November 17, 2024

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

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

10:15 – 11:00 MFM Technology Updates, Pointers and Tips: an interactive forum on meeting the needs of the Meeting; Zoom host – Stephen S.

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Ellen Swanson – speaker; – musician; care of meeting, Marilyn Johnson; Zoom host- Stephen S.

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

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Feeling stressed? Discouraged? Fearful? Come to mid-week worship, via zoom, on Wed nights, 7PM. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org by noon Wed for the link.

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: Gathering Together in Thanksgiving. How can we be grateful at a time like this? Guided informal small group discussion; refreshments will be served. Hosted by the Welcoming and Outreach Committee.

Sign up for the Friendsgiving potluck at the meetinghouse! All are welcome to the warmth and support of this Friendly feast and worship!

Come to thirty minutes of Lectio Divina, Divine Reading, followed by worship sharing on ZOOM, Tuesdays
at noon. Hold a very brief reading from the Bible, Quaker, or other spiritual text to see how it might speak to us today: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84178190647?pwd=bD2CyakraDGxNudS4QgzEeeNQlYFRx.1; ID: 841 7819 0647; passcode: 657826 .

LGBTQ+ Group meets Wed, Nov 20, 7PM. Welcome to the LGBTQAI+ individuals visiting our meeting! This LGBTQ+ group meets monthly at the meetinghouse, and for those who can’t make in person, you can join us via Zoom. The group requests that attendance be limited to those who are part of the LGBTQAI+ community at this time. Contact Bill H. for more.

MFM Movie Night – Landfill Harmonic: The recycled orchestra of Cateura – at the meetinghouse or via Zoom – this Fri, Nov. 22, 7PM. The movie follows a Paraguayan orchestra whose instruments are made entirely out of garbage. The orchestra goes viral and attracts global fame. During a natural disaster in Paraguay the orchestra struggles to stay intact and remain a source of hope for their town. The movie portrays a symphony of the human spirit. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCjbd21fYV8 Popcorn provided (courtesy of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee) at the meetinghouse. Available via zoom – but without free popcorn: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87228134585?pwd=GOEhGjKOG5D944L54jbqhYQidvJVd2.1; ID: 872 2813 4585; Passcode: 205779

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.

Being a Zoom Host or a substitute A/V Tech is a great way to support the Meeting’s worship. Interested in being trained for either of these positions, or just finding out more? Contact Marilyn J.

Minneapolis Meeting and its solar panel project are now on the ReVolv website! https://re-volv.org/project/minneapolis-friends-meeting/

TODAY, Sun, Nov 17 – Friends are invited to the poetry reading and launch of Joanne Esser’s new book of poems from Fernwood Press, All We Can Do Is Name Them, 3PM, here at the meetinghouse. Poets Jane Downes and Mary Logue will be reading in addition to Joanne. All three have recent poetry books. Reading, refreshments, book signing, and camaraderie. Save the date!

Contributions update: Thank you, Friends, for your generous financial support. Contributions to General from April 1 to October 31 totaled $74,480.53. Contributions of $11,571 per month, through March, are needed to meet the curtailed budget ($132,335.) Contributions of $14,368 per month, through March, are needed to fund the aspirational budget ($146,320.) In the first two weeks of November, contributions have totaled $4,300.00. If you would like to set up automatic contributions to the meeting, contact Mike F. or Carolyn V., co-clerks of Stewardship and Finance Committee.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

From Friends Committee on National Legislation, via Jim Haefemeyer: This week Quakers at the Friends Committee on National Legislation meeting in Washington DC visited members of Congress to ask for support for Sen. Sanders’s Joint Resolutions of Disapproval. These resolutions block the sale of certain, particularly destructive, offensive weapons to Israel. The US Senate will vote on them this week. FCNL urges Quakers to call or email their US Senators to encourage their support for these resolutions. (These resolutions do not limit defensive weapons.) Contact your Senator through FCNL at https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/75157/

The Middle East
* 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
* Charlie Underwood (Twin Cities Meeting) has put together a googledoc of activites and opportunities to educate yourself about and to support the ongoing struggle for Palestinian rights and peace. Find it here.

December will be here before you know it! What will you do for the Friends for a NonViolent World Holiday Fair, on the SECOND weekend of Dec, the 13th and 14th, at Friends School of MN, 13645 Englewood Ave, St. Paul? Create crafts or food to contribute? Winnow your home libraries for books to donate to the book sale? Gather small, giftable items that need new homes (Quaker Treasures)? Keep space in your schedule to be a musician, help set up, and/or clean up? Make dates with friends and relatives to meet you at the Fair for shopping and eating? All of the above? This is an important fund-raiser for FNVW. Put your holiday dollars to work for peace and justice! Sign up to volunteer through sign up genius.
Not quite sure what Friends for a NonViolent World does? Listen to this Northern Spirit Radio (NSR) interview with Leah Robshaw Robinson, recently-retired executive director of FNVW. You can listen at this NSR link.

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/

Friends General Conference offers monthly, virtual, worship for Friends of Color – third Sundays, 7PM – next TONIGHT, Nov 17. 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 meets monthly (virtually,) on the third Sunday night, 6-7:30PM(CT) Register at https://fgc.tfaforms.net/5109858

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

Mayim Rabim’s Fall FUNdraiser – Cabaret & Silent Auction, Sat, Nov 16th, 6:15-9:15 at the meetinghouse! Come for an intimate evening of performance, silent auction, and light refreshments. This family-friendly event features Mayim Rabim members singing, dancing, strumming, and hamming it up. You’ll be able to take home art, crafts, and fine goods and services donated by members of our community. Suggested donation $18—more if you can/less if not;

MN Council of Churches Refugee Services will welcome nearly 1,000 newly arrived refugees to the Twin Cities over the next 12 months. Your support is needed now more than ever to ensure that refugees in Minnesota are welcomed, supported, and given everything they need to thrive in the U. S. Particularly needed are donations of: dish soap, shampoo, all-purpose cleaner, deodorant, and toilet paper. Contact Noah at noah.wilkerson(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)mnchurches.org or 651-724-0944, or drop off donations off between 8AM and 6PM weekdays at 122 Franklin Avenue W, Suite 100, Minneapolis MN, 55406.

Despite bipartisan support, House leaders have yet to schedule a vote on The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act, even though it would likely pass with overwhelming approval. The bill passed unanimously through the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in 2023. Congress reconvenes on Nov 12th. If this bill isn’t passed by the end of the year, we’ll have to start all over again. Call and urge your House and Senate leaders to bring the Truth and Healing bill to the floor for a vote: https://boardingschoolhealing.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=a2409f90592cd87d4d9c47cad&id=9829d669dc&e=f15eb9f575.

Memorialize the Movement (MTM) is a living archive dedicated to collecting, preserving, and activating the plywood protest murals that were created during the Minneapolis Uprising of 2020 and beyond. By providing space for youth, artists, and our BIPOC community to heal, reflect, and learn, MTM seeks to address the issues of police brutality, community safety, and representation for Black and Brown creatives and conservators. Open now through Dec. 7th at the Katherine Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota.

Waging NonViolence offers this article: 10-things-to-do-now-that-trump-won

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; Thurs 3:30-5PM at the meetinghouse; Sun: 9AM-2PM at the meetinghouse.