Religious Education Announcements Summer RE – There will be no RE on Sunday, August 31st, during the Labor Day holiday.
June 1st to end of summer – Young Friends Book Sale Young Friends will be collecting book donations for their Book Sale, which begins June 1st and continues throughout the summer. Proceeds will go towards a Quaker-themed Young Friends trip in the fall.
The following are the guidelines established by the Adult Spiritual Education Committee for funding scholarships to Quaker programs.
Adult Spiritual Education Committee Guidelines for Funding Scholarships
Each year Meeting sends a report to Baltimore Yearly Meeting that addresses the spiritual state of Meeting. The report is developed as a proposal by the Ministry and Worship Committee after a morning retreat with all members and attenders who choose to participate. The proposed report is considered in Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business (MWB). Revisions are made based on suggesions in that business meeting. After holding it over over one month for additional consideration, it is approved at MWB and then forwarded to BYM.
Richmond Friends Meeting–Spiritual State of the Meeting 2013
Approved 5/18/2014
2013 was a year marked by growth out of pain. Our community struggled with a traumatic event early in the year. This brought the Meeting together in a shared awareness of how we really care for one another. The bewilderment and the range of responses forced us to deepen spiritually, and re-build security in the community. In this way Meeting opened itself to being transformed. We sensed a deep and broad knowledge that should we develop a grave need, the Meeting would be there for us and hold us in the Light. There has been an awakening of sorts, a freshness and renewed energy. Our vocal ministry has been rich, and yet not overpowering. We found our spiritual state to be strong, deep and nurturing.
Our ongoing practice of holding business meeting during 11:00 a.m. Meeting for Worship continues to nourish us. Friends’ attentiveness to Spirit as part of our business process provides powerful witness to other Meetings. And there seems to be increased harmony in our coming to unity on actions and minutes. We do not try to rush the Spirit. We are learning to be balanced and engaged. We are patient, but we also know when it is time to act.
Messages in Meeting for Worship have been seasoned by individuals and committees and the Meeting community has responded in a focused, tender and caring manner. Adult spiritual education, the Spiritual Formation Program, and regular retreats, including our first men’s retreat, continue to be a source of rich spiritual flourishing. After deep listening and discernment in Meeting for Worship, these leadings, messages and inquiries have led to broader themes and further investigation. These programs and Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business have given newcomers and attenders a new point of access to the community.
We are prospering. Numbers of those attending Meeting, educational events, and Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business continue to increase, and we are also challenged to be more welcoming to new people in Meetings for Worship. Our committee system works well. Friends speak to their Quaker spiritual life having deepened through the work they do on committees. As embodied spirits, we also appreciate the tangibles provided by the community of caretakers – oiling the benches, hospitality, tending of the garden outside, the library, etc.
We are encouraged that we have many children participating in the life of our Meeting, and we yearn for more Young Friends to be present in Meeting for Worship. We value our children and the vibrancy they bring to our Meeting and we need to continue to find ways to invite youth into the life of the Meeting.
Some of us wonder how we can better live in the world as Quakers. How do we better integrate our social action and spiritual witness? What does it mean to be likeminded? There are signs that we are becoming more open to a diversity of theological perspectives. Messages in Meeting for Worship have changed as Friends become more comfortable in using the language of spirituality. But are we inclusive and respectful to those with different political values, both within and outside our community? Should we be more visible as Quakers in the world? Do we have the courage to wear it on the outside? Can we live the Quaker Way of speaking truth to power – speaking truth in love? There is a calling for greater visibility amongst our Meeting. Finally, as we come closer to discerning our marriage equity minute, five couples previously married under the care of our Meeting, but not legally married in the Commonwealth of Virginia, had legal civil marriages outside the state this year.
Follow this link to thee RFM Financial Stewardship Committee’s document that guides how Meeting deals with financial issues.
Meeting Electronic File and Document Repository (Committee Files/Financial Stewardship)