March 31, 2024

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

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

10:15 – 11:00 A Lesson in Deep Listening. Mark Helpsmeet of Northern Spirit Radio will present a lesson in deep listening. This will include an interview with Terry Hokenson. Zoom host – Kate W-J

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): no planned speaker; care of meeting, John Dunham; 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.

Friends are reminded to silence your cell phone before entering the meetingroom.

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

All who are suffering and for whom a sense of hope is a distant memory.

Kate Cowie-Haskell, the new Minneapolis-St. Paul Quaker Voluntary Service Local Coordinator!

Right Sharing of World Resources as they seek a new General Secretary

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: Embodied Antiracism. Members of the Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice group will lead a “body practice” and will tell us about their efforts building embodied antiracist community by working through the book The Quaking of America: An Embodied Guide to Navigating Our Nation’s Upheaval and Racial Reckoning by Resmaa Menakem. There will be time for questions and a bit of play.

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.

Heads up! Quaker Practices, Spoken and Unspoken, the mid-morning program on April 21st, is hoped to be a helpful exploration of the unique workings of the Meeting which may seem mysterious to visitors – and perhaps even to no-longer-new members and attenders. If you find yourself cautious because you don’t know the “rules” at MFM or have questions about practices that seem puzzling, come and talk about it! Offered by Ministry and Counsel Committee.

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.

Sign up to be a welcomer, a friendly face for those who are visiting and are unsure of what to do! Particularly needed are welcomers for early worship. Contact Mary G. for more.

Join an on-call list to support Mayim Rabim. The Welcoming and Outreach Committee is creating an on-call list of people willing to monitor the York Ave door when Mayim Rabim (the congregation who rents the meetinghouse) has special religious ceremonies and/or meals. If you are willing to be on the on-call list, email Jimbo L. or Keitha H.

There will be a memorial meeting for worship for Louise Brown, wife of Peter Brown, on Saturday, April 13, 11:00, here at the meetinghouse.

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

Established writers as well as dabblers will have an informal writing session TOMMOROW, Mon night, 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. Contact Jane D. with questions or interest.

All are welcome at the Conflict Soiree group (online), this Wed, 2PM. Email Nettie S. for the link. Check-in about the recent mid-morning program and consider what the group will pursue next.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

“Pursuing a Just Peace in Israel/Palestine: What Can Quakers Bring to the Table?” with Steve Chase, a Pendle Hill first Monday lecture will be online Apr 1, 6:30PM (CT). More and register at: https://pendlehill.org/events/pursuing-a-just-peace/

Listen to the most recent QuakerSpeak episode: A Jewish Quaker Speaks on Pacifism: https://quakerspeak.com/video

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.

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 at fgcquaker.org/programs. Register by April 10.

American Friends Service Committee
* Over the past five months, more than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, at least a third of them, children. More than 90% of people in Gaza have been displaced from their homes. To learn more about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, see this Al Jazeera interview with AFSC’s Joyce Ajlouny . Please join AFSC every Friday at 11AM for an Action Hour for a Cease-fire Now.
* worship with attention to peace in Palestine and Israel with Friends across the U.S. 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 a permanent cease-fire, an end to U.S. military funding for Israel, a release of hostages held in Gaza and prisoners held in Israeli jails, and greater humanitarian access to Gaza at https://afsc.org/action/call-cease-fire-and-humanitarian-access-gaza-now.
* AFSC Action: Urge your Congressperson to vote to Resume U.S. funding for life-saving Palestinian aid. Palestinians in Gaza are facing starvation, disease, and ongoing military attacks. The entire population is in urgent need of humanitarian aid. The U.S. has suspended funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the main provider of aid in Gaza, and the FY24 budget has made that cut permanent through this year.
* Friends are invited to the 2024 AFSC Annual Corporation Program, Weaving the Threads of Democracy and Peace in an Age of Conflict. Plenary gathering (hybrid) is Thurs, April 11, 5:30 (CT) with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, Tony-nominated theatrical producer, and a leading voice for the human rights of immigrants, Jose Antonio Vargas (register for the plenary at AFSC.click.everyaction.) Workshops (hybrid) include Quaker Action for Ending Israeli Apartheid; Emerging Leaders: How AFSC is engaging with young activists shaping our future; Working for Global Policy Change in Turbulent Times; and Stop Cop City: Organizing for Democracy, Environmental Justice, and Community Policing. There will also be a film screening and panel discussion (hybrid) of The Movement and the Madman on Sat, April 13, 5PM (CT). More and to register for any or all at: https://afsc.org/afsc-corporation-program-2024

The School of the Spirit will offer a retreat, What We Need is Here, at the Siena Retreat Center in Racine, WI, May 3-5. Are you in need of more grounding as you seek to live out the guidance of Spirit in 2024? Join this contemplative retreat after the manner of Friends in a beautiful space on the shores of Lake Michigan. Register by Apr 15. More and register at https://www.schoolofthespirit.org/contemplative-retreats/wisconsin-retreat/

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 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’s experience with the Gathering here.

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.

The Joint Religious Legislative Coalition’s Multi-faith Day of Prayer and Action will be on April 18th, 8-11:15AM a Christ on Capitol Hill Church, 105 University Ave W, Saint Paul. More and register at https://jrlc.org/day-of-prayer-and-action-registration.

Middle East Peace Now’s February presentation with speaker Nathan Stock, Gaza in Context: Past, Present, and Future, is now available on You Tube. Nathan Stock has spent his career on Middle East and Israel / Palestine conflicts – with The Carter Center in Georgia and Jerusalem, as well as with USAID in Afghanistan, and in Syria and Palestine.

OFFICE HOURS 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).