September 29, 2024

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

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

10:15 – 11:00 Spirituality Within the Creative Process and Arts . Jane Downes, Dave Bostrom, Mary Logue, and Bill Hendricks, will speak to their experiences in this context. Zoom host – Kate W.-J.

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Rae Beth Cornelius – speaker; Jacque Wiersma and Tom Wells – musicians; 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 programming.

“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by discomfort.”
~ Arnold Bennett

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Those who are grieving and those suffering from injustice, conflict, racism, colonialism, displacement, loss, and the climate crisis, and all those who are aiding victims and the dispossessed.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Welcome the newest Minneapolis/St. Paul Quaker Voluntary Service Fellows on Sat, Sept. 28th! Ice cream sundaes along with live music and visiting on the front yard of Twin Cities Friends Meeting (1725 Grand Ave, St. Paul) at 3PM. At 5PM, move inside to have some Q & A with the new Fellows and the Local Support Committee. Come be part of the joy and excitement of another QVS year!

SUNDAY – Plan to stay and wash a few windows or chairs before you carry on with your day! For those who can stay longer, get a snack to fortify you, as needed, and be part of helping freshen and make the meetinghouse sparkle! If everyone offers some elbow grease, no one’s elbows will be worn out!

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: World Quaker Day! Hear the epistle written at the close of the Friends World Committee for Consultation World Plenary in South Africa and hear from Friends about how FWCC programming has deepened their understanding of Quaker faith and life.

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.

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.

Autumn is in the air! Mark your calendars for Fall Together October 26th! Make time to gather with Friends at beautiful Fish Lake Park to rest, relax, renew, re-connect and RELISH time together in the great outdoors! If you’re planning to come, please invite another Friend to come along! Personal invitations work best. Paper copies (orange) of the schedule are near the main meetingroom doors.

Loaves and Fishes is MONDAY, Sept 30th! Help 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 (5:15.) Fruit donations needed. Email Sue Kearns (skearns43(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)gmail.com) to sign up for a shift or to arrange to drop off fruit. Volunteers wear hair covering/hats, closed-toe shoes; food is served to-go. Sign up to come if you can!

Charles Osugo was featured as an American Friends Service Committee Emerging Leaders for Liberation in AFSCs Midwest Update. Read about his journey and more about ELL here https://afsc.org/news/fostering-new-generation-social-justice-leaders

Curious about the membership process? Any attender is invited to talk about membership with a member of the Ministry and Counsel Committee or anyone who’s been around a while! It can be an informal one-on-one conversation or a more formal request for a clearness committee. Some indications that it might be time to explore membership in the Society of Friends at Minneapolis Meeting:
– You have worshiped among Friends and have sufficient understanding of Quaker values and practice to know if they are compatible with your experience.
– You feel led to the Meeting and inwardly encouraging to embrace and grow in Quaker faith and practice here.
– You feel an increasing commitment to the spiritual vitality and depth of the Meeting and to nurturing the members and attenders here.
– You increasingly feel the importance of weekly worship and connection with the life of the Meeting to your spiritual well-being.
– You feel an increasing commitment to participate in the life of the Meeting through monthly meeting and committee participation and to contribute to the financial well-being of the Meeting, as you are able.
– You feel that the outward expression of membership would match your internal experience of commitment and belonging.

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.

Contributions update: Contributions from April 1 to August 31 totaled $44,870.50. Thank you, Friends, for your generous financial support. Contributions of $10,933 per month, through March, are needed to meet the curtailed budget which totals $132,335. Contributions of $13,181 per month, through March, are needed to fund the aspirational budget, totaling $150,320. If you would like to set up automatic contributions to the meeting, contact Mike F.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

Paula Palmer’s Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples has created the Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change workshop being offered TODAY, Sun, Sept 29th, 3-5PM(CT). Experience the history of the colonization of Turtle Island, now known as the United States, told through the words of Indigenous leaders, European/American leaders, and Western historians. Engage with this history through experiential exercises and small group discussion. And consider how we can build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on truth, respect, justice, and our shared humanity. Facilitated by Toward Right Relationship’s Native and non-Native teams. Appropriate for high school students and adults. REGISTER at https://friendspeaceteams.org/trr-workshop-sep-2024/

Northern Yearly Meeting (NYM) Fall Interim Session will be Fri, Oct 25 (7-9PM) and Sat, Oct 26 (9AM-3PM) and held at Twin Cities Meeting, 1725 Grand Ave. Consider how you might participate in some of NYM, despite devoting Saturday to Fall Together! Interim sessions will be hybrid. Hospitality is needed for the folks who come here in person. If you can offer an overnight stay on Friday Oct. 25 and breakfast Sat. morning, contact TCFM Office Coordinator Mindy Keskinen, 651-699-6995 / office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)tcfm.org. Everyone, please register for the parts you are able to attend at https://forms.gle/yUaPkZGipsmgsnG56

Save the Date for the Northern Yearly Meeting High School Retreat, Explorations and Curiosities…Dark of the Year Celebrations (Halloween; Dia de los Muertos, etc,) in Madison, Nov 1-3. Come with an open heart and a spirit for spelunking into the dark with your Inner Light to guide you. More soon.

Changes happening at Friends for a NonViolent World: See the most recent FNVW E-Letter for news of staffing changes, including hiring Joan Hyman, (former Community Engagement Specialist,) as Interim Executive Director and hiring a part-time Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) – MN Youth and Adult Program Coordinator (more here).
Friends for Non Violent World (FNVW), a social justice organization started by Twin Cities Quakers, has been a voice for Quaker concerns and values in the Twin Cities community for decades. Currently, the FNVW board needs greater Quaker participation. If you might consider serving on the board, even for a temporary term (board elections are in March), please email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to be put in touch with the current Board chair.

Friends School of MN Fall Fest will be on Sat, Oct 5, 12-3PM in the FSMN parking lot, featuring music by Funk N Spuds, food trucks, a bounce house, face painting, a variety show, carnival games, a raffle with FANTASTIC prizes, and more. Come celebrate community with FSMN! Register using this link. Fall Fest Volunteers Needed for set-up and take-down, to supervise activities, and much more. You can volunteer and still participate in event fun. Interested in helping? Please contact Pie Paulson at development(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)fsmn.org.

Friends General Conference Annual Gathering, A Spring Whose Waters Never Fail, will be February 1-9, online only. As of 2024, on-site Gatherings occur in even years while online Gatherings are held in odd years. Smaller, Young Adult & Youth (YAY) events are also held during odd years to offer continuity of programming for younger friends. Everyone – newborns to nonagenarians; life-long Friends to Quaker newcomers – are welcome to attend the Gathering of Friends. In structure, it’s part conference and part family camp. In content, it provides an abundance of opportunities to learn about Quakerism, foster spiritual life, and have fun. More at https://www.fgcquaker.org/fgcprograms/the-gathering/

The 2020 QuakerSpeak video with George Lakey on a NonViolent Path to Preserving Democracy again seems timely. Watch at: https://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=EBC00&m=3aj9dTtx9PLorYJ&b=t5YCEfuYb.jB6CA272XFUg

OFFICE HOURS

The Children and Families Coordinator will be available: Mon and Wed. 2:30-5PM via phone/computer; Thurs 3:00-5:30PM at the meetinghouse; Sun: 8:30AM-2PM at the meetinghouse.

The Meeting Coordinator will be in the office Wed – Fri afternoons. 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).