Among Friends March.qxd - Duluth-Superior Friends Meeting

AMONG FRIENDS
Duluth-Superior Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
March 2004
1802 East 1st Street in Duluth
218-724-2659
http://duluth.quaker.org/
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
March 21
March 29
First Day Meeting for Worship..Sundays 10-11 AM
First Day School……….......….Sundays 10-11 AM
CALENDAR
Meeting for Business: First Sunday of the month
following Meeting for Worship
Adult Education : Second Sunday 11;15 AM
Potluck: Third Sunday of the month following
Meeting for Worship
Youth Worship: First & Third Sunday of the month
Songs of Worship: First & Third Sunday, 9:30-10 AM
BUILDING EVENTS:
Dances of Universal Peace, First Sat. of Month
FRIENDS COMMITTEES
Clerk: Lise Abazs
Treasurer: Michael Koppy
Recording Clerk: Sara Mannetter
Ministry & Counsel: Mary-B Newcomb, Gloria Piché,
Drew Mannetter, Bob McFarland
First Day: Patti Harper, Lorraine Turner, Jacqui Welch,
Bonnie Williams
Peace & Social Concerns: Jay Newcomb
Building Committee: Dave From, David Harper,
Michael Koppy , Jay Newcomb
Meetinghouse Committee: Dorthea Diver,
Mary-B Newcomb, David Abazs
Adult Education: Konnie LeMay, David Osborne and
Gary Boelhower.
Newsletter Deadline: Wednesday following Meeting
for Business. To send items for the newsletter or to receive
the newsletter via e-mail contact us by
Email: [email protected]; fax: 715-372-5105;
call 1-800-945-5782. Mail to: Barry & Alice Hanson, 3194
S. Smith Creek Road, Maple WI 54854.
April 1
Young Adult Education
Quakerism 101 by MaryB
Newcomb. Geared to those
attending Meeing less
than one year. All welcome.
Young Adult Education
Guided Centering
Guided Centering occurs
on the 1st and 3rd Sunday
during the first 15 minutes of Worship. Please
make an attempt to arrive
on time for this as to not
disturb the overall flow
of the centering. Please
share with First Day committee your thoughts or suggestions regarding
this exercise.
Emma Maria
Bonnie Williams, husband Tom and
daughter Anna are delighted to
announce that Emma Maria was born
at home on Sunday, February 1st. She
is perfect and beautiful in every way!
"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
The Soul that rises with us, our life's star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting
And cometh from afar;
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
>From God, who is our home."
William Wordsworth
Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
Duluth-Superior Monthly Meeting of Friends
March 7, 2004
Friends Present: Lise Abazs (Clerk) Dorothea Diver,
David Harper, Mary Alice Harvey, David Abazs,
Michele Flatau, Brian Capps, Nyasha Spears,
Michael Koppy, Claer Dethmers, Don Klaber, and
Sara Mannetter.
Ministry and Counsel CommitteeBrian Capps and Nyasha Spears have submitted a letter to the Clerk seeking to get married under the care
of Meeting. The Meeting is looking forward to this
joyous event.
Adult Education CommitteeGnostic gospels was well attended and it went very
well. Since Adult Education programs have been
engaging and worthwhile, it was brought up in conversation that a set schedule would be helpful for
those who would like to attend Adult Education on
the 2nd Sunday after Meeting for Worship. Claer will
approach the committee members for a schedule of
topics.
First DayFirst Day is soliciting feedback regarding the guided
centering occurring on the 1st and 3rd Sundays at the
beginning of Meeting for Worship. Please share with
committee members your thoughts.
Also, please take care to remember that on the 1st and
3rd Sundays Young Adult 1st Day School is led by
David Abazs and Mary B. on the 1st Sunday of the
month and Adult Education Committee members on
the 3rd Sunday of the month.
Meeting also would like to thank the work of this
committee. Preparing lesson plans for ages that range
from infant and up is challenging and an observation
or suggestion shared at Meeting for Business was to
have young children (3 and younger) have the freedom to play quietly in the play room as to allow the
first day teacher to proceed in an undisruptive manner. Lize will approach First Day Committee with his
observation.
Page 2
Building Committee-David Harper
A new water heater was installed. The committee is
waiting until Spring to begin other building projects.
Michael Koppy will use the current wording of our
outside sign when building a new one. It will read:
Duluth-Superior Friends Meeting (Quaker)
Worship & First Day School
Sunday 10:00 A.M.
All are Welcome
724-2659
Dorothea reported that we did lose a couple of tenants
and that we have not seen a lot of activity in the past
two months.
Dorothea also wanted to give thanks to the Building
Committee whose membership is quite small but the
fruits of their labor has been large given the amount
of work that has been accomplished. Meeting agreed
and wanted to thank them as well. As we look ahead
to a Spring Workday, please consider this an opportunity to give back to the Meetinghouse by working on
small projects that really make a difference.
Treasurer’s Report: Michael Koppy
Michael passed around reports for January and
February. It was apparent to Meeting for Business that
we have not met contribution expectations for neither
January nor February. It was agreed that this shortfall
of $700-800 needed to be addressed and that we
would ask the Ad Hoc Financial Committee to look
into this and that Meeting looks forward to hearing
the dialogue regarding this particular concern and the
other dialogue from this committee at the next
Meeting for Business.
There was a meeting with Jonathon Harper regarding
his trip to Nicaragua. Jonathon has done an excellent
job working to raise money for his trip. The committee that met with him recommended to assist him with
whatever final need he may have. The committee also
discussed with Jonathon options for presenting his
experience to the Meeting.
Miscellaneous:
Meeting is looking for a new representative for the
Arrowhead Interfaith Council. They meet on the first
(Minutes continued)
Tuesday of the month from 3:30-5:30 P.M. Their
mission is to be a voice for justice in the Arrowhead
region and to promote opportunity for interfaith dialogue and learning. The current focus of the Council
is to provide a Chaplaincy at the Corrections
Institution. The board term is 3 year. Please contact
Lise Abazs if interested.
The topic of looking for a new representative sprung
forth a conversation about what is our role as a
Meeting in the larger community. It was felt that this
dialogue should be guided by the Social Concerns
Committee. Lise will contact the Committee.
Respectfully submitted by Sara Mannetter, Recording Clerk
Meeting For Business Attendance
To provide a meaningful and full conversation for
Meeting for Business, Meeting encourages committee
members to regularly attend Meeting for Business.
Query
Be aware of the spirit of God at work in the
ordinary activities and experience of your
daily life. Spiritual learning continues
throughout life, and often in unexpected ways.
There is inspiration to be found all around us,
in the natural world, in the sciences and arts,
in our work and friendships, in our sorrows as
well as in our joys. Are you open to new light,
from whatever source it may come? Do you
approach new ideas with discernment?
Quaker Faith & Practice, Britain
Arrowhead Interfaith Council
Representative Needed
Meeting is looking for a new representative for the
Arrowhead Interfaith Council. They meet on the first
Tuesday of the month from 3:30-5:30 P.M. Their mission is to be a voice for justice in the Arrowhead
region and to promote opportunity for interfaith dialogue and learning. The current focus of the Council
is to provide a Chaplaincy at the Corrections
Institution. The board term is 3 year. Please contact
Lise Abazs if interested.
NYM Diversity Training a Big Success
Meeting was lucky to have Michele Flatau attend
the Diversity Training and she was able to provide a short synopsis to Meeting for Business.
She participated in various exercises to get to
the root issues of diversity, diversity in the broadest sense of the word. Through these various
exercises participants were able to come to a
leveling point and recognize that though the suffering differs, all individuals and groups suffer
and that the recognition that all of us are human
and to truly see the light in each person/group
gets to the root issues needed to move forward.
It was agreed that it would be helpful to this
Meeting to have diversity explored, expressed,
recognized and acknowledged in order to move
forward to true unity and peace.
There was discussion about opportune times to
bring this experience to the Meeting. It was suggested that we could mesh this with Adult
Education for a series of presentations in the
Spring as well as possibly something as well during our Mesaba Retreat. Lise and/or Michele will
bring this up to Adult Education for feedback. It
was thought that we could have the first in a
series of three presentations occur on the 4th
Sunday in April with the understanding that those
committed and interested in this process commit
to attending all three sessions.
Page 3