January 19, 2025
MEETING SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM
TODAY
9:00 – 10:00 meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Gayle Dreon; Zoom host – John K.
10:15 – 11:00 Wow! Minneapolis Meeting now has four part-time and several contracted employees. How does MFM handle this expansion? What’s the difference between a regular employee and a contracted one? Glad you asked! Come discover the new procedures and documents Liaison and Review Committee has created to make the hiring and employment process more systematic and respectful for employees. Hear first-hand from both committee clerks and the employees they supervise about the process and their work. This is a program you do not want to miss! Zoom host – John K.
11:15 – 12:15 meeting for worship (semi-programmed): Mary Gochnauer – speaker; Dave Bostrom – musician; care of meeting, Jane Furnas; Zoom host – John K.
Need the link to Sunday worship and programming? Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org.
TODAY: There will a Committee Clerks’ meeting following semi-programmed worship in the conference room and via Zoom using the same link as for worship.
HOLD IN THE LIGHT
Friends World Committee for Consultation, and the family, friends, and associates of Simon C. Lamb. Simon, the clerk of FWCC’s Central Executive Committee, serving all four sections of FWCC through the World Office, died unexpectedly on Jan 8.
Those who are suffering from injustice, conflict, racism, colonialism, displacement, loss, and the climate crisis – including the California fires – and all those who are aiding victims and the dispossessed.
Those who are in positions of power.
NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS
TODAY: It’s time for a new directory! Watch your email for the opportunity to confirm or update your contact information. If you’re in the building today, you can check the current directory on the elevator table and make updates. Not in the directory yet and want to be? Fill out a contact form, also found on the on the elevator table!
Mid-Morning Program next Sunday at 10:15: How to Support and Be With Ill or Troubled People. John Kraft, Barbara Ziegenhagen and Ellen Swanson will read stories of their experience supporting and being with ill or troubled people, and then we will break into small groups.
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/84178190647?pwd=bD2CyakraDGxNudS4QgzEeeNQlYFRx.1 (copy and paste this link into your browser); ID: 841 7819 0647; passcode: 657826 .
Feeling stressed? Discouraged? Fearful? Come to mid-week worship, Wed nights, 7PM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84938257185 (copy and paste this link into your browser); ID: 849 3825 7185; by phone: +1-651-372-8299.
Nominating Committee is beginning its work in earnest. Take a minute or two to look over the committee list and the scope of the committees’ work: https://minneapolisfriends.org/committees/. The meeting especially needs new people to serve on Trustees, and on Stewardship and Finance, Care and Counsel, Ministry and Counsel, and Property Committees. If you have a knack for accounting and finance or feel drawn to the work of any of these committees or others, please contact Bill H, clerk of Nominating Committee.
TONIGHT: Joanne E. will be speaking at the World Religion Day celebration, One Humanity, Many Paths to Harmony, 6:30PM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 9700 Nesbitt Ave, So, Bloomington. This is the second year that Minneapolis Meeting has had someone speak at this gathering of varied faith traditions. Friends are invited to attend this rich program.
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.
The Care and Counsel Committee facilitates pastoral care for Minneapolis Meeting members and attenders, understanding the Quaker tradition that Friends minister to each other. If you are dealing with illness, grief, a major transition, or a stressful personal problem, we would like to be there for you. Contact committee co-clerks, John S, or Ellen S.
If a confidential discussion would support you as you make a decision, we will set up a clearness committee with you. Email John S. to explore that opportunity.
Other committee members are Mary G, and Jimbo L.
Thank you, Friends, for your generous financial support! Quickbooks shows that general funds income, from April 1 to date, is $112,300. Contributions of $6,680 per month, through March, are needed to meet the curtailed budget ($132,335). Contributions of $12,680 are needed per month, through March, to fund the aspirational budget ($150,320). If you would like to set up automatic contributions to the meeting, contact Mike F. or Carolyn V, co-clerks, Stewardship and Finance Committee.
OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER WORLD OF FRIENDS
“Silent No More: The Two-Spirit Journey” webinar – TODAY, Jan 19, 3-5PM(CT) online. Candi Brings Plenty (they/she), a trans, nonbinary, Two Spirit, Lakota parent as well as a Healing Justice practitioner whose parents are survivors of the boarding schools, and Jordan Decker (he/him), a Cherokee trans guy, are offering this powerful webinar to teach about their ancestral history, to expose the harm of today’s political climate, and to help participants learn how to change our future. They model simple language with people who say ignorant or hateful things about Two Spirit folks – speaking from a place of confidence, compassion, and heartfelt communication. Sponsored by Toward Right Relationships with Native Peoples / Friends Peace Teams. Register and more at https://friendspeaceteams.org/trr-two-spirit-jan-2025/
Right Sharing of World Resources will host a Right Sharing Conversation on Simplicity on Tues, Jan 21, 6:30PM(CT). Explore how simplicity manifests in our lives, and how its practice impacts our wider community and the world. Register via this google form.
American Friends Service Committee is starting a webinar series every third Tuesday night, starting Jan 21, 7-8:30PM(CT) around learning how to protect, resist, and build just peace, just migration, and just economies. See https://www.mobilize.us/afsc/event/746944/?ms=EMA24EM0517FR&emci=d33dbee3-efc9-ef11-88d0-0022482a9b45&emdi=e0e9bd39-55d4-ef11-88d0-0022482a9d92&ceid=953620 for more and to register.
Friends General Conference Annual Gathering, A Spring Whose Waters Never Fail, will be February 1-9, online only. Everyone – life-long Friends to Quaker newcomers – are welcome to attend! The Gathering provides an abundance of opportunities to learn about Quakerism, foster spiritual life, and have fun. Financial aid is available. Don’t delay – some workshops are nearly full! More at https://www.fgcquaker.org/fgcprograms/the-gathering/ Registration is now open! Jan 27 is the registration deadline
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/dates-fees
Palestine
* join Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) in calling for a ceasefire, de-escalation, and humanitarian access in Gaza. More at https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/51886/
* join AFSC every Friday at 11AM for an Action Hour for a Cease-fire Now.
* 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
* Charlie Underwood (Twin Cities Meeting) has put together a googledoc of activities and opportunities to educate yourself about and to support the ongoing struggle for Palestinian rights and peace. Find it here.
* An excellent presentation from Middle East Peace Now speaker, Khaled Elgindy, The Gaza Catastrophe: What Next for Palestine and Israel is available via You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgd8g0au4DI
OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY
MN Council of Churches Refugee Services will welcome nearly 1,000 newly arrived refugees to the Twin Cities over the next 12 months. Your support is necessary now more than ever to ensure that refugees in Minnesota are welcomed, supported, and given everything they need to thrive in the U. S. Particularly needed: donations of dish soap, shampoo, all-purpose cleaner, deodorant, and toilet paper. Contact Noah at noah.wilkerson(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)mnchurches.org or 651-724-0944, or drop off donations off between 8AM and 6PM weekdays at 122 Franklin Avenue W, Suite 100, Minneapolis MN, 55406.
MN Interfaith Power and Light is launching Quarterly Community Gatherings in 2025, with each gathering tied to rhythm of the seasons. These Quarterly Gatherings will: offer a framing of the climate justice movement in Minnesota; provide an orientation to MNIPL’s work and campaigns in ways that speak to seasoned activists and new folks who are wondering how to become involved; and invite you into opportunities for concrete and meaningful action. Be part of this new experiment Thurs, Jan 30th, 7-8:15PM, via Zoom. Register on the MNIPL website.
OFFICE HOURS
The Meeting Coordinator: Wed – Fri afternoons. Bulletin deadline, noon Thur.
The Children and Families Coordinator: Mon and Wed, 2:30-5PM; Thurs, 3:30-5PM; Sun, 9AM-2PM at the meetinghouse.