July 21, 2024

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

10:00 – 11:00 AM meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Lindy Venustus; Zoom host – Marilyn J.

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

From the clerk: There are individuals attending worship and other activities who are sensitive to electromagnetic radiation emitted from cell phones. Others wish to distance and remain masked to avoid contracting Covid. Out of respect for all our members and attenders, we are invited to turn off our cell phones upon entering the meetinghouse rather than just silencing them and avoid sitting unmasked on the benches under the windows which are reserved for persons who are masked.

Following the closing handshake, we will take time for introductions and there will be a few moments for worship sharing and joys and concerns. Preferred practice is to put announcements in the bulletin. After-worship announcements, when needed, should be arranged with the closer beforehand and be brief so Friends can be released.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

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.

Minneapolis Meeting Friends will help prepare and serve a Loaves and Fishes dinner at Holy Rosary Church on Mon, July 29th. Join other metro-area Friends, the Ismaili Community and the Mayim Rabim congregation to provide a nutritious meal at Holy Rosary Church in S Mpls, 2424 – 18th Ave S. There are three shifts to cover the tasks of the meal: meal prep (2-3:30PM); burrito assembly and handing out the meals (4:15-5:30PM,) and clean up (5:15-6:30PM.) Fruit donations, dropped off at Holy Rosary after 2:00, are needed as well. Email Sue K.to sign up for a shift or to arrange to drop off fruit. Masks, gloves, and hats required. This remains a COVID risk. Sign up to come if you can!

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 Peace and Social Concerns Committee will meet tomorrow night, July 22nd, 7PM via Zoom. If you are interested in Minneapolis Meeting’s peace and justice focus and witness, you are warmly welcome to come! ID: 899 1439 1038; passcode: 455959;
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89914391038?pwd=WE1JOE9VdmpHWWJlSlVEMkFvSUprZz09.

Minneapolis Meeting needs you! The Tech Committee will offer regular AV training and refresher sessions through this summer. Running the AV system is not about technology, it’s more like following a recipe. We’re making the process easy with step by step ‘recipe cards’ to operate the system. This is a call to a ministry of making connections – helping connect people remotely with the meetinghouse and back again. Willing to help? Contact Marilyn J. or Roger M.

Members of the Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice group invite you to send a postcard to Mayor Jacob Frey. The mayor’s office is currently negotiating with utilities to get them on board with Minneapolis ‘Climate and Equity Plan. These negotiations determine whether there is funding for clean energy homes in Minneapolis over the next decade. The goal is to send 1300 postcards to the mayor by July 22. Fill out an online postcard form at https://bit.ly/postcardhealthyfuture The form will help you understand the issues and write a powerful message to the mayor. When you submit the form, UNIDOS will print, stamp and send it for you. EASY! OR, there will be postcards and help at meeting again this coming Sunday. Kate W-J wrote a blog post with more information.
Those in the Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice group are learning to build a living, embodied, antiracist culture. Over the months, we have grown to trust each other and our process. Through a combination of Quaker discernment and listening to our bodies’ wisdom, it is clear that acting together is our next step.

Minneapolis Meeting’s approved land acknowledgement statement reads: We recognize that Minneapolis Monthlyt Meeting is located on the ancestral and contemporary lands of the Dakota Oyate and Anishinaabe Nations. We recognize that we have benefited from the theft of Native land. We honor Native stewardship and their continuing presence, and we strive to replace the legacy of injustice toward Indigenous peoples through truth-telling, opportunities for healing, and collaborative action.
Quaker Indian Boarding Schools: Facing Our History and Ourselves, a presentation by Paula Palmer, can be found at https://friendspeaceteams.org/trr/#trrcalendar (you have to scroll down a little.) Paula Palmer will offer the mid-morning program at MFM on Sun, Sept 22nd.

Needed: Someone to bring donated food from the meetinghouse to the Division of Indian Works, 1001 E Lake St, Minneapolis, once a month. Call Deborah J. for more.

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 co-clerks, John S. or Ellen S.
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, Jill F, and Jimbo L.

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

Interested in gardening? Meeting gardeners will meet this Tues afternoon at 3:30. Come when you can for satisfying fun playing in the dirt, fabulous people and lots of laughs. Questions? Contact Clifford.

Fun with Friends – opportunities for casual gathering with other Minneapolis Meeting Friends, arranged by the Welcoming and Outreach Committee – offers a chance for some easy fun on a summer evening! Attend an outdoor concert of our own Tom Wells and the Selby Avenue Brass Band. Thomasina Petrus will be the featured singer. Bring a lawn chair. Tues, July 23rd, 7PM (weather permitting) 1032 Lincoln, Saint Paul. This is a private home opening their yard for a public concert. This is a free concert, but the band will be accepting donations.

The Watson Reading Group which usually meets on the fourth Tues of each month, will meet on July 30th, 7-8:30PM via Zoom. We will read and discuss the article: https://www.friendsjournal.org/carrying-light-to-need/ . If you have interest in joining, please let John D. know.

Young Adult Quakers will gather at Turtle Bread at the rise of worship on July 28. Join for coffee, lunch, or just conversation Contact Elizabeth with any questions.

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; Reading Group, fourth Tuesday night.

OPPORTUNITIES AMONG FRIENDS

Quaker Call to Action invites Friends from across the country to come together for a time of worship and reflection as we approach the consequential elections in November – Wed, July 31st, 7-8:30PM (CT). REGISTER HERE to join; you will receive a zoom link the day before the gathering.

Quaker Voluntary Service needs: a couple of the non-profit organization placements require the use of a car, which the prospective Fellows don’t have. Do you have a car QVS can use for the months of Sept through mid-June? A large coffee table would also be appreciated and a single bed mattress and box spring. Contact MSP Local Coordinator Kate, kate(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)quakervoluntaryservice.org.

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

Friends General Conference has started a Gen Xer Quaker Discussion Group to explore Quaker spirituality, share personal experiences, and engage in meaningful conversations about faith, community, and social issues in a supportive and open environment! The group hopes to meet monthly (virtually.) If you are interested in hearing about future get-togethers, sign up at https://fgc.tfaforms.net/5109858

Palestine
* urge Congress to resume U.S. funding for life-saving Palestinian aid. The situation for Palestinians in Gaza continues
to deteriorate though there is hope for a ceasefire. All parties involved need to restore food aid before mass starvation occurs. If starvation reaches an advanced stage, the human body loses the ability to utilize food, and death may occur even with medical treatment. Quakers need to continue to demand a ceasefire. Friends Committee on National Legislation action link: https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/51886/?utm_source=fcnlaction
* 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.
* Joyce Ajlouny, American Friends Service Committee General Secretary, explains what students mean when they demand divestment – and why we should listen….Check out these testimonies from Palestinians in Gaza – https://gazaunlocked.org/displaced-gaza….Watch AFSC’s recent webinar on Rebuilding Education in Gaza: What Can We Do?

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

Mayim Rabim has an Israel Palestine Study Group to understand the current violence through the lens of dual narratives, holding the experiences of the Jewish and Arab peoples of the region with empathy and a commitment to examining preconceptions and assumptions. The group has been compiling the resources they have discovered and discussed. Find them at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t8Lw2sfrCmJXHnlgBvIka-UaoakhX8iUPPLEcLnJZOU/edit?pli=1

Free Palestine Coalition will host a protest against Netanyahu’s U.S. visit outside Sen. Klobuchar’s office, 1200 Washington Ave S, Mpls, Wed, July 24th, at 5PM. More at https://womenagainstmilitarymadness.org/events/protest-netanyahus-visit-to-the-us/

Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURG) is holding “Don’t Agonize, Organize: A Mass Meeting” at New City Center, 3104-16th Ave S, Mpls, to build relationships and strategize around the role of white allies Sat, July 27th, 11:30 – 1:30. For more, contact showingupforracialjusticemn(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)gmail.com

OFFICE HOURS

The Meeting Coordinator, will be in the office Wed, Thurs and Fri, afternoons. Phone messages checked daily. Bulletin deadline, noon Thur. Phone items in to the office (612-926-6159), email (office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org), or write and put in the bulletin file of the blue box.