welcomes, memorial services, and going-away parties as able.

Stewardship and Finance Committee
Oversees financial health and record-keeping of the meeting. Gathers facts and information, and requests to prepare annual budget. Prepares annual budget for presentation at the February and March business meetings. Monitors contributions and spending, manages receiving and disbursing funds, and makes financial recommendations as needed to business meeting. Offers education on stewardship.

Technology Committee
Oversees implementation and operation of the technology needed to offer hybrid meetings for worship, including: coordinating Zoom hosts for Sunday morning programming; developing and implementing support for those participating in Sunday morning programming via Zoom; oversight of the on-site AV technician; developing and implementing support for on-site AV technicians; developing and implementing an ongoing plan for maintenance, support and related funding for the hybrid meeting technology in cooperation with the Trustees and the Stewardship and Finance Committee.

Welcoming and Outreach Committee
Attends to developing and maintaining a welcoming atmosphere at Sunday meetings. Responds to visitors and new attenders with acknowledgment and invitations to activities, some planned especially for them. Considers outreach efforts and may lead some.
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Other Positions

Auditor
Performs occasional audits of MFM’s financial books, and makes recommendations for improving financial processes and record keeping.

Child Welfare Coordinators
Suggest child protection policy to MFM and, together with Religious Education Committee, administer policy. Conduct interviews throughout the year of people who wish to work with children, monitor policy through occasional observations, educate MFM regarding issues concerning child abuse and protection. Meet on an “as needed” basis.

Librarians
Maintain MFM library collection, select and catalog new materials, reshelve returned materials, promote the library with displays and other methods.

Tech Support Crew
Help keep worship and other gatherings accessible – Zoom hosts and meetingroom tech facilitators.

Loaves and Fishes Coordinators
MFM and other local meetings buy, prepare, serve and clean-up a free dinner on fifth Mondays. Coordinators serve as liaison with the L&F program and other meetings, educate the Meeting and recruit meeting volunteers, manage the program and report for the program to monthly meeting.

Meeting Gardeners
Care for the garden plantings on the Meetinghouse grounds.

Northern Yearly Meeting Representative
Liaison with Northern Yearly Meeting executive committee; responsible for communication between NYM and MFM.

Web Servant
Manages routine updates and maintenance of MFM’s web site.

Presiding Clerk
Facilitates monthly (and any special called) Meetings for Business, sets agenda; presides, including articulating discernment of the sense of the meeting. Receives and responds to correspondence directed to Minneapolis Monthly Meeting. Has an eye to the big picture and general welfare of the meeting. Serves ex-officio on Ministry and Counsel, Liaison and Review and Shepherd Scholarship Committees. Membership is requisite.

Assistant Presiding Clerk
When one is appointed, presides at meetings for business when the Clerk is unavailable, and could serve generally a period of time if the Clerk was unable. Membership in MFM is requisite.

Recording Clerk
Takes minutes at meetings for business.

Assistant Recording Clerk
When one is appointed, takes minutes at meetings for business when the Recording Clerk is unavailable.

Trustees
Recognized by law as having legal authority to act on behalf of the Meeting. Assess long-term financial needs of the meeting, mostly to do with the building. Manages the Trustee Fund which includes set-aside funds for long-term needs and member travel. Manages bequests; reviews issues with legal consequences for the meeting; and serves as official liaison with Mayim Rabim Congregation. Membership is requisite.