There’s still time to participate in this tremendous opportunity! 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, this 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/

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April 7, 2025

WORSHIP AND PROGRAM SCHEDULE TODAY

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

10:15 – 11:00 The Future of Friends for a NonViolent World (see below); Zoom host – Marilyn J.

11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Elizabeth Showalter – speaker; Dave Bostrom – musician; Zoom host – Marilyn J.

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

TODAY AT MID-MORNING PROGRAM: Friends for a NonViolent World is at a crossroads. The membership of FNVW will be deciding at the annual meeting on April 19 whether or not to launch the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) as its own organization. If this happens, area Friends have an opportunity to re-invent FNVW to address issues important to Quakers using the nonviolent action campaign model. This model could enable Friends to respond to the rapidly changing and challenging political landscape. Come hear more about the proposed change and how you might become more engaged with this Quaker-witness organization. Presenter is PJ Hoffman, longtime FNVW volunteer, member of Twin Cities Meeting, and experienced nonviolent actionist.

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Those who are suffering from fear, injustice, conflict, discrimination, colonialism, displacement, loss, and the climate crisis, including fire and flood, and all those who are aiding victims and the dispossessed.

Those in positions of power.

NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS

Stay for the all-Meeting potluck TODAY at the rise of semi-programmed worship! Potlucks are do-it-ourselves affairs so look for ways to help the effort, including clearing, washing and drying dishes! To regulars – brings lots so we are confident inviting visitors to stay!

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

Monthly meeting for business is next Sunday at 9:45. Welcoming and Outreach Committee would like Friends to consider the recording a slightly edited minute of inclusion and affirmation from Pendle Hill (read it at https://pendlehill.org/support/news-and-notes/). Please take a look before next Sunday.

Contributions update: These figures have not been reconciled / confirmed by the bank statement, but our records indicate that contributions to the general fund this past budget year (ending March 31) totaled $138,146.37. Actual total expenses for this budget year were $84,280.29 meaning we had sufficient income to pay out all our aspirational contributions ($16,090) and fully fund the different Trustee funds of the aspirational budget ($21,500.) THANK YOU FRIENDS for your generous support of the meeting and each other this past year!

Office Manager job posting: Minneapolis Friends Meeting is seeking an Office Manager for 15-20 hours a week, $25 an hour. Hours are flexible. This position requires someone who is comfortable working independently, and has at least intermediate skills working with Microsoft Office Suite. Preferred experience working with volunteers and knowledge of the Quaker faith. The Office Manager serves as a trusted hub for the internal and external communication for the Minneapolis Friends Meeting and its committees. Applications accepted until April 15. Job description is on the MFM website. Send cover letters and resume’ to Minneapolis Friends Meeting, office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org, Attention Rae Beth Cornelius.

SAVE THE DATE: May 3rd. Come celebrate the strides the meeting has taken toward greening our community life. There will be a ribbon-cutting celebration on May 3rd with food, activities for children, speakers from the nonprofits and for-profit entities that helped with the solar panel project, and a local politician or two. This is meant to be a celebration as well as an invitation to other churches, non-profits, and neighbors to investigate the support available for their own greening endeavors. Come be part of the party and outreach!

Register by May 1 for the Northern Yearly Meeting annual session over Memorial Day weekend in Rosholt, WI! Read all about the weekend on the NYM website at https://bit.ly/4iTv6Wt; find registration material at https://bit.ly/3Ydu6E0 or explore more generally at https://northernyearlymeeting.org/

Two-hundred responses sought! Data is being collected for a Friends General Conference Five-Year Report, following up on the 2018 FGC Institutional Assessment on racism. Northern Yearly Meeting’s (NYM) Anti-Racism Working Group is encouraging Friends to take the survey. This is an opportunity for reflection on the work which has occurred and areas for growth. It is hoped that in monthly meetings and worship groups, there will continue to be conversations and movement. NYM hopes for a continued and rich dialogue among NYM-member meetings and worship groups, between other yearly meetings, and with FGC, nurturing authentic commitment, accountability, and change. We hope that broad participation in this survey will help us in these future dialogues. Here is the link to the NYM landing page, created by Northern Yearly Meeting, which gives some background, explanation and tips for the survey. It is multiple choice and takes about a half hour.

SMALLER GATHERINGS AT MINNEAPOLIS MEETING

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 schedule 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. Try it out! ID: 859 3925 1575; passcode: 251345; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85939251575?pwd=1aHrNcUclfw3o99kyDnc9nAwzwkYGU.1.

Established writers as well as dabblers will have an informal writing session Mon night, April 7, 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! ID: 873 2572 4605; passcode: 763965; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87325724605?pwd=BMdZYlimaFkLeeh3ROZ4LY7iCOuWRH.1 (copy and paste into your browser). Contact Jane D. with questions or interest.

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 ; ID: 821 7292 0370; passcode: 661188

Small group line-up: Sharing the Spirit – every M-W-F morning; Lectio Divina – every Tuesday noon; Writing Group – first Monday night; Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice Group – second Tuesday night; LGBTQ+ Support Group – most third Wednesday nights (this month, Thurs, April 24); Reading Group – fourth Tuesday night; Conflict Soiree – last Tuesday afternoon.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS

The Friends School Plant Sale is coming May 9-11! Sign up for your favorite volunteer role. There remain almost 400 opportunities to volunteer, not including helping feed the many volunteer workers! Volunteers get to shop the pre-sale. Read about the different jobs at https://www.friendsschoolplantsale.com/volunteer. Sign up at https://friendsschoolofminnesota.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/.

Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns hosts a monthly online worship on first Saturdays, (THIS SAT, Apr 5) 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.

Contextualizing Quakerism to African Cultural, Social, and Spiritual Realities, the Pendle Hill first Monday lecture will explore the process and importance of contextualizing Quakerism from Western to African contexts. Free to the public, tomorrow night, Apr 7, 6:30-8PM(CT). Registration required: https://pendlehill.org/events/contextualizing-quakerism-to-african-cultural-social-and-spiritual-realities/

Taking Reparative Action. Interested in learning what other Meetings are doing about the legacy of Quaker-run boarding schools for indigenous children? Friends Peace Teams is offering a “Taking Reparative Action” workshop with speakers from New England Yearly Meeting, Baltimore Yearly Meting, and Alaska Friends Conference. Fri, Apr 11, 6:30-8PM(CT). Register at https://lu.ma/QIBS0411

Friends General Conference introduces Young Adult and Youth (YAY) Gathering – an intergenerational Quaker event for children, youth, teens, and young adults (0-35). Come to Michigan July 2-6 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.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY

The Fabric of Our Constitution with legal scholar, Jack Goldsmith will be the Westminster Townhall Forum, April 10, 6PM (doors open at 5,) Westminster Church, 1200 Marquette Ave , Minneapolis.

Palestine Liberation Pilgrimage, Apr 12th. Join the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimmage and many others in a prayerful walk for the people of Palestine. Walk the whole the length of the Gaza strip (14 miles,) observing the Stations of the Cross along the way, or join for a shorter segment. All lovers of peace are invited to this peaceful, prayerful show of solidarity. Learn more and register at https://www.peacecatalyst.org/gcpilgrimage The sacred Indigenous sites along the route are a reminder that the pilgrimage takes place against a backdrop of violent settler colonialism in the United States. As we profess solidarity with Gaza, we can also recommit ourselves to the work of healing justice with the Indigenous people of Mni Sota Makoce.

Healing MN Stories Tour dates have been announced: May 3 (10-2), Jun 1 (1-5), Oct 18 (10-2). These tours are an effort to create understanding between Native and non-Native people. Native people have suffered deep trauma – losing their land, language, and culture; trauma perpetrated with the full participation of Christian churches. Learn the less-told history of MN and come to better understand the need for healing. More and register at https://mnchurches.org/what-we-do/healing-minnesota-stories. Jim Bear Jacobs, who helped create the tour, has written about his recent experience with Landback. Read it at: https://www.mnchurches.org/blog/2025/03/5/landback-survival-healing-justice

Fix-it Clinics are a great resource for fixing those household items that would otherwise be trashed. Bring whatever you have to be fixed and consult with volunteer experts! Second Saturdays at a variety of sites, check the schedule at https://www.hennepin.us/en/residents/recycling-hazardous-waste/fix-it-clinics

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.