March 23, 2025

MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM

TODAY

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

10:15 – 11:00 George Crocker – About Power: How to Democratize Electricity Now, the history of the electric utility industry and how to correct its contribution to climate chaos and social inequities. George grew up in the Meeting; Zoom host – John K.

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Marilyn Johnson – speaker; care of meeting, Stephen Snyder; Zoom host – John K.

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

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

You are invited to join a new worship opportunity, Sharing the Spirit, open to everyone, every Mon, Wed, and Fri AM, on zoom, cameras off. This brief opportunity for worship before diving into a busy day is focused on healing, in a broad sense, gathering at approximately 8:57; ten-minute worship beginning at 9:02. You may attend as the spirit moves you or as your schedule permits: ID: 859 3925 1575; passcode: 251345; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85939251575?pwd=1aHrNcUclfw3o99kyDnc9nAwzwkYGU.1.

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: Quaker Faith – a panel discussion with Gayle Dreon, Gib Pellet, Carolyn VandenDolder and Kate Wolfe-Jenson. Hosted by Ministry and Counsel Committee, this program is offered for the grounding and connection of newcomers and old-timers alike.

Minneapolis Meeting’s fiscal year ends on March 31. Thank you to all who have supported the Meeting through your care, work on committees and financial support. If you have outstanding reimbursements, please submit them so reimbursement can be made to you in this fiscal year.

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee will meet tomorrow night, March 24, 7PM via Zoom. If you are interested in the Meeting’s peace and justice focus and witness, you are warmly welcome: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89914391038?pwd=WE1JOE9VdmpHWWJlSlVEMkFvSUprZz09; ID: 899 1439 1038; passcode: 455959.

Loaves and Fishes, March 31: Join other metro-area Friends, the Ismaili Community and the Mayim Rabim congregation to 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 K. 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!

Minneapolis Meeting is co-sponsoring a 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 other local churches in sponsoring this visit. Minneapolis Meeting Friends are encouraged to attend. Register at https://www.unitedseminary.edu/events/

The Northern Yearly Meeting High School Spring Retreat will be in combination with the retreat planned at Scattergood Friends School April 4-6th. Staying Whole: Resistance through Resilience, Resilience through Resistance, a free weekend-long retreat for youth currently in grades 8-12. Workshops will explore such questions as: How do we take care of ourselves when our government is hostile to us and the people we love? How do we face scary realities without becoming immobilized by fear? How do we find joy, peace, and connection in dark times? Students will grapple with these questions and be encouraged to reflect on their inner and community resources, and share strategies for staying whole and keeping dreams alive when the world feels hostile, overwhelming, and scary. There will also be plenty of time for games, activities, and a service project at Public Space One! More and register by March 28th: https://www.scattergood.org/student-life/2025-quaker-youth-retreat/. Questions to Sadie Kirschenman – skirschenman(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)scattergood.org . There are a limited number of guest rooms for parents/drivers to use for the weekend.

Contributions update: Thank you, Friends, for your generous financial support! As of Jan. 31, contributions of $7,892 were needed in February and in March to meet the curtailed budget ($132,335). Contributions of $16,885 were needed in Feb and in March to meet the aspirational budget ($150,320). Checks/cash received in Feb totaled $8982.89. Contributions so far in March total $15,060. 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

Come to thirty minutes of Lectio Divina, Divine Reading, followed by worship sharing on Zoom, Tuesdays at noon. Hold a 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 your browser); ID: 821 7292 0370; passcode: 661188

The Watson Reading Group meets on the fourth Tues of each month, 7-8:30PM via Zoom. This coming Tues, join in reading Becoming Wise, by Christa Tippett, continuing from page 138 (although the query at the end of page 137 is intriguing, if anyone has thoughts about it: “What is love? Answer through a story about the last time you saw it.”) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89130099730?pwd=nElf7QB8sqDdbIKNgVWbPU734zsC4R.1 (copy and paste into your browser).

Join the monthly Conflict Soiree, meeting on Zoom, Tues, March 25th, and every last Tues, at 3:30PM. Drop ins are always welcome! We explore conflict and difference in our individual lives and in the meeting. Becoming more skillful and comfortable with difference might help us to be more authentic peacemakers everywhere we go. Contact Nettie S. for a Zoom 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

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. To receive the link, register at https://email.cloud.secureclick.net/c/15604?id=54966.355.1.a9dc6e3ee51d635514a6844e011473cc .

Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) Summer School, 7-18 July 2025, via Zoom. Are you 20-26 years old and eager to learn about international solidarity movements, coalition-building and UN engagement from a civil society perspective? Interested in gaining practical skills in advocacy, quiet diplomacy methods, coalition-building and insights from professionals engaged in multilateralism? The QUNO summer intensive allows you to learn about Quaker work being done at the international level and about the work of the United Nations. Throughout the ten-day program, skill-building workshops will equip you to be a changemaker in today’s world. Four-hour learning days, 8AM – noon(CT), Monday – Friday. Application forms and further information at https://quno.org/quaker-united-nations-summer-school, or email: qunss(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)quno.ch Deadline for applications and references is 31st March.

Friends General Conference introduces Young Adult and Youth Gathering – an intergenerational Quaker event for children, youth, teens, and young adults (0-35). Come together for play, connection, laughter, spiritual practice, learning and rest with family members and event volunteers of all ages. YAY puts young people at the center while celebrating the gifts that each generation brings to our community. Expect one thing at a time on the schedule with space to breathe in-between. Time with age peers and time all together. Expect games, stories, music, walks in the woods, campfires, conversations, puzzles, and most importantly, a spiritual community of people who practice generosity, kindness, and curiosity. Registration for YAY Gathering opens April 7 – Learn more about the gathering on the FGC website here. Registration, housing, fees, and financial aid info are also on the FGC website here.

Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns hosts a monthly online worship on first Saturdays at 4PM(CT) and a monthly online worship sharing on fourth Saturdays, 4PM(CT). In addition, there is a Listening Line (listening support to queer Friends) from 4-11PM(PDT) every Saturday. And, Canadian Friends (U.S.ers invited) have a Queer Gender group, focusing on gender ID instead of sexual orientation. Email clerks(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)flgbtqc.org for more.

Quaker Advocacy
* join Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) in urging Congress to stop famine in Gaza by supporting the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoratio Act when it is reintroduced . More at https://fcnl.quorum.us/
* FCNL has Witness Wednesdays, a time for silent reflection, Weds, in March, 4-5PM. For more and to register, see https://www.fcnl.org/events
* FCNL’s Twin Cities Advocacy team lobbies Congressional Representatives and Senators. To join, go to https://www.fcnl.org/act/join-advocacy-team. Or talk to Jim H. or Doug H.
* 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

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

The MN Attorney General is offering a series of forums to explain how his office is working to defend Minnesotans from federal attacks on citizenship, privacy, funding, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, abortion rights, and more – and what you can do to stand up for your community. Registration required to get location details. Local upcoming events include March 29: Waite Park – noon-1:30PM; topic: TBA; RSVP Link: https://forms.office.com/g/SGmc1mSzSC

Mayim Rabim’s Israel Palestine Study Group is kicking off a film series with Where Olive Trees Weep Sun, March 30, 5-8 PM at the meetinghouse. Details TBA for joining via Zoom.

No Other Land, the Oscar-winning documentary, is showing now through Mar 27, Main Cinema, 115 SE Main St, Mpls. and the Riverview Theater, 3900-42nd Ave S, Mpls. This haunting film comes from the unlikely collaboration of a Palestinian filmmaker and Israeli journalist, telling the story of Palestinian life and suffering. Ticket, times at the Main https://mspfilm.org/show/no-other-land-2/ or the Riverview at https://ticketing.useast.veezi.com/sessions/?siteToken=3taz3vkks7e11yj7r5dft9pq30

OFFICE HOURS

The Meeting Coordinator will be in the office Wed and Fri afternoons. Bulletin deadline, 5PM Thurs. 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.