Sunday, September 7, 2025

TODAY’S WORSHIP AND PROGRAM

10:00 – 11:00 AM Meeting for Worship – unprogrammed (hybrid)
Closer: Mary Bosserman
Zoom host: Marilyn J
For the link to worship this Sunday, email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org.

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM All-Meeting Potluck
Attenders, members, visitors, and families are welcome.

MORE WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AT MFM

Sharing the Spirit, held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, is a brief centering time that is open to everyone. We gather at approximately 8:57 AM for ten-minute worship (online, cameras off) beginning at 9:02 AM. Click here for zoom link; use ID 859 3925 1575, passcode 251345; or paste the following into your browser: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85939251575?pwd=1aHrNcUclfw3o99kyDnc9nAwzwkYGU.1

Mid-week worship is on summer break and will resume on September 24.

HOLD IN THE LIGHT

Kathy W, Linda C, and their family. Kathy’s mother, Marge, passed away on Sunday, August 31.

MFM ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mary L has a new email account. She no longer has access to her old email account. Please contact office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org for Mary’s new email.

Barbara Z and Patrick H also wanted to make sure everyone has their current contact information, as it changed during the last year. For those who picked up the most recent copy of the member directory (summer 2025), you’ll find this accurate info there. Ask the Clerk for a copy of the member directory.

Make a special effort to come to worship and the potluck today to meet and welcome the 2025-26 Quaker Voluntary Service Fellows! The Fellows will be at worship (10 AM) and the potluck (11:30 AM), along with our Twin Cities QVS Coordinator, Ray Hommeyer. Bring lots of food to share, and enjoy homemade ice cream, brought to you in part by Kal-El, Xavier, Lowell, and Poppy! Additionally, the QVS house needs three more bicycles. If you have a rideable city bike that you can donate, please contact Jim H or Ed E to pick it up and deliver it to the residence. Click here to read about the Fellows on QVS’ website.

Greeting members and visitors as they enter the building for worship is a wonderful ministry of Hospitality. Welcoming and Outreach needs your support to offer this ministry. Please sign up on the Greeter sign-up sheet on the table outside the meeting room. If you have questions, please contact Mary S.

Loaves & Fishes serves free, healthy meals to help ensure that Minnesotans have access to their basic needs. On September 29, MFM members will be among volunteers on the kitchen crew. See the announcement under “Wider Community” for more information and how to sign up.

September 21 is the beginning of fall/winter/spring schedule for Sunday programming.
• Most Sundays (except 2nd Sunday of the month), there is 9:00 AM unprogrammed meeting for worship, 10:15 AM mid-morning program, and 11:15 AM semi-programmed meeting for worship.
• Second Sunday of every month, there is 9:00 AM unprogrammed meeting for worship, 9:45 am meeting for business, and 11:15 AM semi-programmed meeting for worship.
• First Sunday of every month, there is a potluck lunch after semi-programmed meeting for worship.

Contributions update: First quarter contributions totaled $26,217, which is about 19% of our budget. Giving is often lighter in the summer months. We are almost on track to meet our annual budget. Thank you, Friends, for your generous financial support of the meeting. There is now a donate tab on MFM’s website (click here). If you would like to set up automatic contributions to the meeting, contact Carolyn V, clerk of Stewardship and Finance Committee.

MFM EVENTS

You’ll notice this bulletin section is shorter than it used to be. Half a dozen groups meet monthly through MFM. Those ongoing groups are now listed on a separate flyer. Similarly, there is a flyer about ongoing Quaker events and resources outside MFM, instead of bulletin notices. One-time MFM events will remain in this weekly bulletin, as you see below. This change is intended to make it easier to find information, and save paper. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org for a copy of the new flyers.

September 14 (hybrid). Monthly meeting for worship with attention to business is every second Sunday. Please mark your calendar for 11 AM and plan to participate.

WIDER COMMUNITY

Minneapolis Meeting, in collaboration with SWAE, hosted an awareness-raising evening for the East Philips Urban Farm institute. The farm, a bold, community-led initiative, will reclaim land poisoned by decades of environmental racism and will convert it into a thriving hub of fresh food, clean energy, jobs, and cultural connection. The City of Minneapolis bought the site for $6.8 million and set the new purchase price at $15.9 million – over four times the appraised value. The MN legislature recently cut its promised $5.7 million in funding that would have allowed the purchase to go forward (EPNI has raised $10.2 million). The sale needs to be completed by September 15, the date set in the purchase agreement. Flood Jacob Frey and City Council with calls and emails. The message is, “Sell the Roof Depot to the East Philips Neighborhood Institute for a fair price and honor the will of the residents that EPNI Farm represents.” City Council contacts can be found on the city’s website (click here). Jacob Frey can be contacted at 612-673-2100, jacob.frey(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolismn.gov, and via the city website’s comment form to share an opinion with the mayor (click here).

From Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) Twin Cities Advocacy Team: FCNL now has advocacy teams in all 50 states, and is advocating during the Congressional break for restoration of funding for refugees through the State Operations and Related Programs bill. Congress needs to pass funding bills for FY26, which begins October 1. These bills require 60 votes to get passed in the Senate, and so they require votes from both parties. Click here for information on FCNL’s website.

More from the Twin Cities Advocacy Team of FCNL: FCNL celebrates the tenth anniversary of advocacy teams. Now there are 135 teams. Teams are active in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Teams are currently advocating for HR 3565, Rep. Delia Ramirez’s bill to stop the sale of large bombs to Israel. The bill has 40 cosponsors, but only Rep. Ilhan Omar in Minnesota. Jim H and Doug H are meeting representatives to FCNL.

September 8 & September 10 (in person). Jewish Voice for Peace – Twin Cities (JVP TC) is offering two teach-ins about anti-zionism and antisemitism in the context of the local campaign for the City of Minneapolis to cut its contract with Zencity, an Israeli tech company connected with Israeli military intelligence’s notorious Unit 8200. The first teach-in (Monday, September 8, 6:00 – 7:00 PM) will take place at Sabathani Community Center, 310 East 38th Street, conference room J. The second (Wednesday, September 10, 6:00 – 7:00 PM), will be at Loring Park Community Center, 1382 Willow Street, multi-purpose room. Click here for JVP TC’s announcement on Instagram.

September 11 (in person). Noted Quaker author activist Eileen Flanagan will discuss her recent book Common Ground at Magers & Quinn this Thursday evening, September 11, at 7 pm. The book provides thoughts about how the current earth crises may actually facilitate healing our contemporary separation and isolation. Registration is required; click here to register on Magers and Quinn’s website.

September 13 (online). Middle East Peace Now is providing instruction to help the effort to repeal the current state ban on boycotting and divesting from Israel. This webinar will take place on Saturday, September 13, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM. Attendance is free, and registration is required. Click here to register for the Zoom link. Questions? Ask Rick V.

September 16 (online). The MN Repair Communities, who brought Sarah Augustine to speak in the Twin Cities last spring, will meet online on Tuesday, September 16 at 6:30 PM. This meeting is in preparation to launch, in coordination with Rise and Repair, the campaign for the 2026 session of the MN legislature; likely focusing again on the protection of wild rice. The link will be available on September 10. Let Carolyn V know if you’re interested in receiving it. Minneapolis Meeting was a sponsor of the Sarah Augustine visit.

September 17 (in person). Volunteers are being sought to help serve, clean up, and facilitate Bingo at the Division of Indian Works’ Elder’s Day Picnic at Veteran’s Park in Richfield on Wednesday, September 17, 10 AM – 3 PM. Between three and four hundred people are expected to attend! Carolyn and Rick V have signed up to serve food from 11:30 AM – 1 PM. Click here to fill out the short sign-up form.

September 20 (in person). Song Circle, which includes a few MFM friends, takes place this month on Saturday, September 20, 5:00 PM. If you’d like, bring a snack or a dish to share. Bring your own eating and serving utensils, and lawn chairs or blankets. Bring a friend, your voices, song books (e.g., “Rise Up Singing” or your favorite) and/or song sheets, guitars, ocarinas or basses. The song circle will be at The Wellington Senior apartment building at 2235 Rockwood Ave, St Paul, MN 55116. Singing will be on the patio or the lawn, with an indoor room as backup for bad weather. Contact Marilyn J with questions.

September 27 (in person). Angela Two Stars (curator of All My Relations Gallery) will offer a talk about her art installation at the SE corner of Bde Maka Ska. Her fascinating description includes the tale of her great-great-great uncle, Cloud Man, and the village he established in the same area. Saturday, September 27, 11:30 AM. Click here to register through Minneapolis Community Education’s website.

September 29 (in person). Help feed a multitude and meet other interfaith volunteers on the Loaves and Fishes kitchen crew at Holy Rosary Church, 2424 18th Avenue South in Minneapolis. Choose a shift: 2:00 PM prep ingredients, 4:00 PM assemble the meal, 5:15 PM serve and clean up – or stay all afternoon! Contact Sue K to sign up or discuss fruit donations. Alternately, you can use the signup sheet that you’ll find beside the meetinghouse guestbook. Click here for more info on Loaves and Fishes’ website.

OFFICE HOURS

The Office Manager, Ariel E, is typically in the office Thursday and Fridays 12:30 – 5:00 PM and Sundays 9:30 – 11:30 AM. Bulletin deadline: noon Thursday. Phone items in to the office (612-926-6159) or email (office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org). Ariel was going to be away from the office this week, but will be working after all.

The Children and Families Coordinator, Cathy N, is typically in the meetinghouse Sundays 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM and Fridays 12:30 – 3:00 PM. She typically works remotely Wednesdays 2:30 – 5:00 PM and Thursdays 3:30 – 5:00 PM.