April 9, 2023

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 – 9:40 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Carol Bechtel; Zoom host – Mary B

9:45 – 11:15 monthly meeting for business: John Kraft, clerk; Tom Ward, recording clerk; Zoom host – Mary B

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Christopher Maddox – speaker; care of meeting, Barbara Ziegenhagen; Zoom host – Mary B.

Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org for the link to Sunday worship and programming.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: What Does It Mean to Be Quaker? Join the Ministry and Counsel Committee for the third of three sessions exploring Quaker faith and how we can work together build and enrich the health and life of the Meeting. We will summarize the past sessions and pose some queries for reflection on what we have learned.

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.

Being a Zoom host or a substitute A/V tech is a great way to support the meeting’s worship. If you are interested in being trained for either of these roles, or just finding out more, contact Marilyn.

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 Lolly 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.

SAVE SPACE IN YOUR LIFE FOR Northern Yearly Meeting, Memorial Day weekend! This year’s theme is “Getting to Where I’m Supposed to Be: Pruning Before Growth.” How can we cut back and center on what is most important? NYM 2023 will focus on releasing, renewing our spirits, and rebirth where we are most led. Find out more about annual sessions and plans for this year’s joyful gathering here! Registration is now open! For in-person registration, click here. To register for remote attendance, click here. Worship, walking, singing, dancing, business meetings, talent show, boating, games, cooking, eating, interest groups and an NYM Gallery and a rich program for children and youth of all ages – there are lots of opportunities for connection! Registration deadline, May 1.

Quaker Voluntary Service has two program Fridays each month. Could you provide a vegetarian lunch for three on April 28th? Sign up with Miranda, QVS Local Coordinator: miranda(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)quakervoluntaryservice.org. Also check with Miranda if you are interested in joining her and the two Fellows, Robie and Elsa, for the lunch you provide! THANK YOU, Friends, for this gesture of care and support.

Friends who must visit the meetinghouse or who want to meet 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 .

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.

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

The Right Relationship with Indigenous People group will meet this coming Monday night, April 10, at 7PM. Open to all interested, this group meets every second Monday night. Contact Rick or Carolyn for more.

There will be no Lectio Divina and worship sharing this coming Tues, April 11.

The Getting to Know You, storytelling group will meet at Tues, April 11th, at 1PM and every second Tuesday of the month. To find out more and/or get the link, contact Kate W-J.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

VOLUNTEER

Friends School of MN Plant Sale need YOU! Volunteers come from all over the Twin Cities to perform jobs at all skill levels. For example:
~ take a four-hour shift setting up; stocking the shelves; assisting shoppers /tidying / clerking during the sale; or cleaning
up after (sign-up here: https://www.friendsschoolplantsale.com/volunteer)
~ collect newspaper sleeves / bags for bulb packaging (bring to the box at the meetinghouse)
~ collect strawberry / tomato boxes for shoppers to use (contact FSMN to learn when and where to take them)
~ volunteer to help feed those working back-to-back shifts: (sign-up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0f48a8a62ca4f49-food#/)

WORKSHOPS, FILMS, RETREATS, PROGRAMS, PRESENTATIONS

The Alternatives to Violence Project will offer a basic, advanced, and training workshop Weds and Sats, April 12, 15, 19 and 22. These interactive workshops can help you learn new responses to frustrations or conflicts – in your life, in your neighborhood, and in MN prisons. Give yourself additional tools to put your non-violent beliefs into action for the benefit of us all. More and register at https://www.fnvw.org/avp.

Twin Cities Meeting’s Toward Right Relationship with Indigenous Peoples-MN is offering a showing of Smoke Signals – a coming-of-age comedy-drama about two young men growing up on the Coeur D’Alene Indian Reservation in Idaho; Sat, Apr 15th, 7PM at 1725 Grand Ave, St. Paul.

Friends are welcome at the American Friends Service Committee Corporation Program, Connecting for Lasting Change, April 14 – 15. Plenary speaker and some workshops available online. Register by clicking on the items that interest you.

Attend The Quaker Indigenous Boarding Schools: A Call for Accountability and Healing, an online presentation of the research findings around the role Quakers played in the forced assimilation of Native children during the 19th and 20th centuries, offered by Quakers Paula Palmer, Gail Melix (Herring Pond Wampanoag) and Andrew Grant. Discussion will focus on how Friends can acknowledge the harm that was done and appropriately support healing in Indigenous communities. April 16, 3-5PM (CT). Register at: https://friendspeaceteams.org/quaker-boarding-schools-apr-2023/

“What are you doing here?” the interplay of Quaker Values and Spiritual Accompaniment in Quaker and Non-Quaker Settings” will be offered Thurs, April 20 – Sun, April 23, at Quaker Hill Conference Center, Richmond, IN, and online. Consider how we as Friends engage in spiritual care with each other and in our multi-faith settings. How do hierarchies play out in Quaker and multi-faith settings alike? How do we explain what we do to different audiences? How do we maintain our own spiritual integrity as we accompany people with a variety of spiritual beliefs and practices? Through participatory workshops, insight sessions, and small group sharing, attenders will have a chance to engage with issues such as professional and spiritual authority, theological grounding, and the dynamics of seeking, finding and helping or accompanying others. Register and learn more at QPCC.US.

Earlham School of Religion will offer the lecture, “All Real Living is Meeting; Close Encounters of the Quaker Kind,” given by Parker Palmer on Thurs, April 27th; 6PM (CT) – in person and online. Parker Palmer is an author, speaker, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. For more and to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/perkins-family-lecture-series-tickets-535961313717 .

The first annual Quaker Leadership Conference will be April 27-29 at Earlham in Richmond, IN. Gather to share, listen, learn, and discern how God is working through us and among us and how we might contribute to a vital future for the Religious Society of Friends. Quaker leaders under the age of 40 are eligible for a discount code. For more, see https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1st-annual-quaker-leadership-center-conference-tickets-548018276417

The 2023 Friends General Conference Gathering (FGC), Listen So That We May LIVE, will be July 2-8 at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR. Plenaries will be hybrid. FFI, see fgcquaker.org/fgcprograms/the-gathering/
Friends are invited to apply to exhibit art. Participate in the Fellowship of Quakers in the Arts (FQA) 2023 Show, “Out of the Silence,” presenting all forms of art (still art; videos of performances). This will be a Slide Show Exhibition available at FGC at Western Oregon University from July 2nd through 8th, and will also be shown, in perpetuity, on FQA’s website beginning July 1st, 2023. There will be an online Zoom reception for participating artists, FQA members, and guests. Learn more at www.fqaquaker.org. Application information is at this link (application deadline is May 1; earlier is appreciated.)

If you are looking for a great summer adventure vacation at a very affordable cost, look at People Camp, offered by Friends for a NonViolent World (August 6-12). This is a great experience for parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, couples, and singles. Take a look at a slide show here and an information page and video along with link to registration, here, to get a glimpse!

Camp Woodbrooke registration is now open! Camp Woodbrooke is a unique, residential summer camp located on in southwestern WI. Campers ages 7-12 can explore the natural world in a caring, safe community. Campers make cooperative decisions about activities, participate in daily work crews and learn life skills such as independence, accountability, negotiation, and decision-making. An additional program for teenagers 13-15 expands on experiences and skills developed as younger campers. Teens take either a bike or canoe trip and camp along the way. Dates and more information at www.campwoodbrooke.org.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

The Center on Conscience & War (CCW) is hosting a video essay contest for teens to spark a real conversation and inspire a movement to end Selective Service and the draft once and for all! To enter, submit your short video and brief essay telling the world why you oppose the draft and why you think the US should repeal Selective Service, ending decades of draft registration and overturning damaging penalties against those who do not register. (You can check out some resources here, here, and here.) The original media you create will help educate and motivate others to take action to end the draft and CCW will award cash prizes to the best entries! Entry deadline, June 30th. Full details, here.

The city of Minneapolis recently participated in a study looking at how to weatherize and electrify all buildings across the city in order to meet our climate and equity goals. The city is not yet committed to the full amount of funding needed to do this work, nor are they yet committed to a large-scale neighborhood by neighborhood approach to the clean energy transition. Minneapolis will release their draft climate action plan on April 19, starting a thirty-day comment period. MN350.0rg’s goal is to encourage 1000 comments in favor of a plan that will ensure the city reaches our ten-year climate and equity goals. They are hosting an opportunity, on Mon, Apr 24th, to learn about the city’s plan and submit a comment to make sure Minneapolis adopts an equitable plan with collective solutions. Sign up here.

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).