May 25, 2025
WORSHIP AND PROGRAM SCHEDULE TODAY
10:00 – 11:00 AM meeting for worship (unprogrammed): care of meeting, Keitha Herron; Zoom host – Marilyn J.
Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org for the link to worship.
HOLD IN THE LIGHT
Bob Sanders, a 70-year-old Jewish, former reporter-turned-activist, who is cycling across the country this summer in a 4000-mile Ride Against War on Gaza (RAW GAZA) to protest Israel ethnic cleansing of Gaza and the West Bank and raise funds for humanitarian assistance and peace groups. Interested in learning more? Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org
NEWS FOR MINNEAPOLIS MEETING FRIENDS
NEW DIRECTORIES are now available! Those listed in the directory may have an electronic directory sent to them. Email office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org to request one. Paper copies are available from the Meeting Coordinator at the rise of worship TODAY.
There is mid-week worship every Wed night, 7PM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84938257185 (copy and paste into your browser); ID: 849 3825 7185.
Next Sunday, June 1, at the rise of worship: stay for Ministry and Counsel Committee’s Quaker Practice. A panel will explore a variety of perspectives and experiences of Quaker practice. Facilitated by Ministry and Counsel Committee, this is the third in a series of mid-morning programs. The first explored Quaker worship, the second, Quaker faith. Potluck will follow the program, starting at noon.
Come to a celebration to honor Carolyn VandenDolder for her many years of commitment to the Meeting. After nearly 25 years of dedicated work in the meeting office, our friend Carolyn has decided to retire from her role as Meeting Coordinator. Please join us in celebrating with her on June 8th at 12 noon, following meeting for business.
The Peace and Social Concerns Committee will meet tomorrow night, May 26, 7PM via Zoom. Everyone is welcome! Bring concerns you are working on – or are thinking to work on – and we’ll will see what support can be offered and generate ideas to bring people into your project or concern. Folks that merely want to listen and give support are MOST welcome, including those who don’t usually attend demonstrations and meetings yet want to be in a supporting role. Prayer? Holding in the Light? Consultation? Worship? Discernment? Whether you are Johnny-on-the-spot involved, you are, for whatever reason, unlikely to attend demonstrations or meetings in person, or you’re somewhere in-between, please come! Help build a witness combining social action with contemplation, as Quakers have over the centuries. ID: 899 1439 1038; passcode: 455959; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89914391038?pwd=WE1JOE9VdmpHWWJlSlVEMkFvSUprZz09.
The Shepherd Scholarship, created in 1977 by Roland and Zephra Shepherd, offers educational scholarships for members of a Quaker Meeting of at least five years standing, or their children. Interested adults and young adults can apply by filling out an application (available on the long table in the hall or on the website: https://minneapolisfriends.org/shepherd-scholarship-fund/) Application deadline, June 30. Return applications to the Shepherd Scholarship file in the blue box (on the long table) or email to Betsy S.
Attention committee clerks and recurring Zoom meeting hosts – these recurring Zoom meetings have been set to run until May, 2026: (office account) – LGBTQ group, P&SC, M&C; (re account) – Sharing the Spirit, writing group, mid-week worship, Women’s Healing Circle, W&O, Spiritual Nurture group B, C&F, (2nd Mon PM) EwL. If you do not see your meeting listed, contact the office with your desired meeting time. And remember to request continuation in April / May, 2026, shortly after the start of the 2026-27 service year.
Transition assistance: Minneapolis Meeting gets many notices around many areas of concern: clean energy initiatives, Indigenous rights, immigration rights, LGBTQ protection / rights, anti-nuclear work, Palestinian rights, anti-racism work, peace in Ukraine and more. If you would be willing to receive information from the office around these or other topics, and either disseminate it to interested others or create a bulletin announcement for it, please let the Meeting Coordinator know (office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org) so a list can be created for the in-coming Office Manager.
Contributions check-in: $11,500 in monthly contributions is needed to meet this year’s budget. Contributions to general funds in April totaled $11,176. Thank you, Friends, for your generous support of the meeting! You may now contribute to Minneapolis Meeting through a donate tab on the website. If you would like to set up automatic contributions to the meeting, contact Carolyn V, clerk of Stewardship and Finance Committee.
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 is focused on healing, in a broad sense, gathering at approximately 8:57; ten-minute worship beginning at 9:02. Try it out! ID: 859 3925 1575; passcode: 251345;
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85939251575?pwd=1aHrNcUclfw3o99kyDnc9nAwzwkYGU.1 (copy and paste the link in your browser.)
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 (copy and paste the link in your browser); ID: 821 7292 0370; passcode: 661188
Please join the monthly Conflict Soiree, meeting on Zoom , Tues, May 27, 3:30PM. This is an ongoing group and drop-in’s are always welcome! We explore conflict and difference in our individual lives and in the meeting. We propose that becoming more skillful and comfortable with difference might cause us to be more authentic peacemakers everywhere we go. Contact Nettie S. for a Zoom link. Questions: Ask John S, Kate W-J or Nettie.
The Watson Reading Group meets on the fourth Tues of each month, 7-8:30PM via Zoom. We are starting Becoming Wise, An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, by Krista Tippett. Most participants have a copy of the book available to them, but it is not mandatory. If you have interest in joining, please let John D. know.
The Joyful Aging group will take in a ball game in Miesville (halfway to Red Wing) on Sunday, June 1. Come have some classic summer fun, cheering the Mudhens as they play Northfield at 2PM. Leave from the meetinghouse at 12:30. Contact John Stuart for more: stuartjohn032(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)gmail.com
Smaller gathering schedule: Sharing the Spirit – M-W-F mornings; Lectio Divina – every Tuesday noon; Writing Group, first Monday night; Deep Inner Work of Racial Justice Group, second Tuesday night; LGBTQ Support Group, third Wednesday night; Reading Group, fourth Tuesday night; Conflict Soiree, last Tuesday afternoon.
OPPORTUNITIES AMONG FRIENDS
Registration for the first Friends General Conference Young Adult and Youth (YAY) Gathering – an intergenerational Quaker event for children, youth, teens, and young adults (0-35) – is June 1. YAY puts young people at the center while celebrating the gifts that each generation brings to our community. Games, stories, music, walks in the woods, campfires, conversations, puzzles, and most importantly, a spiritual community of people who practice generosity, kindness, and curiosity – all can be found in Clarkson, MI, July 2-6. Learn more about the gathering on the FGC website here. Registration, housing, fees, and financial aid info are also on the FGC website here.
Quaker Call to Action – Defending Our Democracy: Where Are We and What’s Next Zoom call will be Sun, Jun 1, 6-7:30PM(CT). Come for a candid conversation with Daniel Hunter, one of the foremost thinkers and trainers in the field of nonviolent direct action campaigns, particularly in resisting and preventing autocratic takeovers. He has trained pro-democracy movements in Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, India, and many other places. Register at https://quakercall.net/join-the-conversation
Be a part of People Camp, August 10-16! The theme will be How We WIN! Non-violent, direct action campaign planning. Author and activist, George Lakey, will be at camp to share his experiences as we investigate non-violent, direct-action campaigns and how to apply them to the work for today. People Camp is a week-long transformative experience of cooperation, community living, peacemaking , and the exploration of ideas and issues. For more, see https://www.fnvw.org/peoplecamp
Friends Committee on National Legislation continues to advocate for relief for Gaza, as the Israeli blockade of food, fuel, and medicine continues since March 2. Rep. Angie Craig, Betty McCollum, Kelly Morrison, and Sens. Klobuchar and Smith have signed Congressional letters calling for immediate relief. Thank these members of Congress with emails or phone calls, and ask them to speak out now and often.
From American Friends Service Committee: The Israeli government is starving Gaza to death. For over two months, the government of Israel—with full support from the U.S.—has illegally blocked almost all food, water, medicine, humanitarian aid, and commercial supplies from entering Gaza while it continues its extensive bombing across the Gaza Strip. AFSC invites you to a week of action, including a fast on Wed, May 28, World Hunger Day. See more at https://afsc.org/fast-gaza-week-action
Timmon Wallis, a life-long Quaker from MA with ties to Britain Yearly Meeting and Minneapolis, will be in town as part of a book launch for Nuclear Abolition: A Scenario at Magers and Quinn, May 28, 7PM. It’s part fact and part fiction, about eliminating nuclear weapons before they eliminate us. Please register beforehand at: https://www.magersandquinn.com/event/Timmon-Wallis-presents-Nuclear-Abolition/468 and there is also more information about the book and about the event on that page.
OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY
From the Robinsons to Floyd – The Long History that Got us Here, May 29, 6:30 – 8:30PM; Sabathani Community Center, Mpls. The Robinsons, the heart of the Star Tribune’s podcast “Ghost of a Chance,” help us deepen our understanding of how we got to where we are today, challenge us to confront the uncomfortable past, and help us think about our choices for the future. Sponsored in part by Minnesota Council of Churches.
Justice and Joy: Empowering Religious Support for Trans Lives; Fri, May 30, 9AM-3PM at United Theological Seminary, 767 N Eutis Str, Suite 140, St. Paul. Does your faith call you to speak up for those under attack right now, including non-binary and trans people? Learn why and how to speak out. Event is free, but register so lunch plans can be made: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScWNrBtkYhjfC2YyPKtv38S18VOr_GSf-ybIh2POcmbk4Rhrw/viewform
OFFICE HOURS
The Meeting Coordinator will be in the office Wed, Thurs and Fri, afternoons. Phone messages checked daily. Bulletin deadline, noon Thur. Phone items in to the office (612-926-6159), email (office(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)minneapolisfriends.org), or write and put in the bulletin file of the blue box.
The Children and Families Coordinator can be reached: Mon and Wed, 2:30-5PM and Thurs, 3:30-5PM at home; Sun, 9AM-2PM at the meetinghouse.