by Diane Bowden | Apr 12, 2022 | Announcement, Care and Counsel
With sadness, we record the death of Martha Leland Walker Owings on Friday, April 8, at Westminster Canterbury in Richmond. Lee Owings was raised in the Quaker faith and attended Richmond Friends Meeting after she and her husband relocated to the area a dozen or so years ago.
Lee was born in Indiana to Dr. John Walker and Helen Bacon Walker and was raised in Bucks County Pennsylvania. She graduated from Council Rock High School where she was on drill team, played basketball, and was a member of the student council. She graduated from Longwood College and taught in Virginia Beach before marrying and settling down to raise her family.
She and her husband, Irvin Owings III, had been residents of Westminster Canterbury for the past 12 years. She is survived by her husband and her three daughters, Elizabeth Bryant (John), Rebecca Zuck (David), Catherine Greco (Jeffrey) and five grandchildren.
A Celebration of Life will be scheduled at a later date. Bliley Funeral Home in Richmond is attending to details. Cards may be sent to Irvin Owings, 1500 Westbrook Court, Apt. 1132, Richmond, 23227.
by Diane Bowden | Apr 10, 2022 | Announcement
Thank you for joining us to celebrate the life of Karen Kain, whose time was tragically cut short in a fatal road accident on 4th March, 2022.
Karen lived an eclectic life - filled with art and music and friendship. She lived her life mindfully and selflessly with compassion and kindness. Above all, she loved community and sought to build it wherever she went. So it is fitting that her community now stretches across the world. Thank you for being a part of it. Karen was bought up Quaker, and we are so pleased to be celebrating her life with the Richmond Friends.
Please join us on 23rd April at 2pm for a memorial Meeting for Worship at which you may share your remembrances of Karen. Afterward, there will be an exhibition of Karen's art.
Richmond Friends may remember Karen from her time among us several years ago. She visited with us in the fall. For those who would like to know more about Karen's life, below is a link to a memorial held in Portland OR earlier in March.
Karen Kain Memorial Service Portland OR - YouTube
by Diane Bowden | Mar 24, 2022 | Announcement
Friends Association for Children is celebrating their 150th anniversary with a number of events this year. Because Richmond Quakers had a role in their founding just after the Civil War, they hope we can join in celebrating with them.
Information about upcoming 150th celebration events can be found at this website: https://friendsrva.org/150-2/
The first celebration will be held on Thursday, March 31, at 7:00 pm via livestream. This will be an evening of history, storytelling and music, including recognition of some founding partners. There is a $15 charge to gain access, and they are offering a $5.00 discount for Richmond Friends. You may purchase a ticket at the website above and, if you like, order food and/or beverage from the organization’s partners to enjoy while watching the show. To receive the
discount, please use this code, Society5, when registering.
Rising clerk Lynda Perry will be there in person; our historian Scott Selby has also been invited. We have recorded a congratulatory message from RFM that may aired on March 31, or later in the year. Lynda and Scott met with the executive director of Friends Association for Children, J. David Young, last month and shared what we know of the early history. Friends Janet Scagnelli and Elizabeth Smith helped in creating the message; Ada Hammer and Rita Willett helped with research.
by Diane Bowden | Mar 24, 2022 | Announcement
In recent weeks, many have become more relaxed about COVID, partly because many more of us have some degree of immunologic protection from the virus, both from vaccination, and the recent omicron surge, which seems to decrease risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID. Still, omicron still circulates and newer variants continue to be extremely transmissible.
As the COVID situation continues to change, we as a Meeting are staying the course, continuing our December Meeting for Business decision to use Virginia Department of Health (VDH) guidelines for risk assessment and corresponding recommendations for risk mitigation as the framework for developing guidance for use of the Meetinghouse during this time. We remain open to changing strategies as the COVID situation changes.
-- The three key mitigation tools are still masking, ventilation, and distancing. Committees responsible for group use of the meetinghouse are tasked with figuring out how best to implement those strategies for the level of risk in our locality at a given time. Ministry & Worship Committee’s deliberations have been most evident, since they are responsible for worship gatherings. They are considering risk and responsibility very carefully, leading to opening, closing, and re-opening in-person worship. Also by experimenting with taping off benches to
encourage adequate distancing.
-- With the VDH framework, Richmond and surrounding counties have remained in the “substantial” community transmission brackets. RFM has aligned with VDH and will remain so. When we move to a safer bracket, we will take appropriate action. Though not quickly, given Covid’s ability to change quickly.
-- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is now putting much greater emphasis on the burden on a community’s health care systems, reflecting that Omicron has caused more cases, but fewer hospitalizations. In the CDC system, communities are sorted into low, medium and high levels, and Richmond and surrounding counties have tended to be low or medium. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/community-levels.html,
-- While the new CDC brackets may be useful in your personal decisions, RFM remains committed to the VDH definition and recommendations. Ours must be a corporate rather than individual decision, recognizing that many of us are older and, for instance, statistically 80% of those over 65 have diabetes, heart conditions, or other issues that weaken their immune systems, even though they qualify for immunization. At the same time, we
strive to make in-person gathering a viable decision for as many of our community as possible.
The Covid Working Group applauds and appreciates everyone’s patience and offers any help we can provide as committees and others in meeting evaluate risk and implement strategies that continue our communal decision
by Diane Bowden | Mar 3, 2022 | Announcement
The Meeting House is open to in person worship beginning March 6th. 9:30 Meeting for Worship, 11am Blended Meeting for Worship, and monthly Meeting for Worship at the Clearing.
Masks recommended and social distancing required.