April 14, 2024

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 – 9:40 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Mary Bosserman; Zoom host – John K.

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

11:15 – 12:00 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Ellen Swanson – speaker; care of meeting, Mary Bosserman; Zoom host – John K.

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

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

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Those participating on committees and those who have accepted positions of leadership at Minneapolis Meeting. The new committee year starts following monthly meeting approval of the committee slate.

The loved ones of the thousands of victims of violence every day and all those suffering a desperate lack of food, water, shelter, and safety.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: Quaker Practices, Spoken and Unspoken. As a worshiping community that spends a lot of time sitting in silence, Minneapolis Meeting’s unique workings may seem mysterious to visitors (and perhaps even to members!) This program is intended to part the curtain, so-to-speak, and present samples of norms of business meeting, meeting for worship and committee work in order to help make MFM more welcoming and navigable.

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.

Young Adult Quakers are gathering TODAY at Turtle Bread following semi-programmed worship, for coffee / lunch and conversation. Meet outside the meetinghouse if you wish to walk together. Young Adult Quakers are generally considered to be under 50.

There will be youth sleepover at the meetinghouse the evening of April 20th. Dinner, games, painting the little free library and more! Contact Cathy, the Children and Families Coordinator, for more details.

Loaves and Fishes, April 29th: Join other metro-area Friends, the Ismaili Community and the Mayim Rabim congregation to provide a meal at Holy Rosary Church in S Mpls, 2424 – 18th Ave S. Prepare dinner (2PM); pack up and hand out the meals (4PM) or serve meals and clean up (5:15PM.) Fruit donations needed. Covid-19 has created more need and fewer volunteers (and fruit donations.) Email Sue K. to sign up for a shift or to arrange to drop off fruit. Hats/scarves required. Sign up to come if you can!

Friends General Conference has reached out to member meetings in Northern Yearly Meeting to ask if NYM can co-host the 2025 winter, virtual Gathering (along with Southeastern Yearly Meeting,) Feb 2-10. Are you drawn to be part of the Planning Committee (5-10 people needed)? Contact Stephen S. and let him know! More information on the planning underway and what is needed can be found at this link.

Northern Yearly Meeting created a worship-based, spirit-led working group in fall of 2019 to look at the work on racism that has been done within the yearly meeting, to consider available resources, and to seek allies and paths to further the ongoing anti-racist work of the NYM faith community. That (NYM) Anti-Racism Working Group is encouraging participation in the Friends General Conference Institutional Assessment, an opportunity to reflect on the anti-racism work which has occurred and the areas for growth; sparking further conversation and action. We hope there will be broad participation in this survey. Read more about NYM’s process and available resources at https://northernyearlymeeting.org/anti-racism/

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

The Right Relationship with Indigenous People group meeting is suspended this month so people can participate in the Repair Communities meeting the same night.

Joining the MFM Google Group is one of the easy ways be engaged with the Meeting. Articles, discussions, meditations, queries, the weekly bulletin and notice of events and news that doesn’t fit in the bulletin are shared. To sign up, send an email request to Roland B. at office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org. You may request to receive an electronic weekly bulletin only by emailing office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org. To help keep abreast of Meeting news, you can find bulletins, events, and monthly meeting minutes on the meeting website – https://minneapolisfriends.org/

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

LOCAL / REGIONAL

Looking ahead: Participate in Northern Yearly Meeting’s Annual Session – a great opportunity to meet with Quakers around the region! Come explore the theme Inward Guidance, Outward Action over Memorial Day weekend, May 24-27. Business meeting, time to enjoy the company of old and new Friends, opportunity to rest your mind and spirit, the opportunity for spiritual growth, campfires, walks in the woods, boating, swimming, singing, and much more. Children and youth participate in a lively and popular program. Take a look at the NYM Annual Session Brochure (on the NYM website.) Join virtually or in-person: Register for the weekend.

The Friends School of Minnesota Plant Sale catalogues are available! Until paper copies arrive at the meetinghouse, take a gander online at https://www.friendsschoolplantsale.com/plants. If you are interested in bringing food to support the sale’s coordinators, email Eleni at bookkeeper(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)fsmn.org .

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 to be put in touch with the coordinator.

Friends for a NonViolent World People Camp registration is now open! Get Early Bird rates to attend camp this summer ($40 off each registration, until May 31) – 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.

Brynne Crockett and Prescott Jones, leaders of American Friends Service Committee’s Twin Cities Healing Justice Program, recently spoke at Twin Cities Meeting. Their programs on systemic racism at North High School are so popular that they started a lunch club and now have their own classroom where kids can drop in during the day. The Social Studies department is working on integrating their program into classes. Since its start in late 2023, the number of students participating has grown from 15-20 per week to 60-80 per week. Students report feeling more safe at school and more ambitious about graduating from high school and going to college. Other high schools are interested in expanding the program. But with only two and a half staff positions, staff need to concentrate on doing well at North.

NATIONAL / GLOBAL

American Friends Service Committee
* Friends are invited to the 2024 AFSC Annual Corporation Program, Weaving the Threads of Democracy and Peace in an Age of Conflict, now underway. 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
* 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 General Conference offers monthly, virtual, worship for Friends of Color – third Sundays, 7PM – next on April 21st. 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 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/

EARLY REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for Friends General Conference Gathering, Rooted in Story, this summer over the 4th of July weekend, at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Registering early gives you the best opportunity to get your choice of workshop and housing! For more and to register, go to https://www.fgcquaker.org/fgcprograms/the-gathering/ . The evening plenaries are rich with people and stories that will draw us in, challenge us, open our hearts, and provide a vision for Quaker action in this troubled world. 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/2024/04/12/how-to-pay-for-fgc-gathering. Read of one person’s experience with the Gathering here.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is building a broad and deep national moral movement – rooted in the leadership of poor people-to unite our country from the bottom up. A local organizing meeting for the Minnesota Poor People’s Campaign will convene on April 14th, 4PM, at St. Anthony Park Lutheran (2323 Como, St. Paul). This will be a great chance to keep the momentum as we organize in Minnesota, moving toward the June 15th Poor People’s March on Washington. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. For more information email minnesota(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)poorpeoplescampaign.org.

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.

Song Circle: come to Boom Island Park, Sat, April 20th, 5PM to sing. Bring songbooks (Rise Up Singing or Rise Again) and instruments. If you wish, bring a snack to share, after we sing. Bring a lawn chair and/or blanket if you have one. Questions? Contact Marilyn J.

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).