March 10, 2024

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 – 9:40 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Mary Bosserman; Zoom host – Rae Beth

9:45 – 11:15 monthly meeting for business*: Stephen Snyder, clerk; Tom Ward, recording clerk; Zoom host – Sandy

11:15 – 12:00 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Mary Leikvold – speaker; care of meeting, Joanne Esser; Zoom host – Sandy

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

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

* Monthly meeting for business today – The primary focus of monthly meeting is to worship together in discerning the will of God for the meeting. On the agenda:
~ the proposed 2024-25 budget from the Stewardship and Finance Committee;
~ the proposed committee slate from Nominating Committee;
~ a request to use the meetinghouse for a fundraiser for the East Philips Neighborhood Institute Urban Farm initiative (a Winter Gift recipient this year.)
~ worship sharing around the State of Society Report – some queries to be considered: What hopes or fears do you have for the future of your meeting? How do you bear witness to Friends Testimonies in the wider world?

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: Mary Gochnauer will share her from literally “concrete” foundations to freedom and Friendship.

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.

The MFM Young Adult Quakers have a Google Group. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to be put in touch with the Elizabeth, the convener, and get connected. Young Adult Quakers are going bowling at Bryant Lake Bowl on March 16th at 1:30. Come for a round of bowling or to cheer bowlers on! Bowling is $5 per person plus $2 for shoes. Please RSVP to Elizabeth. Save the date: the next YAQ gathering will be April 14th following the second worship. Young Adults Quakers are generally considered to be under 50.
Related: A recent Thee Quaker podcast, What Does Quakerism Look Like for the Next Generation? is available here: quakerpodcast.com/finding-a-spiritual-home-what-does-quakerism-look-like-for-the-next-generation/

Come DANCE March 23rd! Come as early as 6:45 – dancing starts at 7, runs til 9 PM; Twin Cities Meeting, 1725 Grand Ave. in St. Paul. Live music, contra dance callers, refreshments. Meet the Quaker Voluntary Service local volunteers and maybe the new coordinator for the upcoming program year. Families and children are welcome! We will ask for a donation to cover costs of refreshments. Find out more about QVS at Quaker Voluntary Service.

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 L. 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.

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

The Getting to Know You Storytelling Group will meet this Tues (and every second Tuesday!) at 1PM. This month’s prompt – “What are you most concerned about?” Email Kate W-J for the link. Come get better acquainted!

The Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice group meets every second Tues night, 7-8:30 and is exploring and practicing the inner and outer work of direct action using Resmaa Menakem’s book The Quaking of America: An Embodied Guide to Navigating our Nation’s Upheaval and Racial Reckoning. There is a core group; visitors / newcomers are warmly welcome. Contact Nettie for the link.

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

LOCAL / REGIONAL

Northern Yearly Meeting’s Ministry & Nurture Committee is hosting an open house conversation on spiritual deepening. Join with others in NYM for a conversation about how NYM meetings and worship groups are fostering spiritual deepening in their communities. Share individual practices and resources of all kinds. Let’s learn from each other! This evening is part of a larger M&N project to collect and share information on models and resources that communities and individuals can tap into for spiritual deepening. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to get the connection to sign up for March 21.

Volunteer registration for the 2024 Friends School of MN Plant Sale (May 10-12) has begun. You can get a sense of the different tasks to be done here. If you’d like to be part of the energy and life that is the plant sale, plan to volunteer!

Friends for a NonViolent World People Camp registration is now open! Get Early Bird rates (until May 31) to attend camp this summer – a rich experience of shared community life and work, recreation and connection, social justice learning, and action opportunities for children and adults. Find out more and register here.

Camp Woodbrooke – Registration for 2024 has started! Camp Woodbrooke is a small summer camp for ages 7-15 on 162 acres in southwestern Wisconsin, rooted in Quaker traditions of simplicity, harmony, peace, responsibility, and equality. Secure your favorite session(s) before it’s too late at campwoodbrooke.org/dates-fees. Apply to be part of the summer staff at this link. More at campwoodbrooke.org.

Friends for a NonViolent World, as part of the Second Chance Coalition, a coalition of communities that supports second chances for people impacted by the criminal legal system, will spend a Day on the Hill, March 20th . Go to https://mnsecondchance.org/ for more.

NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL

American Friends Service Committee hosts a worship with attention to peace in Palestine and Israel every Thurs, online, at 4:30PM. Sign up to get the link at https://afsc.org/events/meeting-worship-attention-peace-palestine-israel. AFSC has an easy way for you to urge Congress to call for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access in Gaza. https://afsc.org/action/call-cease-fire-and-humanitarian-access-gaza-now.

Friends General Conference offers monthly, virtual, worship for Friends of Color – third Sundays, 7PM – next on March 17th. These worships offer a place for Friends of Color to come together in community and worship in an environment with Friends who experience marginalization in their lives and Quaker meetings because they are a Person of Color. For more and to request the link, go to https://www.fgcquaker.org/event/virtual-worship-for-friends-of-color-monthly-worship.

The Friends World Committee for Consultation, Americas Section Meeting, Living Ubuntu: Responding with hope to God’s call to cherish creation and one another, will be online March 16th. You can register to attend here. Go to the section website for the schedule, and advance documents and spiritual preparation materials (posted in coming weeks). After you register, you will receive updates when materials are available. Register today!

Friends General Conference Spiritual Deepening Program is offering Encountering Spirit, an online retreat, April 12-14. For seasoned Friends as well as newcomers, explore the fundamental aspect of Quaker spirituality – the direct encounter with God. What can early Friends teach about finding Truth and feeling the principle of God? How do we open ourselves to the gift of direct relationship? Find out more here. Register by April 10.

Plan to attend Friends General Conference Gathering, Rooted in Story, this summer over the 4th of July weekend at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Advance programs usually come out in March. Look for more information in the bulletin or online at https://www.fgcquaker.org/fgcprograms/the-gathering/. Work grants are available to make the program go and to help with costs. First-time attenders are encouraged to request scholarship assistance instead of workgrants. More at https://www.fgcquaker.org/fgcprograms.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

Ramadan falls between March 10 and April 9 this year. MN Council of Churches, in partnership with the Muslim American Society, is once again coordinating Taking Heart Ramadan Iftars. Sign up to observe the prayer, share a meal, and get to better know our Muslim neighbors. Check the dates and locations available at mnchurches.

Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light will be participating in this year’s Rally & Lobby Day in partnership with Rise & Repair. This is the biggest day of the year when it comes to demonstrating support for Indigenous Rights and climate justice in the upcoming Legislative Session! The event will include training, visits with legislators, a march, and a rally in the rotunda. Tues, March 12, 10AM-4PM, MN State Capitol. Register and more riseandrepair-mnipl.nationbuilder.com/rally.

From MN Council of Churches, Tell Congress: Extend Ukrainian Humanitarian Parole. People fleeing violence and persecution for the United States receive certain services to help them learn how to survive and thrive in the U.S. Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion received these benefits under a Ukrainian Humanitarian Parole law which expired in September 2023. Ukrainians are still coming in large numbers to the United States. Learn about the problem and contact your congresspeople to re-implement the Ukrainian Humanitarian Parolee law.

Apache Stronghold Oak Flats: A divided federal court (6-5) this week refused to protect an ancient Native American sacred site from destruction by a multinational mining giant. In Apache Stronghold v. United States, Judges in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government can transfer the sacred site Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a foreign-owned mining company that plans to turn the site into a massive mining crater, ending Apache religious practices forever. (Watch this short video to learn more). Since time immemorial, Western Apaches and other native peoples have gathered at Oak Flat for sacred religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else. Known in Apache as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, Oak Flat is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been protected from mining and other harmful practices for decades. These protections were eliminated in 2014, when a last-minute provision was inserted into a must-pass defense bill authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to Resolution Copper which plans to turn the sacred site into a two-mile-wide and 1,100-foot-deep crater. The majority owner of Resolution Copper, Rio Tinto, recently sparked international outrage when it  deliberately destroyed  46,000-year-old indigenous rock shelters at one of Australia’s most significant cultural sites. Apache Stronghold has 90 days to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. You can sign a petition to protect Oaks Flats at https://actionnetwork.org

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).