by Diane Bowden | Aug 15, 2016 | Adult Spiritual Education
The following events will be held in the Community Room and will conclude at 10:45 in time for Meeting for Worship. For more information, click the corresponding event on the Calendar page of this website.
Sunday, August 28 at 9:30 am
Topic: The Radical Christianity of Early Quakers
Presenter: Rita Willett
Sunday, September 25 at 9:30 am
Topic: Clearness Committees: An Amazing Quaker Process
Presenters: Barbara Myers and Monica Shaw
Sunday, October 23 at 9:30 am
Topic: Lobbying for Peace: People Power to Help Extinguish the Middle East Fire.
Presenter: Kate Gould, Legislative Representative for Middle East Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation.
Co-sponsored by the Committee for Peace and Social Concerns.
by Diane Bowden | Jul 7, 2016 | Adult Spiritual Education
July 10th Spiritual Book Sharing. This coming Sunday you have the opportunity to share a spiritual book that has affected your life. Those who choose to share will have three minutes to give a summary of the meaning their book has for them. You are encouraged to come and listen and ask questions even if you do not have a book to share. Coffee and cookies served prior to our beginning at 9:30 in the Community Room.
by Diane Bowden | Jun 22, 2016 | Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Testimonies
(From the Baltimore Yearly Meeting Working Group on Racism)
“For far too long, society has treated minority groups from a deficit analysis, focusing on what they lack rather than what they add. Institutions have reacted to racial tensions instead of proactively creating inclusive spaces. We have taught people how to adjust to an unacceptable status quo instead of sharing the legitimate means to challenge injustice. By not taking the time to listen to people, we have let efficiency trump listening and allowed limited diversity to supplant real equity at the table, at the lectern, and in the boardroom….
“We all have good will, but we must move beyond good will. Universities can help improve a sense of belonging by setting clear goals, fostering inclusive environments, and challenging negative stereotypes about certain groups. We have to create structures that ensure participation of minority groups in decisions. We need to model and teach the competencies of deep listening and respectful dialogue across differences. We must also determine how to work cooperatively to transform deeply embedded practices that have created barriers to belonging.”
Excerpts from an article by Julio Frenk, “Why We Need a ‘Scholarship of Belonging’,” published in the May 20, 2016, Chronicle of Higher Education. Julio Frank is president of the University of Miami and former dean of Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
This column is prepared by the BYM Working Group on Racism (WGR) and sent to the designated liaisons at each Monthly and Preparative Meeting for publication in their newsletter or other means of dissemination. The WGR meets most months on the third Saturday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Locations vary to allow access to more Friends. If you would like to attend, on a regular or a drop-in basis, contact clerk David Etheridge, david.etheridge@verizon.net.
by Diane Bowden | Jun 19, 2016 | Uncategorized
Richmond Friends Meeting (RFM) uses a monthly newsletter, email messages and a website to communicate with the Meeting community and beyond. The list below describes the ways we communicate, how to receive communications, and how to submit information.
RFM Newsletter – The monthly RFM Newsletter is published as paper copies and PDF files.
Paper copies are made available at the meetinghouse for visitors and newcomers and also mailed to a limited number of friends on a postal mailing list. To reduce costs and paper use, friends with computer access are asked to receive PDF file copies by email.
PDF file copies are 1. sent by email to the e-Newsletter list (see below) and 2. posted on the RFM website on the Life of the Meeting page. (Note: Personal contact information for everyone, and specifics about children, are redacted from the website PDF version.)
e-Newsletter List – A list of email addresses is used to send out PDF copies of the newsletter. Note: the e-Newsletter list is different from the Newslist aka listserv. The e-Newsletter list is used only to distribute the electronic newsletters. This allows newcomers, visitors and far-away friends to receive our newsletter by email without receiving all the emails from the Newslist.
To receive the newsletter by email, subscribe to the e-Newsletter list by sending an email to enewsletter@richmondfriends.org.
Newslist aka listserv – A list of email addresses used to email all announcements, news and documents such as the agenda for a meeting), except for the newsletter.
To receive RFM communications (not including the newsletter) by email, subscribe to the email distribution list by sending an email to newslist@richmondfriends.org.
RFM Website – The website at richmondfriendsmeeting.org has public pages devoted to basic information about RFM, a calendar and list of events, postings with news, articles, documents (including the newsletter), and information about The Clearing (the retreat facility operated under the care of RFM). It also provides access to a password-protected section with meeting and committee documents.
How to Submit News and Information
For the newsletter: Send email to the Newsletter editors at RFMNewsletter@gmail.com.
For the Newslist aka listserv: Send email to moderator@richmondfriends.org. Note: content must be pre-formatted and ready to send as email.
For the RFM website: Send email to webclerk@richmondfriends.org.
by Diane Bowden | Jun 14, 2016 | Peace and Social Concerns
From the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends:
June 14, 2016
“How deeply we are connected.”
A Prayer in response to the shootings at Pulse in Orlando.
Friends believe there is that of God in all people. To intentionally harm another—with our actions, our words, or our policies—is to separate ourselves from God. We are here to love one another and to be loved as God loves us, and as Jesus teaches. We are not whole without each other.
To those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual and queer, whose place of safety has again been targeted and attacked, we stand with you in love. We pray for love big enough to hold us all.
We seek to create a world in which all people are unconditionally loved and cared for, as God unconditionally loves and cares for each of us.
We call on people of all faiths, and no faith, to recommit to the work of ending homophobia and transphobia within our faith communities, our neighborhoods, and our nation. The rhetoric of exclusion, of separateness, and of hate creates a culture that gives rise to acts of terror. We know the power of God’s love is great and that we are called to make manifest that love in the face of hate. We believe that God never calls any person, communion or community to hate or to engage in violence.
We know God’s love extends fully and unconditionally to all who are GLBTIAQ, to all who are Latinx, to all who are Muslim, to all who some in our culture would denigrate or deny full humanity.
We stand with all those who call for this moment in our nation to be a catalyst for greater love, stronger community, and a justice that heals and unites. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King).
Fritz Weiss, Presiding Clerk
Sarah Gant, Clerk of Permanent Board