Adult Spiritual Education is resuming Spiritual Formation this fall!
We are all pilgrims on a journey, taking different routes to the same destination. We are all seekers on a quest, searching for that which is greater, and our relationship to it, hoping to arrive at the Ground of Our Being. Along the way, we encounter other pilgrims and share the experience in moments of sacred intersection that feed our spirit, deepen our experience, strengthen our resolve, and build community. This is the Spiritual Formation Program. And we invite you to journey with us.
There are many ways to get involved:
If you wish to participate, a table at Potluck will be sponsored by Adult Spiritual Education Committee on September 27th. We hope you will join us to learn more!
Imagine being greeted with a wide smile and sense of anticipation from your student when arriving at your classroom. This has been true for me – a wonderful experience of being a volunteer mentor — spending time with and getting to know my sweet kindergartener this past year. I’m grateful for the opportunity and I look forward to participating again in the fall. It’s an experience you don’t want to miss!
If you have one or two hours a week to spare and would like a chance to make a meaningful contribution in the community, consider joining our team of volunteer mentors at Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary School. Most of the students at Redd come from low-income families, primarily Latino or African-American. Many are immigrants. All could benefit from a consistent friendly presence in their lives.
Mentors commit to weekly visits with assigned students in kindergarten through 5th grade. You can choose the day and time to volunteer and which grade level you’d prefer to work with. We often meet during the students’ lunch break. Some of us meet with more than one student at a time, or meet individually with multiple students.
Whether playing games together, making art, reading or making conversation, we are helping students to build social and emotional skills that support their academic development. And we are having fun doing it!
We plan to hold an in-person orientation for new volunteers sometime in September. If you are interested in learning more about our experiences, please contact Lynda Perry, Kathryn Newland, or any of our other volunteers: Marjorie Bertolino, Mike Cluverius, Danni Kong, Mary Beth Martin, and Janet Thoroman. We will be welcoming at least two new volunteers this fall, and we hope to welcome you also.
This volunteer mentor opportunity is truly a valuable experience. Please join us!
Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) Global Day of Action: Saturday, September 19, 8:45 to Noon
Worship made visible: head, heart, hands & voices
Join the collaboration of QEW, Sierra Club Falls of the James Group & AFSC Love as Action for a local trash cleanup (location coming!) including breakfast snacks and a short meeting for worship!
A QEW Day of Action – twice yearly in Fall and Spring – envisions Meetings creating a locally organized community event where Friends choose an action that fits its own land, gifts, needs, and community and gather in love, listen to the Spirit, care for the land and one another, and let our worship be visible.
Why do humble actions as a community? This Day of Action is a way for Friends to:
More information is forthcoming from Barb Adams and Diane Bowden.
Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) is a network of Friends (Quakers) in North America working on Earthcare concerns. We work to inspire Spirit-led action toward ecological sustainability and environmental justice and a spiritual transformation in our relationships with each other and the natural world. As all our communities are being impacted more and more by the climate crisis, we feel an urgent leading to share our witness.
The Adult Spiritual Education committee will host a one-hour Reading Between the Lines (Bible Workbench) on First Day, September 6, from 9-10 am, through Zoom. We’ll discuss both Romans 12: 19-21 (“When you are wronged, do not seek revenge. Instead, leave room for the judgement of God…”) and Matthew 18, 15-20: What is a respectful way to handle conflict between two people in a community? How do we resist the temptation of making false assumptions? The facilitator will send the zoom link through the Newslist several days before our meeting.
Ready for some Peace Raising? Ready to wage some peace?
Ready to focus on Nurturing Our Community: Body Mind and Spirit?
Or would you like to just picnic in the park with a few hundred like-minded folk?
Come to PeaceFest, Sunday, September 20 between 1 and 5 at the Byrd Park Roundhouse.
Richmond Friends Peace and Social Concerns is inviting all F/friends to participate!
Set up, table, make art, dance, sing, tell about how Peace Is Lived and Love Is Action. Committees, especially Religious Education and Race and Racism are invited to participate.
For close to 50 years, Richmond Peace Education Center (RPEC) has brought Richmond nonprofits and artists together in a positive, supportive, educational festival to promote peace and cooperation. For 15 years (with a hiatus for the pandemonium) RPEC has hosted, with the support of our Meeting and other groups, a Peace Festival to celebrate the International Day of Peace.
This event is VERY family friendly! … and it will be bigger this year, with a compelling theme and truly diverse presentations bolstering “Nurturing Our Community: Body Mind and Spirit. ”
Our Meeting will have a table/booth, and we need a few folks to help set up, staff, and break it down that day. Even a couple hours would be very helpful.
Our rep to RPEC, Patricia Stansbury, can provide more information and help you find your niche in this celebration.
Imagine spending a few quiet hours in a beautiful setting with Friends. Ministry and Worship is hosting a half-day silent retreat at The Clearing on Saturday, September 26 from 9:30 to 1:30. This is an opportunity for the community to experience and experiment with extended silence for more than an hour!
We will have a loose agenda for the day, mainly focused on quiet personal contemplation:
Plan to bring your lunch, and supplies for contemplative practices like journaling. Please reach out to Mason Mairead for any questions.
Tuesday, November 3, 2026, is Election Day, the final date to vote in person.
Here are other DEADLINES:
All of the above plus finding your polling place is at:
https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation
On The Ballot:
Three Virginia Constitutional Amendments:
Vote for your U.S. Senator from Virginia:
Mark Warner (D, Incumbent) vs. Bert Mizusawa (R)
Vote for your U.S. House Representative:
Find your district https://www.vpap.org/localpolitics/
District 1: Shannon Taylor (D) vs. Rob Wittman (R, Incumbent)
District 4: Jason Brown II (I), vs. Andre Odell Kersey (I), vs. Jennifer McClellan (D, Incumbent)
District 5: Cooke Costa Harvey (I) vs. John McGuire (R, Incumbent) vs. Tom Perriello (D) vs. Chris Register (I)
Want To Work at the Polls or Have a Concern?
Prepared by Monica Shaw, clerk of the VICPP Working Group.
The trustees will be facilitating a workshop on end-of-life planning on October 11 at rise of Meeting. (Food will be provided). The trustees as well as members of the Financial Stewardship, Care & Counsel, and Ministry & Worship Committees will be providing information and answering your questions about end-of-life planning.
Examples of topics will be reserving Hollywood Cemetery plots, leaving assets to Meeting, memorial worship services, memorial receptions, memorial minutes, etc. Contact Trustee Roni Kingsley with questions.
On Sunday August 30, at 12:30 PM (rise of meeting), there will be a Listening Circle to consider the topic of “prejudice and discrimination” as it is discussed in Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s Faith and Practice. Sections of Faith and Practice covering that topic will be revised soon. Each meeting has been asked to offer suggestions about the revision. While our specific purpose is to help shape the revision, we anticipate a rich time of sharing among Richmond Friends.
This document has relevant text from both the 1988 BYM Faith and Practice (2025 version) and the 2013 BYM Resource on Faith and Practice. You may want to review these texts, or bring this topic to your committee or working group in advance of the August 30 Listening Circle. Ministry and Worship welcomes input from individuals and committees in addition to our Listening Circle.
Care and Counsel Committee will host the annual New Baby / New Member Welcome coffee on September 13, 2026 at rise of Meeting. We will welcome Elliot Tuggle who was born to Anna Best and Brad Tuggle on March 24,2026. Come and greet Elliot and parents. Although a special time to welcome our new members, this is also an opportunity to get to know those who have joined us as attenders.
Summer Committee-Led Lessons
The RE Committee would like to extend a very sincere “Thank you!” to the RFM committees taking over RE classes this summer. Each week, the children are learning from a different committee or working group. Not only do children have the opportunity to learn about the life of the Meeting, but they are also building intergenerational connections. Thank you, committees!
Community Submissions Requested by the WWG
The Willow Working Group (ages 9-17) and RE Committees are working on two special projects, and we need your help! Each person’s contribution will make these projects richer.
First, we want you to share your favorite memories of The Clearing with us. Did a special connection with humans or nature impact your life in some way? These are the treasures we are seeking! We are also accepting a limited number of special photos.
Second, Zoe Garrett will be attending Westtown High School in West Chester, PA this fall. We are asking everyone, maybe even if you don’t know her very well, to write a letter to Zoe and place it in a sealed envelope. We welcome you to share anything that may bring joy, comfort, or encouragement to a young person living far away from family and friends for a season.
The deadline for both projects is August 9.
How can you turn in your submissions? You have options!
Drop them in the Religious Education mailbox at RFM.
Give your paper(s) directly to Elizabeth Price.
Call, Text, Mail or Email Elizabeth Price
Wayne Taylor Reflection, Coffee Day & Global Forgiveness Day
After learning about Sadako & her 1000 cranes, some of our children have continued to fold paper cranes. We would like to extend this experience to all of RFM. In honor of Global Forgiveness Day and the Wayne Taylor Reflection, Danni Kong & the RE Committee invite anyone interested to fold origami peace cranes. Bring your cranes on August 2nd to exchange with or pass out to those in attendance.
Link to How-To Video: https://youtu.be/RdMNeee3Re8?
Introduction to Neurodiversity, a presentation by the Autism Society of Central Virginia will be held in the community room on Saturday, August 29th from 10 am to Noon. This is RE’s annual workshop and Teacher Planning Day. Register by adding your name to one of the sign-up sheets on the bulletin board or letting Elizabeth Price know you plan to attend.
The morning session, Introduction to Neurodiversity, will be a presentation by the Autism Society of Central Virginia beginning at 10AM. It is for anyone who is interested in learning more about neurodivergence and how to better interact with children who see the world differently than we.
The session will include:
The afternoon will be a time for teachers to prepare for fall classes. If you plan to teach or assist in an age-related classroom, please plan to meet with your co-volunteers to begin planning for classes beginning September 13!
Diane Bowden, RFM’s liaison to the American Friends Service Committee, will inform the community on recent actions of the AFSC during a program at 9:30 am on August 16 in the community room. Among the questions to be addressed: What is AFSC doing regarding the immigration crisis? How might we as a community be helpful? All are welcome to attend. The Race and Racial Justice Team, sponsors of the event, will provide coffee and muffins.
Care is Resistance
Food Boxes for Our Neighbors: Health Brigade is collecting culturally appropriate food boxes for Latine and Afghan immigrant patients and families. Many families are experiencing a new level of food insecurity as they are avoiding grocery stores and public spaces out of concern for increased ICE presence. These boxes can offer relief and a reminder that people care.
Lists of items requested for each culture are on each box. Please bring any thing you can to Meeting and place it in the boxes outside the Meeting room. Name brands or generic products are welcome. Rhonda Ligon will collect your donations and develop the boxes for each family to be delivered to Health Brigade.
Items may be purchased in many grocery stores. It is extremely helpful to the immigrant community to support a local business, such as Arco Iris Latino Market or Mis Pais Mart for Latin items, or Mantu Market and Watan Market for Afghan products. There are Latin and Afghan wishlists to be found on Amazon and Walmart online sites.
The Adult Spiritual Education committee will host a one hour Reading Between the Lines (formerly Bible Workbench) on First Day, August 2, from 9-10 am on Zoom. We’ll discuss the endings of two stories—Matthew 14:1-12 (the murder of Jesus’s cousin John the Baptist: “His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus”) and Matthew 14: 13-21: potential scarcity ending in overflow: “And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full”). The facilitator will send the zoom link through the Newslist a few days before the session.
With thanks to Steve Chase for his May 3 presentation on AFSC’s position on apartheid in Israel/Palestine, the Peace & Social Concerns Committee recommends that Meeting consider endorsing the Apartheid-Free Pledge below.
However, since this merits more explanation, and we anticipate some discussion within our meeting, before asking for approval and acceptance of the Pledge, we encourage Friends to attend the following:
The Pledge:
WE AFFIRM our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people;
WE OPPOSE all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression; and
WE DECLARE ourselves an apartheid-free community and to that end,
WE PLEDGE to join others in working to end all support to Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.
After due consideration by Meeting, the Committee anticipates bringing this to Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business in September.
Join Peace & Social Concerns Committee for lunch and fundraising for the Sacred Heart Center on July 12 at rise of meeting.
“Since 1990, the Sacred Heart Center has stood as a vibrant hub of hope and opportunity for Latino families in Richmond. Our mission is simple yet powerful—-to connect families with the tools, education, and support they need to thrive. Through empowerment, learning, and community connection, we create pathways to success and belonging for all.
“In Fiscal Year 2025, the Sacred Heart Center proudly served 9,558 community members through our core programs and initiatives—-a reflection of the trust and generosity of our donors, volunteers, and partners like you.”
The Adult Spiritual Education committee will host a one-hour Reading Between the Lines (Bible Workbench) on Sunday, July 5, from 9-10 a.m. on Zoom. We’ll discuss Matthew 11: 25-30: what does it take to be free of burdens imposed on us by someone else’s inaccurate perceptions, unjust systems, our own unhealed wounds? What is it to rest from burdens we consciously say “yes” to, and want to keep committing to? What about burdens caused by illness, natural disaster, things that happen to people we love? How do we start to become aware of unnecessary burdens we place on others? . . . The facilitator will send the Zoom link through the Newslist a few days before the meeting.
Looking to get out in this nice weather? Want to see immediate results to your efforts? Join the garden team for our June Meeting for Weeding is this Saturday, June 20, from 8:30-10:30 am. Come for as much time as you like. No tools, no problem. Our Meeting grounds are looking beautiful and you can help them stay that way. All ages welcome!
For more information: Plum Cluverius plum.cluverius@gmail.com
Juan Whittington died unexpectedly on Wednesday night, May 20 and we will have a memorial meeting for worship on Saturday, July 18 at 2 pm at the meetinghouse. The memorial meeting will be followed by a reception.
Please click this link to read Juan’s obituary: https://www.
Please join us for “Love as Action—Richmond.” This one-hour silent witness will be held on Sunday, June 14, at 1 pm in the median of Monument Ave between Commonwealth Ave and Westmoreland St. The action is publicly posted on the AFSC website and RFM social media, and all are welcome. If you plan to join us, please register: https://www.mobilize.us/afsc/event/956948/
Please bring a chair or blanket to sit on, water and a snack, a hat and sunscreen, maybe a hand fan, and prepare for an hour of silent protest. We have many signs ready for you as a result of our poster party last Sunday. The Visibility Team will have ice, water, lemonade, and snacks available under the canopy.
This action is in the median of Monument Avenue, a wide two-lane residential street with left turn lanes. Be careful and aware when crossing the street. If you decide to walk from the meetinghouse, please use Westmoreland St because there is a pedestrian crossing at both Patterson Ave and Monument Ave.
Parking is on the street, with side streets suggested. There are shade trees but be aware that a portion of the median is in the sun. The forecast for tomorrow is 94 degrees and humid.
Contact Beth Morrison to arrange for a ride from the meetinghouse to Monument Ave. Contact Diane Bowden with questions or for more information.
Continuing our focus on creating successful dialogue in multi-racial settings, the Race and Racial Justice Team will host a program on August 9 at 9:30 am in the community room. The topic will be: Describe a Courageous Conversation that you’ve had. What worked well? What didn’t? What can we learn from this experience? The format will provide opportunity for sharing personal experiences, as well as small and larger group discussion of some of the vignettes shared. We do not plan to offer food, only water. Please bring your own refreshments, as desired.
A memorial meeting to celebrate the life of Paula Powdermaker is scheduled for this Saturday, April 25th at 3 pm. The family invites you to a reception following the meeting. Food is not needed but flowers would be appreciated.
The Adult Spiritual Education committee will host a one-hour Reading Between the Lines (Bible Workbench) on Sunday, May 3, from 9-10 am through Zoom. We’ll discuss John 14:1-14: A few chapters before Jesus tells his friends and disciples “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” he says, “Now my heart is troubled.” What happened—between his own acknowledgement of feeling troubled and his being able to say, in soundness and clarity to others, “Do not let your hearts be troubled?” What internal work did he do? How was that enacted in his life? The facilitator will send the Zoom link through the Newslist a few days before the meeting.
Join us for workday at The Clearing, 9 am to 3 pm, bring a lunch, tools, sunscreen & insect repellent, and wear boots.
The Adult Spiritual Education Committee is hosting an introduction to Quakerism, “Quaker Curious?” on Saturday, June 6, from 11:00 am to Noon.
If you have friends or neighbors interested in learning more about Quakers, please encourage them to join us. For more information or questions, contact Bronwyn Hughes or any member of ASE.
Don’t miss the rescheduled May 3 discernment workshop on joining the Apartheid-Free Communities Coalition, to be held at Richmond Friends Meeting, in person and online.
An ice storm bumped our guest speaker from the February schedule, but now, fresh back from Israel/Palestine, Steve Chase will speak to Friends about nurturing a sustainable peace by ending our complicity with the US-backed system of apartheid in Palestine … how Quakers can work nonviolently and effectively for peace, justice, and equality for all Palestinians and Jewish Israelis.
On First Day, May 3rd, Steve will speak at 1:00, with ample time for questions and discussion. This will follow the usual 11:00 am worship, then snacks and finger food, at the Richmond Meetinghouse, 4500 Kensington Ave., Richmond 23221. Or all are invited to attend virtually at this zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Steve Chase is a long-time Quaker activist, educator, and writer. He is a member Friends Meeting of Washington and is FMW’s Liaison to the American Friends Service Committee. In 2017, he began his public ministry on seeking a just peace in Israel/Palestine with the publication of his Pendle Hill pamphlet #445, Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions? A Quaker Zionist Rethinks Palestinian Rights.
You are cordially encouraged to join our lively crew for a workday at The Clearing on Saturday, April 4 from 9 AM until as long as you want to stay. We will be doing various jobs such as gardening, painting, and window washing. Age and ability are not factors. Please come if you’re just looking for company. You may let either Joe Ball (973-309-4415) or Al Best (804-698-9624) know if you can make it.