January 1, 2023

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

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

10:15 – 11:00 Opportunities for Spiritual Growth in Small Groups at MFM. Learn more about the rich offerings for spiritual growth and deepening friendships at the Meeting! Participants from Experiment with Light, Spiritual Nurture, Lectio Divina, and mid-week worship groups will share their experiences, with invitations to join-in during the coming year. Zoom host – Stephen

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): there is no planned speaker; Dave Bostrom – musician; care of meeting, Barbara Ziegenhagen; Zoom host – Stephen

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

Friends and visitors are invited to stay for a finger-food potluck TODAY following semi-programmed worship. The kitchen is closed (due to passive ventilation) so set up a card table and gather chairs around it in the meetingroom. Coffee / hot water available; bring finger foods to share, a bag lunch, and any utensils you might need.

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Those who are alone or feel alone. Those who are grieving.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Monthly meeting for business is next Sunday, 9:45-10:15. On the agenda – Winter Gift recipients, a Holiday Fair report, and a discussion about the worship schedule. from Friends General Conference Meetings’ Toolbox: “Friends’ unique way of doing business is rooted in attentiveness and in listening to the promptings of the Spirit. The primary goal is to worship together in discerning the will of God for the Meeting.” Come be part of the discernment.

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.

Every winter, Minneapolis Meeting takes a special collection, outside the regular operating budget, to benefit organizations approved at monthly meeting. The Peace and Social Concerns Committee will bring the recommendation to monthly meeting that the recipient of this year’s Winter Gift be the Minnesota Council of Churches Refugee Services (http://www.mnchurches.org/what-we-do/refugee-services). You may make a contribution now by making checks out to Minneapolis Meeting with “Winter Gift” in the memo line.

Monthly Meeting approved a Trustee’s matching gift for individual contributions made to Thee Quaker Project, an exciting new podcast, by January 30th. Make checks out to MFM Trustees and put Thee Quaker Project in the memo line. Thee Quaker Project has a matching gift opportunity through this spring. So for every $10 you give, $40 will go to Thee Quaker Project, building a 21st century Quaker media project dedicated to authenticity, spiritual courage, and speaking out of silence.

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.

Loaves and Fishes: 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. on Jan 30th. 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. Sign up to come if you can!

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

Established writers as well as dabblers will have an informal writing session Mon night, Jan 2nd, 7-9PM. This is a chance to connect with one another, writing with prompts and sharing what we write. ALL INVITED, whether or not you have participated before! Contact Jane with questions or interest.

Join Lectio Divina at noon this Tuesday, Jan 3. 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: link here. Contact Stephen for the link.

The Welcoming and Outreach Committee will arrange Friendly Meals fellowship if there is sufficient interest. There could be two kinds of Friendly Meals:

1. In person – those who sign up are grouped and meet for a potluck meal in the home of an assigned host in February, March and April. Each meal in the three months would have different people and different hosts. If you sign up for this choice of Friendly Meals, you agree to be a host for one of the 3 meals on a date of your choosing, but preferably in February, March or April. We need to have at least 10 – 12 people participate (couples or significant others would be counted as 1 for the numbers needed, but as 2 people if we can organize the meals).

2. Friendly Meals via Zoom would be arranged in groups of 5 or 6. Participants would each make their own meal and eat and converse on Zoom at a specified time. We need to have at least 10 to 12 participate.

More descriptive information will be sent to you if you are interested in signing up. Please email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org if you are interested in one of the versions listed above, stating which version you are interest in.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

VOLUNTEER

Hussain (Leo) is a recent Scattergood graduate who spent a few months living in Minneapolis preceding the fall of his home city, Kabul, to the Taliban. In the face of the Taliban’s recent announcement banning education for girls, Leo is teaching a series of English classes to Afghan girls on Saturday mornings. Each session will have an everyday life topic and conversation with a couple of English-speaking volunteers. You can help by being a guest to one of the sessions. Contact office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org with interest.

Friends for a NonViolent World is fueled by Volunteers. If you are looking to join a team of engaged and passionate people working to make real change, there is a place for you at FNVW! Especially sought: Everyday Nonviolence Podcast Producer; Everyday Nonviolence Podcast Editor, Event Planner, Volunteer Engagement Team Member, Alternatives to Violence Workshop Facilitator, Advocacy and Outreach Team Member. Complete the online interest form so someone from FNVW can follow-up with you: https://default.salsalabs.org/T5a4f5d6e-588e-4e08-a251-92c0f62c2f79/b2dba806-8d6b-4084-9ed3-ac3e130b83ae

WORKSHOPS, FILMS, RETREATS, PROGRAMS, PRESENTATIONS

Against the Gran: Talking to White People about Racism in a Time of Polarization, a Pendle Hill first Monday lecture will be offered Jan 9, 6:30-8PM(CT). Drick Boyd, author of Disrupting Whiteness: Talking with White People about Racism, will build on his discussion of dialogue about race and pose possible ways we can and must continue to engage white people on the important issues of race and racism, despite the growing polarities. Learn more and register: https://pendlehill.org/events/against-the-grain-talking-to-white-people-about-racism-in-a-time-of-polarization/

The Elizabeth Ann Bogert Memoral Fund for the Study and Practice of Christian Mysticism, administered by the Friends World Committee for Consultation, makes annual grants of up to $1000. See more about the grant program and application process on the long bulletin board or go to https://scholarships.gtu.edu/fwcc-grants-for-the-study-and-practice-o-christian-mysticism/ Application deadline is March 1.

Read the Friends Committee on National Legislation end of the year assessment at: https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2022-12/legislative-wins-2022-set-stage-progress-2023

The 2023 Friends General Conference Gathering, Listen So That We May LIVE, will be July 2-8 at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR. Plenaries will be hybrid – available in person and online.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

Indigenous and Faith Leaders United: Launching a Bold Climate Justice Agenda for 2023 Tues, Jan. 10, 2023 7 – 8:30PM (CT) online via Zoom. Join faith and Indigenous leaders and hear the legislative agenda for 2023 that will center Indigenous leadership, drive equity, demand 100% clean renewable electricity, and leverage federal dollars to create Minnesota jobs rebuilding our energy infrastructure. Speakers include Winona LaDuke, Sen. Patricia Torres, Ray, Jim Bear Jacobs, Sara Wolff, and Joshua Lewis. Co-sponsored by Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light, Honor the Earth, Jewish Community Action, and Minnesota Council of Churches. Learn more and register at https://mnipl.nationbuilder.com/indigenous_faith_leaders_2023_launch_registration .

Living Lightly – Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master. Unplug one afternoon, evening, or one day a week. Unplugging can reduce stress; can afford you time to pursue other things or relationships, improving the quality of your day; can relieve body strain (especially if you sit for large portions of the day); can give you better sleep and greater focus; and can encourage you to be present to and enjoy your life instead of reading about someone else’s. After mastering being unplugged once a week, see how much you can increase it!

One Voice Mixed Chorus presents Generation, a concert exploring intergenerational relationships across our LGBTQ+ community. From AIDS to Instagram, the concert weaves together songs and stories of identity, change, and resilience. The concert also premieres a new composition by McKnight composer, Nathan Hall. “Love, Death, What Else?!” based on stories from elders at the Spirit on Lake LGBTQ elder apartments. January 22, 2023 • 3:30pm | Reserve Tickets Ordway Concert Hall – St. Paul. Use the promo code FAITH for 15% off ticket price

OFFICE HOURS

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).