by Diane Bowden | Feb 17, 2025 | Activity, Adult Spiritual Education, Vocal Ministry
All of us have struggled with whether to stand up and give a message during Meeting for Worship. The Adult Spiritual Education (ASE) Committee is sponsoring a workshop to help us think about this struggle, by using the pamphlet, "On Vocal Ministry" by Barry Crossno and J. Brent Bell, which is available free to anybody who wants one. Here are two paragraphs to get you started:
Vocal ministry is a spiritual practice. That’s fortunate because, as with any practice, there is a body of knowledge and experience to turn to. In this pamphlet, we’ll lay out some principles found in that body of knowledge which can guide Friends in giving vital vocal ministry. By “vital vocal ministry” we mean messages that take the community of faith deeper into what is helpful, loving, challenging, and timeless. As George Fox said, “Friends, meet together and know one another in that which is eternal, which as before the world was.”
Meeting for worship is at the heart of Quaker faith and practice. Although our personal direct experience of the Divine is central to our individual spiritual lives, it is in communal worship that we gather together to hear the Voice that has spoken through the generations and still speaks today.
Copies of the Pendle Hill Pamphlet #460 are available in the RFM worship room foyers.
To reach as many people as possible, we are offering two similar workshop sessions:
- In person in the community room, Sunday, March 30, 9:30 am - 10:45 am
- On Zoom, Saturday, April 5, 10 am - 11:15 am
During both sessions we will be discussing the same questions which can be found at the end of the pamphlet, "On Vocal Ministry". Childcare is available on Sunday, March 30th at 9:15 am. Contact Monica Shaw with questions or concerns.
by Diane Bowden | Feb 15, 2025 | Activity
Are you interested in becoming a Faith & Play facilitator?
The Sandy Spring Friends Meeting Religious Education Committee is hosting a Faith and Play training taught by Melinda Wenner-Bradley, taking place at the Sandy Spring Meetinghouse, March 21-23. Faith and Play is a story-based spiritual formation curriculum for children. ALL members of the BYM community are welcome to register. Registration costs are covered by Adult Spiritual Education. Please let Kathryn Beaton or Elizabeth Price know if you are interested in attending. You may also reach out to recoord@sandyspring.org. Flyer with more detailed information can be found here: Playing-in-the-Light-flyer-SSFM-March-2025.pdf
Volunteer Opportunities Available:
The RE committee is looking for those interested in working with or in support of children in the following roles:
Background checks are required. Please contact Elizabeth Price if you are interested.
If your child attends Religious Education at RFM, look for the monthly email update. This is where you can find out what's being taught in classes, what's coming up, and other useful information about our children's program.
by Diane Bowden | Jul 21, 2024 | Activity, Adult Spiritual Education, Announcement
Join us on Sunday, September 22, in person from 9:15-10:30 am in the Community room. In this session we'll be exploring Quaker Process. Friends make decisions about how to tend to Spirit, how to care for each other, how to nourish ourselves and our families, how to contribute to the wider communities of city, nation, all nations, and the earth. We make these decisions without the ease of hierarchy, majority vote, and, for unprogrammed friends, without clergy or paid staff. In this session, we'll explore the process we use in moving forward.
The program will focus on two practices fundamental to Friends in making spirit-lead choices and for acting: Committees and Business Meeting. As part of this session, we'll focus on terminology that may not be familiar to newcomers.
It's our hope that longtime Friends will be refreshed and refocused in Quaker process and that new attenders will come to feel comfortable in the Society of Friends and Richmond Friends Meeting.
by Diane Bowden | Jul 21, 2024 | Activity, Announcement, Race & Racism ad hoc
The Ad Hoc Committee on Race and Racism has been researching the history of our meeting through a racial lens. We will present our findings on Saturday, August 24, in the community room at the Meetinghouse. Coffee beginning at 9:30; program from 10:00 to 11:30. This is the second of three educational programs intended to help us discern ways forward.
by Diane Bowden | May 18, 2024 | Activity, Adult Spiritual Education, Announcement, History - Quaker, History - RFM
Adult Spiritual Education invites all members and attenders, those new to Quakerism as well as seasoned Friends, to learn more about our history. Mark your calendars and plan on joining us on Saturday, June 22 at 9:30. Our topic will be Quaker History: Evolution and Revolution. Kelly Kennedy will get us started with a Zoom-easy introductory activity. Dan Shaw will cover early history from the 17th to the 19th centuries, and Scott Selby will address Virginia and Richmond history.
While no reading in advance is needed, some may want to brush up on Quaker history in preparation. Attached is an excerpt from Faith and Practice focusing on Quaker history. Feel free to read all, part, or none of it.
This session is ALL on Zoom. Please look for the link in the coming days as well as the day before June 22. We look forward to seeing many of you on the morning of June 22nd!
by Diane Bowden | Apr 18, 2024 | Activity, Announcement
Please mark your calendar for the first of three educational programs to be sponsored by the ad hoc Committee on Race and Racism as we move forward on developing an action/implementation plan for Richmond Friends Meeting.
Ana Edwards, a public historian and faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University who has been in the forefront of efforts to build a memorial park in Shockoe Bottom, site of one of the nation’s largest slave markets, will be our guest speaker. Edwards is chair of the Sacred Ground Reclamation Project and a founding member of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice, and Equality, which focuses on prison reform, education, and social justice.
She will speak and answer questions on Saturday, May 11, from 10 - 11:30 am at the Meetinghouse with light refreshments to follow. The program will be available on Zoom and in person.
Edwards subject is “Progress and Pushback: The Challenges of Changing a Race-Based Society.” Here is its description:
Richmond was founded as another trading center during Virginia's colonizing era and began to come of age as a southern political center following the Revolutionary War. Slave labor and race-driven social policies were well established and controversial enough by the start of the new nation in 1783 to be hotly debated at the legislative level--even as Black people hoped and struggled for freedom--from then until slavery's abolition in 1865. This session will use the event known as Gabriel's Rebellion to explore Black life and aspirations in the new republic's entrenched slave society, and the impact of this era on life today.
by Diane Bowden | Apr 10, 2024 | Activity, Adult Spiritual Education, Announcement, History - Quaker
Quakerism 101, a four-session introduction to Quakerism, its history, writings, values, and beliefs held its first session on Sunday, April 28, at 9:30 am with more than 30 friends attending. This session addressed “The Light Within: What Quakers Believe" with a panel discussion from Howard Garner, Steve Humphrey, and Rita Willett. Three other sessions that are planned for later this year:
• Quaker History: Revolution and Evolution on June 22, 9:30 am on Zoom.
• What do Committees Do? RFM Organization, Business Meeting, and Terminology, date TBD
• Living in the Light: Quaker Organizations in the US and Around the World; How Quakers Live in the World Today, date TBD
by Diane Bowden | Nov 18, 2020 | Activity, Announcement, Archive, Christmas, COVID-19
Spend Christmas Eve with Friends
4:30-5 p.m.: Kid-Friendly Christmas Carol Singing led by Jan Hampton on guitar
Via Zoom, Jan will be playing holiday favorites, so gather the family around the computer, see your friends, and sing Christmas carols along with Jan from 4:30- 5 p.m.
5-6 p.m. Candlelight Christmas Eve Meeting for Worship
Please join us via Zoom for our traditional candlelight Christmas Eve Meeting
for Worship. Please leave the lights off in your room and if possible, light a candle and place it between yourself and the computer so it will be visible to others. Worship will begin at 5 p.m.
(Zoom links will be provided via the Newlist closer to the events)
by Diane Bowden | Oct 24, 2020 | Activity, Announcement, Archive, Christmas, COVID-19
Saturday December 12th from 9 to 10:30 am This year, you can roll out of bed and attend the RFM Christmas breakfast in your pajamas! Or maybe your favorite holiday sweater and reindeer antlers. You decide. Due to COVID, our 2020 holiday gathering will be on-line. All ages are welcome. There will be opportunities to chat, share virtual gifts, sing, laugh, and listen to stories. BYOB (Bring your own breakfast) If you are willing to offer a short performance or on-line activity, please contact the clerk, Rita Willett, at Rita.Willett@richmondfriendsmeeting.org.
by Diane Bowden | Sep 20, 2020 | Activity, Adult Spiritual Education, Announcement, Archive, COVID-19
Our series Mysticism: Living from the Inside Out will be presented virtually on Saturday mornings at 9:30 am. These programs will be recorded and put on the RFM website for later viewing. Contact the presenter if you have a questions about the session or the references. We will send the link for each program through the Newslist on the Friday before the session.
September 26: German Benedictine Abbess: Hildegard of Bingen. Barbara Hulburt presenting
Hildegard of Bingen (12th century) was an extraordinary woman and mystic whose writing still speaks to us today. Her mystical visions led her to a profound understanding of spirituality and she was a preacher, advisor, and spiritual guide to many. In this program we will see what Hildegard has to say to us about spirituality as a reflection of the “living light.”
October 10: American Peace Activist: Mildred Norman, Peace Pilgrim. Marjorie Bertolino presenting
Peace Pilgrim (1908-1981), born Mildred Lisette Norman, was an American spiritual teacher, mystic, pacifist, vegetarian activist and peace activist. In 1952, she became the first woman to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail in one season. Starting on January 1, 1953, in Pasadena, California, she adopted the name “Peace Pilgrim” and walked across the US for 28 years, speaking with others about peace. She was on her seventh cross-country journey when she died.
Suggested reading is “Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words” available free by request at https://www.peacepilgrim.org/to-receive-free-peace-pilgrim-book
October 24: Anderson Johnson, Visionary Artist of Virginia. Catherine Roseberry presenting
“I’ve heard of folk art – but what’s visionary art?”
Before I talk about Anderson Johnson (1915-1998) this fall, it might be helpful to be introduced to the confusing nomenclature surrounding the form commonly known as folk art. It’s messy, inconsistent, sometimes used interchangeably and a lot of times not.
The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore has a good, relatively short commentary about this debate accompanying their mission statement (http://www.avam.org/stuff-everyone-asks/what-is-visionary-art.shtml). If you’re so moved, read the top of the page through “Can’t trained artists also hear their own voices?” Then for fun poke around their website, especially the section called “Our Visionaries.” Mr. Johnson isn’t here, but a lot of folks are. If you want a preview of his work, here are two versions of his Queen of Sheba paintings.
November 7: Contemporary Mystics in Action. Howard Garner presenting
It is a mistake to think of mystics as people who spend their days meditating in isolation from the world’s problems. In this session we will study the work of two modern-day mystics who live from the inside out and are making a difference in the world.
Richard Rohr is a Franciscan friar and the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is the author of over 20 books, including “Yes, And…” He is an internationally known speaker and contributor to several publications on daily spiritual practice.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist Zen master exiled from Vietnam in 1973 for his peace activism. He is a beloved teacher, scholar, peace activist, and poet, having written over 100 books, including “Living Buddha, Living Christ.” He is the founder of Plum Village, near Bordeaux, France, a Beloved Community with over 200 Buddhist monks in residence.
November 21: “Mystical Union”: Synthesis and Integration. ASE Committee facilitating
Where we put it all together.
by Diane Bowden | Aug 19, 2020 | Activity, Announcement, Clearing, COVID-19, Worship
Meeting for Worship Outdoors and in-person at the Clearing!
(Our beautiful retreat center in Amelia County) September 13 at 11 am
14006 Genito Road
Amelia Courthouse, VA 23002
Driving directions can be found via GPS and also on the RFM website’s Clearing page https://staging.richmondfriends.org/theclearing/
Please bring your own chair to place at a safe distance from others. Please have a mask with you.
Bring a bag lunch and enjoy a meal together.
Outdoor privies, stocked with hand sanitizer, will be available. We hope that bathrooms in the lodge will be available. Other than bathrooms, the lodge will NOT be open.
Meeting for Worship will be held online via Zoom at the same time. Because the Clearing does not have wifi, these will be separate worship gatherings.
Please contact the Committee on Ministry & Worship if you have questions.
by Diane Bowden | Aug 6, 2020 | Activity, Adult Spiritual Education, Announcement, Archive, COVID-19, Spiritual Formation
From Joe Ball for the Spiritual Foundation planning group:
“The heart of Spiritual Formation is the intimate sharing that takes place in small group.”
Juan Whittington
“Our Spiritual Formation Program offers practical ways for seekers to deepen their personal spiritual experience while building community. No matter where you are on your journey, the Spiritual Formation Program meets you there.”
From “Sacred Intersections: Spiritual Formation Program,” Baltimore Yearly Meeting
The focus for RFM Spiritual Formation this year will be Practical Quaker Mysticism. Readings will include but not be limited to two Pendle Hill pamphlets: John Yungblut, “Speaking as One Friend to Another: On the Mystical Way Forward” and Rex Ambler, “Mind the Oneness: The Mystic Way of the Quakers.” [Pamphlets will be provided by Adult Spiritual Education]
As in the past, each small group of 5-7 people will meet once a month, and all participants will meet in a large group once a month.
Because of the topic and the richness of the ASE program on “Mysticism: Living From the Inside Out” which will take place from September 12th to November 21st, we will start Spiritual Formation in early September this year to coordinate with and build on the ASE program.
If you have any questions about Spiritual Formation, please contact Joe Ball at jball@newarka.edu.
In the meantime, we encourage you to sign up by sending me the following information:
· Name
· Preferences for Small Group meetings:
· Morning, afternoon, or evening?
· Weekday or weekend?
· Zoom or in-person (with appropriate social distancing as needed)
· Willing to serve as a small group leader: Yes/No
· Willing to serve as a Zoom host: Yes/No
by Diane Bowden | Jul 8, 2020 | Activity, Announcement, Archive, Clearing, COVID-19, Threshing
All are invited to a threshing session on First Day, July 12 from 7 to 8:30 PM.
We will gather online to consider our meeting's "re-opening" - how we might envision and plan for an eventual return to in-person gatherings and the use of buildings & grounds at both the Meetinghouse and the Clearing.
This is a time to share perspectives, concerns, and hopes. We will have time to share individually and we will hear brief reports from committees.This is a time for listening and sharing - no decisions will be made. Please join this community session on Sunday evening if you are able to attend.
Zoom link will be emailed.
by Diane Bowden | Jun 17, 2020 | Activity, Announcement, Archive, COVID-19
Please join us Saturday, June 20, at 9:30 am for a virtual presentation from Julie Courtwright called "This is your brain on quarantine". Julie Courtwright attends Woodlawn Meeting in Alexandria, Virginia where she's been a convinced Friend since 2009.
She has a Master's degree in biopsychology but currently, she spends her time making fiber art and caring for way too many critters. She wants you to know that even though everything is uncertain and overwhelming, you are doing a good job.
Invitations with links for the program will be sent on Friday, June 19.
by Diane Bowden | May 20, 2020 | Activity, Announcement, Archive, Care and Counsel, COVID-19
The Care & Counsel Committee is offering a new opportunity to build connections with Meeting members and attenders during this time of social distancing. Starting in the week of May 24, anyone who signs up will be randomly paired with another participant for the purpose of sharing a phone call once a week for two weeks. At the end of the first two-week session, the names will be reshuffled and new pairings will be set up. This will continue in two-week intervals until late July. You can drop out or join at each of the two-week intervals.
We hope this will be a great way to connect with current friends or meet new ones. If you’d like to participate, please email Margaret Edds and give her your preferred telephone number for a call. The first pairing of names will be done next Sunday afternoon (May 24). You’ll get an email with your first partner by Monday, May 25.