March 2, 2025

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

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

10:15 – 11:00 Friends Committee on National Legislation: Our Meeting’s priorities, involvement, and progress with Doug Herron and Jim Haefemeyer; Zoom host – Stephen S.

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Gib Pellet – speaker; care of meeting, John Dunham; Zoom host – Stephen S.

Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org for the link to worship and mid-morning program on Sunday.

TODAY – Stone Soup Meal at the rise of semi-programmed worship! The Potluck (aka Social) and Welcoming & Outreach Committees are hosting a Stone Soup meal in place of the usual first Sunday potluck. Bring ingredients, already prepped, (cooked or canned, and cut up in bite size pieces,) to put in a pot. One pot of soup will have meat (if it is contributed) and one pot will be vegan, dairy free, and gluten free. This simple meal is meant to bring more awareness of Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR). RSWR gives micro loans to women in India, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Guatemala. More information about RSWR available downstairs.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Feeling stressed? Discouraged? Fearful? Come to mid-week worship, Wed nights, 7PM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84938257185 (copy and paste in your browser); ID: 849 3825 7185.

Monthly meeting for business is next Sunday, 9:45-11:15. On the agenda: proposed 2025-26 budget; the 2025-26 committee slate; a revision of the Meeting Coordinator job description; FNVW Holiday Fair report.

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.

Northern Yearly Meeting Middle School Friends will retreat at Milwaukee Friends Meeting March 14-16! Come explore Milwaukee and delve into Quaker testimonies together. How does our faith translate to action? How do we live our principles? These are the questions we will ponder while also having an absolutely great time exploring the meetinghouse and surrounding areas, playing games and seeking deeper relationships with one another! Sign-up through google at this link or email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to be put in touch with the coordinator for more information!

Quaker Voluntary Service invites you to a SQUARE DANCE – Sat, March 22, 7-9PM at New City Center, 3104 – 16th Ave So. Invite your family and friends! Kids are welcome! Live music and caller. Doors open at 6:45, music starts at 7PM, ends at 9 PM. Admission is free – donations accepted to support the musicians and the local QVS program.

Monthly Meeting in February approved co-sponsoring a MN visit by Sarah Augustine, leader of the international movement for Indigenous justice, and Director and co-founder of the Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition. Sarah Augustine will be offering “Embodying Solidarity with Indigenous People By Becoming Kin – A Conversation with Sarah Augustine” at United Theological Seminary, Friday night, April 4th. Doors open at 6:15, the program runs from 7-8PM. MFM joins with the MN Repair Communities (white allies to Makoce Ikikcupi,) the local Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery, and a variety of local churches in sponsoring this visit. Save the date – Minneapolis Meeting Friends are encouraged to attend.

TODAY: ICE ARRESTS. A petition has been prepared for interested meeting members and attenders to sign, urging MN Chief Justice Natalie Hudson to consider “a policy preventing or limiting civil immigration enforcement at state courthouses” where immigrants may be trying to take care of urgent business. The petition is on the elevator table.

Contributions update: Thank you, Friends, for your generous financial support! As of Jan. 31, contributions of $7,892 are needed in February and in March to meet the curtailed budget ($132,335). Contributions of $16,885 are needed in Feb and in March to meet the aspirational budget ($150,320). Checks/cash received in Feb total $8982.89. If you would like to set up automatic contributions to the Meeting, contact Mike F. or Carolyn V., co-clerks, Stewardship and Finance Committee.

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

Established writers as well as dabblers will have an informal writing session Mon night, March 3, 7-9PM. This is a chance to connect with one another, writing with prompts and sharing what we write. Serious, whimsical, beautiful and quirky – we’ve enjoyed them all! You are welcome to come laugh, ponder, and create together, whether or not you have participated before! https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87325724605?pwd=BMdZYlimaFkLeeh3ROZ4LY7iCOuWRH.1 (copy and paste into your browser); ID: 873 2572 4605; passcode: 763965.

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/82172920370?pwd=4v3zY9LtA79jzf5tGg24BDXb28Clkd.1 (copy and paste into you browser); ID: 821 7292 0370; passcode: 661188

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

Interested in nurturing the broader community and exploring ways to deepen Quakerism at the Friends School of MN? The Quaker Life Committee at the Friends School of Minnesota is looking for additional members. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to be put in touch.

Hope and Rest in Challenging Times, Pendle Hill first Monday lecture. Come explore rest and living in faith, and letting go of the patterns of urgency and societal conditioning to learn new ways of being with God and with each other. Mon, March 3, 6:30-8PM(CT) Peter Blood Patterson presenting. Register and more at https://pendlehill.org/events/hope-and-rest-in-challenging-times/

~ Quaker Call to worship and action: March 30, 6-7:30PM. Grounded spiritual discernment brings strength to our actions. Come learn from and support one another. Register at https://email.cloud.secureclick.net/c/15604?id=54966.355.1.a9dc6e3ee51d635514a6844e011473cc to receive the link.
~ Feeling overwhelmed with the rapid governmental changes and their implications? Take a look at Friends Committee on National Legislation’s action page, select an issue you prioritize and take action. More at https://fcnl.quorum.us/
~ Choose Democracy (https://choosedemocracy.us/), a group formed in Philadelphia with George Lakey, has done extensive research on how authoritarianism has been resisted in other countries with clear information about what is happening and how to focus organizing.

Find yourself planning your garden? Friends School of MN is thinking of planting time, too! Sign up for your favorite Friends School Plant Sale volunteer role, NOW, at https://www.friendsschoolplantsale.com/volunteer. Volunteers, get to shop the pre-sale! For more about the sale, see https://www.friendsschoolplantsale.com/ FUN FACTS: The sale’s commitment to purchasing plants that are free of systemic pesticides means that the plants purchased won’t harm the health of our native pollinators! And, with the help of 1,734 volunteers, the sale generated more than $500,000 for the school in 2024!

Camp Woodbrooke, a small camp in the BIG outdoors, is an overnight camp emphasizing a close relationship with nature. Registration is now open for this immersion in Quaker values experience. Scholarships are available – look for the Financial Assistance Request form on the website: https://www.campwoodbrooke.org

Palestine
* Bernie Sanders just introduced a Resolution of Disapproval for the administration’s proposed 8 billion dollars in additional military funding for Israel. Tina Smith supported this Resolution of Disapproval last time it was introduced. Contact your Congresspeople and urge them to support this Resolution of Disapproval.
* join Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) in urging Congress to stop famine in Gaza by supporting the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act when it is reintroduced . More at https://fcnl.quorum.us/
* join AFSC every Friday at 11AM for an Action Hour for Palestine.
* 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
* See the Oscar-nominated No Other Land extended showing and added showtimes at The Main Cinema: https://mspfilm.org/show/no-other-land-2/ No Other Land is the result of an unlikely collaboration between a Palestinian activist and Israeli journalist.

Quakers taking legal action: In Jan, five yearly meetings, together, challenged new rules allowing ICE raids in and around religious buildings. This Friends Journal article explains more about that lawsuit: friendsjournal.org/quakers-sue-immigration. There is a statement of support on the Northern Yearly Meeting website which includes links to background information and ways to get involved in immigration rights issues: https://northernyearlymeeting.org/quaker-lawsuit-dept-of-homeland-security/. Noah Merrill, New England Yearly Meeting General Secretary, explained why Quaker groups are suing the administration over ICE arrests at places of worship in a recent CBS interview: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/why-quaker-groups-suing-trump-administration-ice-arrests. Friends General Conference has joined a separate lawsuit with a multi-faith coalition in opposition to the rescission of ICE’s sensitive locations policy. Read more at this Friends Journal article: https://www.friendsjournal.org/quakers-join-new-dhs-lawsuit/.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

Taking Heart Iftar Meals build bridges of relationship across divides of faith practices. Observe an evening prayer, learn about the Muslim faith, and break fast with your Muslim neighbors over a delicious meal. Many different locations; space fills quickly so please sign up in advance: https://mnchurches.org/what-we-do/taking-heart

Many from MFM participated in the Unidos Legal Witness Raid Response program in Feb. Unidos’s next step is to form Democracy Teams. Sign up to attend the Democracy Team Launch on Thurs, March 6, 6:30-8:30PM at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church: 2730 E 31st Str, Mpls. At the launch, you will connect with others and organize by community; learn about team options and choose to join an existing team or form a new one; leave with clear action steps and a plan to stay connected as a larger group. Signing up is important, ensuring adequate space and materials. Also, if a change of venue is needed due to capacity, an email and text will be sent to you.

MN 50501 will host two rallies at the State Capitol at noon: March 4th for Democracy to uphold the Constitution, end executive overreach, and end the billionaire oligarchy, (https://events.pol-rev.com/events/2eaf051d-615a-4003-858b-ca5a6fc803fb) and for International Women’s Day March 8th – for women’s rights, equality, and empowerment, and a future where no one is left behind.

Sign up for the Rise and Repair Rally Day March 12th! Rise and Repair, a diverse alliance of people and organizations advancing Indigneous rights and climate justice in MN, will train you on how to encourage legislators to protect wild rice and clean water, respect Indigenous sovereignty, and pass the Rise and Repair’s platform (https://riseandrepair.org/platform) including three bills which will protect watersheds that flow north, south, and east from northern MN. Can’t make it to the Capitol? More info and links to write to legislators can be found on the platform page (https://riseandrepair.org/platform)

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 can be reached: Mon and Wed, 2:30-5PM; Thurs, 3:30-5PM; Sun, 9AM-2PM at the meetinghouse.