October 27, 2024

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

9:00 – 10:00 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Sandy Olson

10:15 – 11:00 Conflict Soiree – Talking Across Differences; Zoom host – Kate W-J

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Katie Breslin – speaker; Lavender Jeffries – musician; care of meeting, Terry Burke; Zoom host – Kate W-J

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

Today at mid-morning program: How do you have a conversation with folks who see things very differently than you do? Are you dreading Thanksgiving because you don’t want to talk to Uncle Jack? Just in time for the election and the holidays, we’ll gather to consider how to connect across the political divide. What opens communication? What blocks it? Friends from the Conflict Soirée group will offer some ideas. We’ll talk with each other and gather wisdom from the room. Please come!

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

The people of Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel, and the leaders who are unwilling to stop the expanding war.

Those suffering from injustice, conflict, racism, colonialism, displacement, loss, and the climate crisis, including those affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Those aiding victims and the dispossessed.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: The Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice Group’s Direct Action in the Community. Come hear about the direct action the group has undertaken.

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.

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee reviews and makes recipient recommendations to monthly meeting for the meeting’s Winter Gift in December. If you have a suggestion of an organization that might be considered, please send an email to Deborah J. Deadline, TOMORROW, Oct 28. The meeting approved a P&SC focus on the Quaker testimony of Peace for this year.

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee will meet tomorrow night, Oct 28th, 7PM via Zoom. If you are interested in Minneapolis Meeting’s peace and justice focus and witness, you are warmly welcome to come: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89914391038?pwd=WE1JOE9VdmpHWWJlSlVEMkFvSUprZz09; ID: 899 1439 1038; Passcode: 455959.

A forming LGBTA+ group will meet on Wed, Oct. 30th at 7PM – at the meetinghouse (lower level) and online. We increasingly have visitors to meeting who are trans and gender-fluid, gay, and lesbian. A few LGBTA+ Friends met and decided we would like to get together and explore how Minneapolis Meeting might be more welcoming to those who are LGBTQAI+. We request that only Friends who are LGTBQAI+ attend. Contact Bill H. for more and for the link.

Diane Barrett will offer an Experiment with Light Meditation focusing on the Nation on Fri, Nov 1 at 7PM, via Zoom. Experiment with Light is a Quaker spiritual practice, based on seventeenth century Quakers’ experience, redeveloped as a systematic discipline in 1996. Open to everybody. ID D: 875 2440 0215; passcode: 589275; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87524400215?pwd=WGD2QD1NVPGRvfkwGZI3QxanY2hYrz.1

Game Night: Nov. 9th, 4-7:30 PM. Join Minneapolis Friends Meeting children and families for a rollicking night of fun, games, and new friendships. Bring a favorite game enjoyed by you/your family, and a potluck dish to share with others. Also, bring a favorite song you’d like to share with others – you can sing or play it on your phone. Meet at the meetinghouse. Questions to Cathy N.

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 Mary G, and Jimbo L.

Contributions update: Thank you, Friends, for your generous financial support. Income from the first two quarters of the year, April 1 to September 30 totaled $58,876.03. Contributions of $12,243 per month, through March, are needed to meet the curtailed budget which totals $132,335. Contributions of $15,241 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.

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

Lectio Divina has recommenced. Come to thirty minutes of Divine Reading, followed by worship sharing on ZOOM. Each Tuesday at noon we will hold a very brief reading from the Bible, Quaker, or other spiritual text to see how it might speak to us today. Email Stephen S. for the link.

Small group line-up: Lectio Divina – every Tuesday noon; Writing Group – first Monday night; Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice Group – second Tuesday night; Conflict Soiree – fourth Tuesday afternoon; Reading Group – fourth Tuesday night.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

Free film screening, Duluth for Mandela: A Northland Celebration, MN History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd. St. Paul, next Sun, Oct 27, 2-4PM. Film producer/director Gerri Williams, from Duluth Friends Meeting, and Carl Crawford, Equity and Inclusion Specialist for St. Louis County, will speak following. The film highlights how the Duluth community honored the centenary of Nelson Mandela.

There will be a meeting for drumming and grieving with attention to climate change on Thurs, Oct 31, at Twin Cities Meeting, 1725 Grand Ave, St. Paul. Doors open at 6:45. Friends are encouraged to bring percussive instruments and are invited to dress in street clothes, as fear, hope, change . . . Come grieve what has been and will be lost due to climate change to make way for new opportunities and a new vision of life ahead. For more, read this google doc.

It’s not too early to be thinking about the Friends for a NonViolent World Holiday Fair, this year on the SECOND weekend of Dec, the 13th and 14th, at Friends School of MN in St. Paul! Plan what crafts or food you can contribute; start collecting books to donate to the book sale; hold space in your schedule to be a musician, help set up, and/or clean up; and for sure invite friends and relatives to meet you there for shopping and eating! This is an important fund-raiser for FNVW and a lovely opportunity for community. Put your holiday dollars to work for peace and justice!

Save the Date for the Northern Yearly Meeting High School and Middle School Retreat, Explorations and Curiosities…Dark of the Year Celebrations (Halloween; Dia de los Muertos, etc,) in Madison, Fri dinner, Nov 1 – Sun lunch, Nov 3. Some potential activities include: fun at the Madison Circus Space with circus staff time to teach circus skills; carving pumpkins; costume reveal; silent night hike / stargazing; Ofrenda Altar (our own version of honoring our loved ones we have lost) For more, email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to be put in touch with the coordinators.

Nightingales, an informal group of Northern Yearly Meeting Quakers who love to sing, will gather at the Wisconsin Badger Camp in Prairie du Chien Nov 1-3. For more and the link to register, email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org with Nightingales in the subject line.

Friends Committee on National Legislation’s Quaker Public Policy Institute (QPPI), Nov 13-14, in-person and online, will focus on stopping new offensive weapons going to Israel. Lobby members of Congress for peace and make sure no new weapons are sold to Israel. At Annual Meeting, November 15-17, prepare for the new Congress and make important governance decisions. See a preliminary schedule for more on the Annual Meeting. See answers to FAQ here.

Toward Healing: How Churches Face Accountability for their Indian Boarding Schools. Many Christian denominations operated Indian boarding schools during the 19th and early 20th centuries, in collaboration with the federal government’s policy of forced assimilation. Now they are re-examining the roles they played, the harms that were done to Native families and nations, and the ongoing impacts in Native communities today. Representatives of Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Quaker faith communities will share how they are conducting research and approaching questions of accountability, apology, reparations, and healing. Sun, Nov 10th, 7-8:30pm(CT). Offered by Friends Peace Teams’ Toward Right Relationship. Register at https://friendspeaceteams.org/accountability-boarding-schools-2024/

Resources from Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) for actions to support voting: https://fcnl.actionkit.com/

Quaker Call To Action offers Priority Actions to Support Democracy. CLICK HERE to download.
Friends are invited for a time of worship, reflection, inspiration and preparation two days before this consequential election; Sunday evening, November 3 from 6-7PM (CT). You can register HERE.

The Middle East
* from American Friends Service Committee – urge Congress to act now and prevent the escalation of a deadly regional war. As violence and death invades Lebanon, Quakers need to continue to press for a ceasefire. Friends Committee on National Legislation action link: fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/51886
* action to block arms shipment: Senators Bernie Sanders (VT), Peter Welch (VT), and Jeff Merkley (OR) introduced resolutions to block arms shipments slated to go to Israel. Contact your Senators today and urge their support for these resolutions for de-escalation at https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/75157/
* 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

Local demonstrations:
Vigil to end war every Wednesday, 5 – 6PM, on the Lake-Marshall bridge over the Mississippi River. Info at https://womenagainstmilitarymadness.org/calendar/month/?hide_subsequent_recurrences=1
Vigil for Palestine every Friday from 4 – 5PM, on the corner of Summit and Snelling, St. Paul. More info at https://womenagainstmilitarymadness.org/calendar/

OFFICE HOURS

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).

The Children and Families Coordinator will be available: Mon and Wed. 2:30-5PM via phone/computer (canagler(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)gmail.com / ; Thurs 3:30-5PM at the meetinghouse; Sun: 9AM-2PM at the meetinghouse.