1.      Approval of Agenda

The Clerk presented the proposed agenda, which was approved.

2.       Approval of Minutes of May 11, 2025

The draft May 11, 2025, Monthly Meeting minutes were circulated in advance of meeting for business. Changes reflecting comments before this meeting have been made.

May 11, 2025, minutes were approved.

3.      Property Committee Annual Report

The Property Committee Co-Clerk shared the membership of the property committee, the meeting gardeners and individuals that have helped with specific activities of the property committee.

The Property Committee manages and cares for the physical Meetinghouse and grounds. It helps the Trustees predict replacement of physical plant assets and estimates costs, to prepare for the bigger expenditures. It makes recommendations to Trustees for contracted work.

The Co-clerk shared challenges including not spending all of the members’ free time working on fun projects or taking meeting projects back to members’ homes. It seems as if the committee enjoys its work and working together.

This past year has seen a lot of accomplishments, including,

• completing everyday repairs, replacements, and touch-up paint
• arranging to have the sewer lines cleaned, piano tuned, windows and screens cleaned, furnaces, AC and elevator serviced,
• cleaning and testing of folding chairs,
• writing user-friendly thermostat instructions, and
• testing emergency lights, smoke, and carbon monoxide alarms.

 

Other accomplishments.

• At the end of last September, the committee and others cleaned the interior of the building including cobwebs, smudges, dust bunnies, spills, hairballs, etc.
• The committee finished sealing all the discernable air leaks. The attic insulation was nearly doubled. There was financial help from a rebate from the city and Peace and Social Concerns had set aside two years of the meeting’s carbon tax donation for completing this effort.
• The office now has a copy the digital files of Property Committee meeting notes and reports through the end of 2024.
• A member has been trained to test and maintain the AED. The defibrillator is maintained monthly.
• The committee oversaw all the building’s incandescent and fluorescent fixtures changed to LED fixtures. The meeting received another rebate from the city and saves $20-25 per month.
• The committee purchased a hand-held air monitoring device to determine the indoor air quality. It measures particulates, carbon dioxide levels, and humidity levels. One area that consistently falls into the moderate range for carbon dioxide is when larger groups meet in the conference room. It was suggested to turn the fan to “ON” or opening a window during those larger group meetings to help this room stay in the healthy range. Otherwise, the inside air is as clean if not cleaner than outside air.

 

A Friend continues our lawn care. The Property Committee members are covering the shoveling of the “less than 2-inch snow falls” with the help of some able Friends to clear those rare early Sunday morning snow falls.

Upcoming points of attention include regular services and building maintenance. This year there will be a need to repair the peace pole, paint the building, finish the rebate requests, and cover the exterior sill and facia woodwork. The committee also plans to investigate water saving devices and install where allowed by the building and plumbing codes.

The committee finds satisfaction in knowing that they are creating a safe and welcoming atmosphere for everyone.

The presiding clerk expressed thanks for this small group of people who carry such a large load. For both the regular and extraordinary tasks

Report was accepted with gratitude.

4.      Ad Hoc Fundraising Committee Report

The presenter reminded the meeting that this ad hoc fundraising committee was approved by the Monthly Meeting for Business December 8, 2024, and charged with supporting the giving at the Meeting.

The committee met twice.

Accomplishments:

• The Meeting has added a donation tab on our website allowing members, attenders, and others to make gifts supporting our work. Our donate tab and giving information comes through a partnership with Friends Fiduciary, at a modest cost to the Meeting.
• The Ad Hoc group reviewed the giving results from the year 2024-2025, and all are grateful for the generous commitment of members, attenders, and supporters.

To create more predictability for Stewardship and Finance, the Ad Hoc group plans to send letters to the donors requesting information about giving intentions for the current year. Sharing this information is voluntary, of course, and is not a binding pledge.

To the extent that the Meeting has the giving intentions, Stewardship and Finance can plan our budget and predict if there is reason for optimism or concern as the year goes along. It was reported that the Meeting has used a giving intention form in the past.

Future Tasks:

For the future, the Ad Hoc group will encourage legacy giving to the Meeting, an idea briefly described on our website, and we also encourage planning toward larger projects supporting the Meeting and other places our giving can make a difference.

The clerk thanked the committee for its work.

5.      Clearness Committee Meeting with Winona Friends Preparative Meeting

Winona Friends meeting is a preparative meeting. It used to be under the care of Eau Claire/Menomonie Meeting. When this meeting became inactive, Winona came under the care of Minneapolis Meeting. Winona Friends is considering becoming a full monthly meeting and asked for a discussion with Minneapolis Friends.

In general, it was a great discussion. We got appreciative feedback from Winona Friends. They felt the clearness session helped add depth and openness to their search on the topic. In the end it was clear there was no unity in a future direction at this time. The clerk of Winona preparative meeting, offered that the Winona Meeting will consider what they learned and will reopen the conversation in a few weeks.

One outcome for Minneapolis Friends is that we could be more engaged in the connection with Winona Friends. Apparently there used to be an annual get together and review of how things were going. This intentional relationship has languished. Being more proactive would help Winona Friends feel stronger (more confident) as a Meeting and would also help Winona Friends get to know and feel more comfortable with Minneapolis Meeting.

Here are some details:

• We met with Winona Friends at 10:00 on Sunday, May 18, 2025, in their meeting space at the Wesleyan United Methodist Church in Winona.
• There were 8 Winona Friends and 3 members of Minneapolis Meeting – all former meeting presiding clerks.
• We started and ended with a period of worship. We did a round of introductions then jumped into the clearness process.
• We opened with a brief reminder of the role of the Clearness Committee then asked why they were considering becoming a Monthly Meeting rather than maintaining the status quo.
• This kicked off a conversation that lasted about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
• Minneapolis Friends asked the Winona Friends additional questions about the Winona Meeting history current processes, challenges, needs, etc. It was good that these three Minneapolis members brought individual tone and thoughts to the work.
• All of the Winona folks had feelings, thoughts, memories, desires, concerns to add to the conversation.
• The primary driver for wanting to change is the desire of a couple of folks to transfer their membership from Milwaukee and they would like to be able to transfer to a Winona Monthly Meeting because they didn’t feel a connection with Minneapolis Friends.
• We offered they could transfer their membership to Minneapolis Friends with a clear statement that their membership connection was really with the Winona Preparatory Meeting and the connection with Minneapolis Friends was administrative.
• Folks who had the longest connection with Winona Friends seemed to prefer to maintain the status quo. They were concerned Winona Friends did not have the resources to be an independent Meeting and have appreciated the connection with Minneapolis Friends as an anchor and support.
• After the meeting we went to one member’s house for a nice potluck and visit.

There were questions and a bit of discussion. Meeting members wondered how long the drive was and the Winona meeting schedule.

Suggestions included:

• a joint worship – in Red Wing or another mutually convenient location.
• communication with Winona members about the opportunity to worship with the meeting via Zoom.
• organized visits from Minneapolis Friends to Winona.

The presenter recommended that the meeting make the connection more thoughtful and intentional. Ministry and Counsel could consider this, and report plans back to monthly meeting.

The report was accepted.

6.      Northern Yearly Meeting Report

The Religious Society of Friends is organized in a unique way. Our meeting members are most connected with Friends through the monthly meeting. People may be surprised to know that if you are a member of Minneapolis Monthly Meeting, you are also  member  of Northern Yearly Meeting.

10 Friends from Minneapolis Meeting spent the weekend of May 23 to May 26 in the three-day yearly meeting. The theme for the gathering was  “How do we become the Quakers the world needs?” This led to rich small group discussions.

The presenter collected and shared what our members enjoyed about their time at NYM.

• Networking with other Meeting clerks and the small group sharing around becoming the friends the world needs now.
• Meeting a Friend in person and sharing two lovely hugs with him.
• Spending time with some great people that I only get to see once a year.
• Eating the delicious and simple foods made in community with all simple foods’ participants contributing and sharing those meals with old friends and new.

A question arose about how to encourage more people to attend Yearly Meeting. The people at NYM are fantastic and wonderful to be in community with. It’s like going to a Quaker Family reunion.

Friends accepted the report.

7.      Introduction of the new Office Manager

A. Edes was introduced and shared some of his/their background. The clerk of Liaison and Review reported that training started this week and asked that Friends be patient during this transition time.

A. reflected thankfulness for the trust the meeting is placing in them. They reflected that they are feeling a bit overwhelmed but at the same time confident. They shared they will be opening and closing the meeting house on most Sundays.

8.      Minute of Recognition of Meeting Coordinator

The Clerk of Liaison and review read a proposed minute of recognition of Carolyn Vandendolder, the meeting retiring meeting coordinator.

Today, June 8th, 2025, we recognize the retirement of Carolyn VandenDolder who faithfully served our Meeting community for over 25 years. The Meeting has been exceedingly fortunate and blessed to have Carolyn in the central role she occupied supporting our faith community for a quarter of a century.

 Carolyn was first hired by Minneapolis Friends Meeting in October 1999 to serve as the Administrative Assistant in the office at the meetinghouse. Following Director of Ministry Pat Jones’ retirement Carolyn was named the Meeting Coordinator.

In this role, Carolyn became the hub of external and internal communication. She coordinated the activities of Minneapolis Friends working closely with the many clerks and especially the Property Committee. Carolyn offered a powerful ministry to those seeking her assistance because her gentle, caring responses typically addressed both the obvious and less obvious parts of the requests. She brought a deep Spiritual presence and love of the Meeting community to her work and interaction with Friends and the wider community.

Today, we unite in celebration and gratitude for the many gifts Carolyn shares with Minneapolis Friends. We deeply appreciate her diligence, good humor, and forthright communication. We look forward to Carolyn’s continuing presence in our community.

The minute was approved.

9.      Correspondence and Announcements

The Clerk reported  on Ministry and Counsel’s May 4^th worship sharing session focusing on the following queries:

• Query 1:  How does our faith ground us in these troubled times? How are we making space in our lives and in our meeting for listening and discernment?
• Query 2. How do we demonstrate and witness our faith, practices, and testimonies nonviolently in this world as individuals and as a meeting?
• Query 3:  How do we focus and direct our energy into meaningful next steps, and support one another in our witness?

 

Ten pages of notes emerged from the session. The clerk used artificial intelligence tools to do a first run at analyzing the responses. Some recurring threads that emerged were:

• Faith is lived as trust in a loving, divine presence—not a set of results—and calls for faithful response to truth as it is continually revealed.
• Deep listening and spiritual discernment are vital tools—especially when facing uncertainty and conflict. They guide loving, nonviolent action.
• Nonviolence is rooted in love, and authentic witness means acting in alignment with spiritual truth—even when it requires courage or risk.
• There can be tension between being a welcoming community that respects individual differences while also uniting as a community to witness Friends testimonies and values in the wider world.
• Being present to nature and simplicity are not escapist but spiritually powerful ways to center, witness, and act meaningfully.
• Sustained, hopeful action is nurtured in community and supported by both practical steps and inner encouragement.

 

In summary, Minneapolis Friends are navigating how to act faithfully and nonviolently in a time of fear, division, and overwhelm. The collective wisdom emphasizes:

• Love over fear
• Discernment over reaction
• Community over isolation
• Embodied simplicity over noisy activism
• Visible truth-telling over comfort or neutrality

 

These threads point toward a community striving not just to “do something,” but to become something—a living testimony of hope, love, and faith in action.

 

10. Closing Worship