March 17, 2024

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

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

10:15 – 11:00 My Spiritual Journey: Mary Gochnauer will share her journey from literally “concrete” foundations to freedom and Friendship; Zoom host – Kate W-J.

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Lolly Lijewski – speaker; Dave Bostrom – musician; care of meeting, Joanne Esser; Zoom host – Kate W-J.

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

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Those in Gaza, those who have loved ones in Gaza, those who are held against their will, and all who suffer from want, fear, and violence.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: Conflict Among Friends: Then and Now. Learn about the historical differences among Friends and how they may affect Minneapolis Meeting today, followed by small group discussions. Offered by the Conflict Soiree Group.

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 Elizabeth S. to join. 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/

March 31 marks the end of the meeting’s fiscal year. If you have an outstanding reimbursement, please fill out a request for payment form, attach related receipts, and get your committee clerk signature so we can disburse funds in this fiscal year. Forms to fill out and the reimbursement file where you can place requests are in the blue box on the table in the long hall. Questions, call or email the office, or speak with the Meeting Coordinator.

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.

Come DANCE next Sat, 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 QuakerVoluntaryService.org.

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

The Right Relationship with Indigenous People group will meet this coming Tues night, March 19th, at 7PM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84679072882?pwd=NkdJYlVQVTFqM1N0M3MwUFo4Mjkvdz09; ID: 846 7907 2882; Passcode: 742669 . Open to all interested, this group meets every third Tues night.

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; the Spirituality in Dance and Movement Group has been laid down.

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 Thurs, March 21, 7-8:30PM. 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. Come for all or part: ID: 920 1679 7400; https://umn.zoom.us/j/92016797400?pwd=SzQ4Sml6TUdQUWRzeUpOcUpSdGs2dz09; passcode: AQyn2s

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.

For all Friends who like to sing! The Nightingales, a Friendly group of singers from across Northern Yearly Meeting, will meet April 26-28 at Wisconsin Badger Camp, near Prairie du Chien, WI. Bunk beds and with some private rooms available; children welcome. Food is potluck. For more info, email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org and you will be put in touch with the coordinator.

American Friends Service Committee program director, Brynne Crockett described North Minneapolis young people’s reactions to the Twin Cities recent Winter Intensive on “Giving Back.” See article and photos.

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

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 Sat, March 16th. You can register to attend here. Go to the section website for the schedule, and advance documents. 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.

Quaker Urgent Call to Action will gather Friends, nation-wide, in a Zoom conversation on Thurs, April 4, 7-8:30(CT). Hear where this group has been, share some comments on the current political climate, and take stock of what short-term actions you will be taking in the run-up to the November elections. There will also be small worship-sharing groups. Register here to get the link; click here to take an online poll asking for your top two pre-election actions so Quaker Call leadership can discern how to best support Friends.

Plan to attend Friends General Conference Gathering, Rooted in Story, this summer over the 4th of July weekend at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. An advance programs can be found here. 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 fgcquaker.org/fgcprograms
Read of one person’ experience with the Gathering here.

Watch the most recent QuakerSpeak video – How God Speaks Through Creativity.

Read about Friends’ efforts to return the Sierra Friends Center to the Rancheria Nisenan Tribe, illegally terminated in 1964. The land Sierra Friends Center has operated from is the site of an ancestral Nisenan village called Yulica. Learn more at https://secure.quakerearthcare.org/civicrm/mailing/

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.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).