December 3, 2023

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 – 10:00 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, John Stuart; Zoom host – Bill H.

10:15 – 11:00 Holding Each Other in the Light: three Friends will talk briefly about how they hold others in the Light followed by small groups discussing their experiences with this practice. Facilitated by John Stuart and the Care and Counsel Committee. Zoom host – Steve S.

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): John Dunham – speaker; Jacque Wiersma – musician; care of meeting, Barbara Ziegenhagen; mic carrier, Bobby Steele; Zoom host – Steve S.

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

Linger after semi-programmed worship for friendly food and conversation at the potluck downstairs! New attender or seasoned member – all are welcome whether you brought anything or not! (If you brought a dish, please label ingredients so everyone can participate without worry!) Potlucks at MFM are do-it-ourselves affairs. Look for ways to help the effort: replenish silverware / plates / water as needed; wash and dry dishes; put away chairs and wash and fold up tables. Many hands make light work!

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Those with Covid and those recovering from Covid.

Students, family members and staff of Ramallah Friends School. Students and staff at the 150-year-old Quaker school face increasing barriers and possible violence as they travel to attend; and the young Palestinian men who were shot in Vermont graduated from Ramallah Friends School before coming to the U.S. for college. A recent letter that RFS students wrote to Congress can be read here.

Those living in the midst of violence and the threat of violence, those who fear for the safety of loved ones, and all those who lack the ease and comforts common around us.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Next Sunday at 9:45 to 11:15 – monthly meeting for business. Friends have a unique way of doing business, 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, online. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org by noon Wed for the link.

Curious about the membership process? Any attender is invited to talk about membership with a member of the Ministry and Counsel Committee or anyone who’s been around a while! It can be an informal one-on-one conversation or a more formal request for a clearness committee. There’s a “how to become a member” sheet on the long bulletin board (opposite the nametags). Some indications that it might be time to explore membership in the Society of Friends at Minneapolis Meeting:
* You have worshiped among Friends and have sufficient understanding of Quaker values and practice to know if they are compatible with your experience.
* You feel you have been led to the Meeting and you feel encouraged to embrace and grow in Quaker faith and practice here.
* You feel an increasing commitment to the spiritual vitality and depth of the Meeting and to nurturing the members and attenders here.
* You increasingly feel the importance of weekly worship and connection with the life of the Meeting to your spiritual well-being.
* You feel an increasing commitment to participate in the life of the Meeting through committees and to contribute to the financial well-being of the Meeting, as you are able.
* You feel that the outward expression of membership would match your internal experience of commitment and belonging.

The Care and Counsel Committee facilitates pastoral care for Minneapolis Meeting members and attenders, understanding the Quaker tradition that Friends minister to each other. If you are dealing with illness, grief, a major transition, or a stressful personal problem, we would like to be there for you. Contact committee clerk, Sandy O.
If a confidential discussion would support you as you make a decision, we will set up a clearness committee with you. Email John S. to explore that opportunity.
Other committee members are Connie A, Mary G, and Ellen S.

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

Established writers as well as dabblers will have an informal writing session Mon night, Dec 4th, 7-9PM. This is a chance to connect with one another, writing with prompts and sharing what we write. Serious, whimsical, beautiful and quirky – we’ve enjoyed them all! You are welcome to come laugh, ponder, and create together, whether or not you have participated before! https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81928610224; Meeting ID: 819 2861 0224.

Please join the monthly “Conflict Soiree,” meeting on Zoom , Wed, Dec 6th, 1PM. This is an ongoing group and drop-in’s are always welcome! We explore conflict and difference in our individual lives and in Minneapolis Meeting. We propose that becoming more skillful and comfortable with difference might cause us to be more authentic peacemakers everywhere we go. Contact Nettie for a Zoom link. Ask questions of John S, Kate W-J, or Nettie S.

Small group line-up: Writing Group, first Monday night; Conflict Soiree, first Wednesday afternoon; Getting to Know You Group, second Tuesday afternoon; Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice Group, second Tuesday night; Right Relationship with Indigenous People, third Tuesday night; Reading Group, fourth Tuesday night; Spirituality of Dance Group, last Tuesday morning in odd months.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

The local Quaker Voluntary Service Program, on hiatus this year, will restart for 2024-2025 and your help is needed! Do you have ideas for possible new sites where the QVS Fellows can work? Progressive, compatible for-profit and non-profit organizations will be considered. Please contact office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org if you have thoughts or contacts with organizations to share, or if you want to explore getting involved with this exciting program, nurturing leaders of today and tomorrow, grounded in Quaker values.

Voices for Climate Song Circle, co-hosted by Twin Cities Meeting and MN Interfaith Power and Light, Dec 3, 1:30-3:30 at the St. Paul meetinghouse: 1725 Grand Ave. All are welcome.

Pendle Hill’s first Monday lecture, Clearness Committees: An Introduction to Spiritual Discernment in Community for Personal and Social Transformation will be Dec 4, 6:30-8PM(CT). Register here.

The Quaker Call to Action invites concerned friends to a Zoom gathering, Tues, Dec 5th from 7-8:15PM(CT) for a timely update from Steve Wanczyk, Founder and Executive Director of Protect Our Election, on how POE is supporting and protecting local election officials across the country, and practical ways you can help. Register HERE; you will receive a Zoom link the day before the session.

Listen to the most recent edition of Friends for a NonViolent World’s Every Day NonViolence Podcast featuring George Lakey: Everyday NonViolence.

Noah Baker Merrill gave the message, As Oil from Gethsemane, at the recent Section Meeting of Friends World Committee for Consultation. You can read it here. There will be an event to allow space to sit together, worship and reflect on Noah’s message on Dec 16, 6PM (CT). Register here.

From Brynned Crockett, Twin Cities Healing Justice Program Director: American Friends Service Committee is in a formal partnership with Minneapolis Public Schools to implement a Restorative Practices program within North Community High School. In our SAFE program (Students Accelerating Fiercely Everyday), we provide trainings for students and faculty. SAFE also trains a 12-member youth board cohort who meet monthly to learn about organizing and mobilizing against systems of oppression. Together, we create campaign work around public safety and reforming the punitive measures taking place in the education system specifically related to suspension disparity gaps.

Watch a recent QuakerSpeak video about the Quaker participation in the forced assimilation of Indigenous children: quakerspeak.com/video/the-lasting-trauma-of-quaker-indigenous-boarding-schools/ To read about how the U of St. Thomas is grappling with truth-telling around its land history and shared history with the Dakota, click here.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is having a Public Meeting to discuss the improvements and enhancements to the Lyndale Park Rose Garden. Meet with the Landscape Architects and see the Rose Garden Plan that they are proposing Mon, Dec 11th, 5:30PM, at the East Harriet Lyndale Farmstead Recreation Center at 3900 Bryant Ave. South.

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).