Metro Friends Winter 2002 Event

2001 Summer Metro Friends Picnic

A picnic for all Twin Cities Area Friends was held on Thursday 02 August 2001 from about 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Baird's Plaissance overlooking Lake Harriet. Activities included sharing a potluck supper and music provided by the EarthQuakers. The latter ensemble played and also led group singing.

2001 Winter Metro Friends Event

The program details follow.

2:30 - 3:00 p.m.: Doors Open and Group Singing with Paul Landskroener

3:00 - 4:30 p.m.: Panel Discussion moderated by Paul Landskroener:
  Topic: Nurturing, Sharing, and Receiving Gifts of the Ministry
  This will be followed by time for questions.
Panel members are scheduled to be:
  Cannon Valley - Corinne Matney; St Croix Valley - Ed Stevens;
  Prospect Hill - Ralph Jacobson; Minneapolis Friends - John Stuart;
  Twin Cities - Dorothy Thompson, Alex Holzinger.

4:45 - 5:45 p.m.: Presentation from Jon and Angelika Shafer about their NYM Sponsored Trip to El Salvador Yearly Meeting

6:00 - 6:45 p.m.: Friends reporting on Past and Future Trips to Cuba

7:00 - 9:00 p.m.: A Cuban Dinner

Minneapolis Friends Meeting House, 4401 York Avenue South, Minneapolis

Child care will be available.
RSVP for dinner to Linda Harding, (612) 824-5687.
RSVP for child care to Raquel Wood, (612) 379-7386.

In addition to the program, the Metro Friends Coordinating Committee wants to have the "Wall of Appreciation" posted again for comments, etc. They might have other means of getting some good quotes before people such as on the walls or tables.

A picnic was held during the summer of year 2000.  No details are noted here due to inactivity in maintaining this web site.

The annual Winter Event planned by the Metro Friends Coordinating Committee occurred in the afternoon and evening of Saturday, 5 February 2000.  This Gathering which was titled:  Gifts Differing -- How Discern? How Nourish? was held at the Twin Cities Friend Meetinghouse.  The program included the following: a panel discussion of By the Grace Given Us.  (Representatives from each Metro Meeting spoke on the topic of how gifts have (and haven't) been acknowledged and nourished within their Meeting.)  This was followed by small groups that practiced Worship sharing in response to the panel discussion and on the following queries: How have your gifts been acknowledged and used by the Meeting? How have you acknowledged and nourished gifts of others in your Meeting? There also was a special group discussion about Acknowledging Gifts for Ages 6-16.

After a potluck dinner, members of the Minneapolis Friends Cuba project reflected on their experiences.  The evening ended with a variety show which also was a form of sharing of gifts.  In some sense it returned to the first theme  of the Gathering which opened with the music and story of The Clown of God.

The annual Winter Event planned by the Metro Friends Coordinating Committee was held on Saturday, 6 February 1999, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event occurred at the Minneapolis Friends Meeting House at York Avenue and 44^th Street. The program, titled Whence Cometh Our Help? explored issues around ministry. In addition to a panel, a talk and discussion with other Friends, there was an opportunity to learn more about the ministry of the Cuba Project, have a Cuban dinner and enjoy live Caribbean music.

The following presents more details of the program and activities. From 3:00 to 4:45 p.m. a Panel representing the various Monthly Meetings discussed Nurturing, Sharing and Receiving Gifts of the Ministry. A discussion following the panel was  facilitated by Rosalie Wahl.  After a brief intermission for a snack, a talk, Developing Gifts: How do You View God's Role in the Ongoing Life of the Meeting?, was presented by Mike Resman of the Rochester, MN Meeting.  He also led a discussion following his presentation.  There was  another brief break from 5:45 pm to 6:00 pm.  Thereafter, several members of the Minneapolis Meeting who plan to go to Cuba, discussed the Cuba Project including their plans and ways to help.

From 7:00 p.m. on, there was A Cuban Dinner eaten by about 150 persons.  This was followed by a mixture of Live Caribbean Music and Stories about Cuba.  This part of the Winter Event also served as a highly successful fund raiser for the Cuban project.

A picnic for Metro Area Friends was held on 30 July 1998 at Indian Mounds Regional Park in Saint Paul.

All Friend's Day, an annual event within Northern Yearly Meeting, was hosted in 1998 by Minneapolis Friends Meeting. Johan Mauer, General Secretary of Friends United Meeting was the guest speaker. The dates were Friday, April 24^th through Sunday April 26^th. The topic, The Evolution of Quakerism, was presented by guest speaker, Johan Maurer

The heart of Friends spirituality, according to Johan Maurer, is radical hospitality and profound spiritual intimacy. These themes are keys to our joyful idealism, but are also linking to one of the most agonizing challenges of community-building: where do we put the boundaries? Johan listened to us and spoke to us on these themes of hospitality, intimacy and boundaries among Friends, using case studies from local meetings and from Friends United Meeting's work in Kenya, Palestine and Russia.

Last year's Metro Friends Winter Event was held on Saturday, 21 February 1998, from 3 to 9 p.m. at the Twin Cities Friends Meeting House. The theme was Quaker Ministry: Contradiction or Connection? The last hour before the potluck dinner included special interest groups. One of them discussed our presence on the World Wide Web. The current page is a direct outcome of that discussion.

• Minneapolis Friends Meeting.
• Prospect Hill Friends Meeting (Saint Paul)
• Saint Croix Valley Friends Meeting (Stillwater)
• Twin Cities Friends Meeting (Saint Paul)
• Cannon Valley Friends Meeting (Northfield)

Cannon Valley Monthly Meeting gathers for worship (unprogrammed) at 10 am each Sunday at Laura Baker School, 211 Oak St. First Day School and childcare are available during worship. On first Sunday of each month, meetings and potlucks are held in homes. Call Nancy Cantwell, (507) 645-4603, or Corinne Matney, (507) 663-1048.

• Eau Claire Friends Meeting (Wisconsin)
• Quakers in general (Friends)
• Friends for a Non Violent World (FNVW)
• Friends School of Minnesota (FSM)
• Friends General Conference (FGC)
• FGC Gathering 2000 (Gathering)
• Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)
• American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
• Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC)
• MN Fellowship of Reconciliation (MNFOR )