December 8, 2024

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

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

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

11:15 – 12:00 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Jimbo Lovestar – speaker; care of meeting, Joanne Esser; Zoom host – Sandy O.

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

In preparation for monthly meeting for business today: see the long-range fundraising committee proposal as well as a vision statement for peace in Israel and Palestine that the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has asked our meeting to sign (approve). Many other Quaker organizations and meetings have signed the statement. Find it at https://afsc.org/newsroom/different-future-possible-quaker-organizations-share-vision-peace-palestine-and-israel

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Feeling stressed? Discouraged? Fearful? Come to mid-week worship, Wed nights, 7PM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84938257185; ID: 849 3825 7185; by phone: +1-651-372-8299.

Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: Beyond Land Acknowledgement: A Case Study. Jan Wiersma and her partner Bob spent a month at Oak Flat, AZ, accompanying the Apache Stronghold in their opposition to the destruction of their sacred land by international mining interests. The Apache Stronghold leaders have appealed to the Supreme Court to stop the mine on the basis of religious freedom. Come explore the far-reaching and ongoing effects of the Doctrine of Discovery, cite local examples, and provide opportunities for support. Learn how you can take an active role in restoring land, language, and culture of Indigenous people while working for structural change.

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.

Need to schedule a Zoom meeting for a committee meeting or Minneapolis Meeting activity? Please send a request, including date, time, and purpose to office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to have it set up.

Come celebrate those in Meeting turning 80: Sandy O, Lin B, Peter B, Barbara M, Roland and Jackie B, on Tues, Dec 17th, 5-7:30PM in Roland and Jackie’s community room. Contributions of finger-food refreshments welcome! Call Sandy or Lin to RSVP.

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. Contributions from April 1 to October 31 totaled $67,895.00. Contributions of $12,888 per month, Nov through March, are needed to meet the curtailed budget ($132,335.) Estimated contributions in November totaled $6,745.00. Contributions so far in Dec are $7,493.00. 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.

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

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 .

The Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice group meets every second Tues night, 7-8:30 and is exploring and practicing the inner and outer work of direct action using Resmaa Menakem’s book The Quaking of America: An Embodied Guide to Navigating our Nation’s Upheaval and Racial Reckoning. There is a core group; visitors / newcomers are warmly welcome. Contact Nettie S. for more and 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; LGBTQIA+ Support Group – third Wednesday night; Reading Group – fourth Tuesday night; Conflict Soiree – last Tuesday afternoon.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

Friends for a NonViolent World Holiday Fair is the 13th and 14th of December, at Friends School of Minnesota, 1365 Englewood Ave. in St. Paul! Hours are 1 – 9 PM on Friday and 10 AM – 4 PM on Saturday. Be sure to invite friends and relatives to meet you there for shopping and eating! Hot lunch both days and hot supper on Friday evening. This is an important fund-raiser for FNVW and a lovely opportunity for community. Put your holiday dollars to work for peace and justice! Information at https://fnvw.org/holidayfair Volunteers are needed to make this event a success. Recruit some Friends to go with you and get some holiday cheer while helping a great cause: sign up genius.
DONATIONS can be brought to Friends School Thurs night, Dec 12th, 6-9PM or Fri morning, 8AM-1PM. if you are bringing donations to the meetinghouse, please leave them in the corner by the doors off York Ave. (No more than one bag of books please.)

Northern Yearly Meeting’s ad hoc Committee on How We Do Business will facilitate an exploration into the proposed new bylaws for NYM on Sat, Jan. 18th, 10-11:30AM. A high level overview presented at Fall Interim Session is on the NYM website. The Jan. session will elaborate on this overview and also walk through the proposed changes to see how we are addressing the problems identified with the 1995 bylaws. This session will season the proposal and will help identify necessary modifications in advance of bringing the bylaws for initial review at Spring Interim Session.

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 hosts a monthly worship for Newcomers and Seekers. It introduces Quaker worship practices as well as allowing for questions and reflection. Every second Monday evening, 7-8PM(CT); next meeting on May 13th. Register at https://www.fgcquaker.org/event/newcomers-worship/

Friends General Conference offers discussion/affinity groups and worship online: Gen X Quakers, Neurodivergent Quakers, Poetry as Spiritual Practice, and Newcomers. Details and dates at https://www.fgcquaker.org/fgcprograms/spiritual-deepening-program/spiritual-deepening-eretreats-and-online-offerings/. In addition, there is a monthly online worship for Friends of Color (https://www.fgcquaker.org/event/virtual-worship-for-friends-of-color-monthly-worship/) and online worship for White Friends Confronting Racism (https://www.fgcquaker.org/event/virtual-worship-for-white-friends-confronting-racism-thursday/)

School of the Spirit Quaker Ministry, God’s Promise Fulfilled: Encountering and Embodying Grace in the Shadow of Empire, begins May, 2025 and lasts two year. Find a description at https://www.schoolofthespirit.org/gpf/. Both in-person and online options. Register by Dec 31.

The Middle East
* join Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) in calling for a ceasefire, de-escalation, and humanitarian access in Gaza. More at https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/51886/
* 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
* FCNL will offer a Changemaker event to explore how Quaker communities are continuing their advocacy in support of peace across the Middle East on Wed, Dec 11th, 5:30 – 6:30PM (CT). More and register at: https://www.fcnl.org/events/so-youve-written-minute-gaza-what-now
* FCNL Advocacy Teams will lobby Congress in 2025 to return funding to the UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians. The US cut off funding after reports that some of its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israelis. Those employees were dismissed. Of all nations that dropped funding, all but the United States have restarted funding UNRWA. UNRWA at this point is the only agency capable of providing relief in Gaza, as displacement, hunger and disease continue to worsen. Friends are encouraged to thank Senator Amy Klobuchar for cosponsoring a resolution to return US funding to UNRWA: klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-amy
* 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.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

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 necessary 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: 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.

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