An update about Bette Gilchrist memorial meeting for worship.
The memorial meeting for Bette Gilchrist will still be at 7:00 on Friday, June 10. We regret that we will not be able to hold a reception with food and drink afterward. This is because the Covid level now needs for us to wear our masks in the meetinghouse. Please plan to join for the memorial meeting in person or by Zoom. The zoom link will go out close to the date.
Friends,
Ministry and Worship is asking that everyone over age 2 wears a mask in the worship room, as of today. This is because the CDC has deemed that Richmond and surrounding counties have moved from Medium risk up to High risk. Our meeting's decision some months ago was to follow the CDC recommendations, and their recommendation for High risk is to wear masks during indoor gatherings. So please, everyone remember to bring your mask and wear your mask when you come to worship.
Another way to protect ourselves and others is to give each other space on the benches. Sit with your own family or friends, but leave a space before sitting next to someone else. Try not to sit right behind, or in front of, another group. One of the back sections is marked with paper signs, Please Sit Here at one end, and Not Here at the other end. I think we can achieve good spacing without placing signs on all the benches. But sit in that section if you want to feel secure about your 6 foot space.
We will continue to have the windows open so that breezes come in. Hand sanitizer is at the doorways if you wish to use it.
And of course, we can always worship together over Zoom. Please stay home and Zoom in if you feel sick or if your health condition would benefit from more protection.
We will continue to watch for news from the CDC. Thanks to all for respecting one another and doing our part to stay healthy.
Barbara Myers, for Ministry and Worship Committee
The RE Committee is cancelling all children's classes at the meetinghouse and nursery for this First Day, May 29.
Several teachers have been exposed to Covid and the risk is too high. We are planning
to keep open June 5. We'll let you know if we close RE.
Monica Shaw,
clerk of RE
--
Friends —
VDH/CDC now have Richmond and surroundings rated “High.”
Ministry & Worship plans to implement stronger safety protocols for worship, including asking for universal masking at indoor gatherings, continuing attention to ventilation and maintaining 6’ social distancing. Let’s take this higher level of Covid risk into account when planning other Meeting-related gatherings.
Thanks
Dan Shaw, clerk
Covid Working Group
For those who are coming to Spring Retreat, we have a number of updates for you. Please read carefully! We will also have this information available at The Clearing when you arrive.
FIRST - Please be aware that VDH has now moved Richmond and surrounding counties into the high risk category for COVID-19. We are continuing with Spring Retreat, but we will be requiring masks while inside the Lodge, and we also ask that Friends follow social distancing practices. We will post signs to help everyone remember. Thankyou for helping us all to stay safe and enjoy this gathering.
It looks like rainy weather today, so be prepared, but for tomorrow, it's looking like the rain will clear out, and it will be around 80 F. If your participation in the weekend changes, please contact a committee member (contacts below) with an update, via phone call or text. We won't be able to check email after about 2:00 pm today. Thanks!If you have questions, please reach out!All our best,Ted Heck, Genevieve Oei, Heidi Rugg, Katy RuggSpring Retreat Committee Members
Have a last minute question or change in plans? Please reach out to one of the following:Sam Rugg 804-539-6552 (mobile phone, text or call)Heidi Rugg 804-334-4338 (mobile phone, text or call)Ted Heck 804-726-1056 (mobile phone, text or call)Website for the Clearing: https://staging.richmondfriends.org/theclearing/Address for the Clearing: 14006 Genito Rd, Amelia Court House, VA 23002
THINGS TO BRING:General:Weather-appropriate attireA board game or card game (optional)Bug repellantSunscreenA hatComfortable chair (nice, but optional)If camping or staying overnight:FlashlightTowelsBathing Suit (optional)Flip flops/shower shoes (optional)ToiletriesJacket/layersSleeping bag, blankets, pillowCamping gear if you plan to use a tent site
THE SCHEDULE (Group events will take place outdoors or in high-ventilation areas; indoor masking will keep our community safer. Thanks!)Friday:4pm: Earliest arrival time; check out a tent site/secure cabin accommodations5:30-6:30 DIY Dinner; soup and rolls available to all6:30 Clean up/Sign up for Chores!7pm Board Games9pm Dessert/Coffee/ConversationSaturday:7-9:30am Breakfast/Coffee/Conversation9am Sign up for chores!9:30am Cleanup10am - 12pm Council of All Beings12pm Lunch Prep12:30 LUNCH1-2pm Lunch Cleanup2pm Sign up for Chores!2-4pm Games! / Mary Burruss to lead Yoga! / Playing in the Sprinkler!4pm Watermelon Break4:30 - 6pm Dinner Prep6pm DINNER7pm Clean-up; Fire Prep8-10pm Fire Circle, Singing, and S’MORES!Sunday: 7-9:30am Breakfast/Coffee/Conversation (continued on next page)9:30am -10:30 Strike/Cleanup 10:30am-11:30am Meeting for Worship11:30am Cleaning12:30 LEFTOVER FEST! LUNCH1pm Final Cleaning3pm Go home 🙂
MENUFriday evening: Soup, rolls, cheese, and crackers (gluten free, dairy free, and vegetarian options will be available)Friday dessert: Cookies, coffee, tea (gluten free options available)Breakfast (Saturday/Sunday): Eggs, cereal, oatmeal packets, bananas, apples, oranges, yogurt, granola, toast (gluten free, dairy free, and vegetarian options will be available)Saturday Lunch: Soup, sandwich fixings (turkey, ham, cheese, hummus, PBJ), veggies, chips, pretzels, fruit, lemonade (gluten free, dairy free, and vegetarian options will be available)Snack: WatermelonDinner (once): Tacos (refried beans and/or ground turkey taco meat available), sweet potatoes, green salad, salsa, guacamole (gluten free, dairy free, and vegetarian options will be available)Fire Circle: S’mores (gluten free/vegan options will be available)Sunday Lunch: Leftover Fest!
The Baltimore Yearly Meeting wholeheartedly supports the establishment of a national commission to seek truth
and a measure of justice for those still suffering the residual effects of public policies that created and maintained
hundreds of boarding schools for Indigenous children in the United States from 1869 through the 1960s. We
support legislation to fund such a commission. Once established we will hold the people who come before it and
the commission members in the Light, in expectation that airing of harms and traumas will lead to some healing
of long-suffered wounds. We want a commission that yields real results and changes, not a report that gathers dust on a shelf.
We applaud the fact that one intention of the commission is to prevent continued removal of Indigenous (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) children from their families, communities, and cultural connections by adoption and foster care agencies.
We urge research by faith groups that ran residential schools, especially the Religious Society of Friends, to
provide explicit data requested by the federal government as part of the commission’s documentation of all
boarding schools and students. We believe accountability requires robust cooperation.
The Clearing is now open for outside users as well as member and attenders. Michael Joslin is our Scheduler. Michael can be contacted directly at MichaelDJoslin@outlook.com.
Clearing Usage and Promotions wants to remind everyone to schedule meetings at the Clearing with Michael, even those that are supposed to be standing. Also, if any committee or members want to meet on the Saturday set aside for Meeting, please contact our Scheduler for that date just as you would for any other date.
Many thanks from Clearing Usage and Promotions.
A memorial Meeting for Worship commemorating the life of Bette Gilchrist will be held Friday, June 10, at 7 p.m. at the Meetinghouse. A longtime member of Richmond Friends Meeting, Bette died May 5 due to complications arising from a fall.
Our dear friend Bette Gilchrist died last night at Westminster Canterbury. Bette’s daughter-in-law, Julie, and her grandson, Charlie, were holding her hands when she left us. Bette had fallen earlier in the week and sustained a brain injury. We will miss her sweet smile, her sense of calm and trust. Bette’s sons, Mark and Jay are in town and are taking care of anything that needs to happen now.
From Peace and Social Concerns – Organizations to Help Ukraine
The War in Ukraine weights heavy on our hearts. There are different ways to attend to the issues and needs.
You may also wish to attend an International Meeting for Worship for Ukraine, Monday through Saturday, noon EST. The
Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4165005614?pwd=NUtieEtqbDBYbjBrcGdMMzBKQ3drQT09
If you do not already contribute to an organization working in Ukraine, below are organizations suggested by a Ukrainian
American Friend (some have recently formed and therefore have no check on efficiency, etc.).
Organizations with multiple projects
https://www.uuarc.org/happening-now/ https://unitedhelpukraine.org/
These are organizations with targeted work: Medical support
RAZOM: Emergency Response – for tactical medical training. Help qualified war medics teach civilians first aid and provide them with medical supplies. Now sourcing funding for a cargo plane shipment of medical aid.
NEW: Help Ukraine Center (Donate, Physical Donations) – Polish-German initiative powered by the Ernst Prost Fundation. Medicines and other essential humanitarian products will be delivered to regions that need it the most, in cooperation with our partners: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ROZETKA, Fozzy Group, TIS, Dragon Capital, Spunbond fund, Ukrposhta.
NEW: United Ukrainian American Relief Committee (Donate) – provide vital medical supplies to victims, care for the injured and refugees, as well as shelter and food to those affected.
Sunflower of Peace – for medical assistance and other necessities. Each IFAK (medical backpack) can save up to 10 lives.
Lifeline Ukraine – for psychosocial support. Ukraine’s first suicide prevention hotline mobilized in response to alarming rates of veteran suicide.
Veterans and internally displaced persons
NEW: Future Kyiv Charitable Foundation (Donate) – collection of charitable contributions for the purchase of
humanitarian aid to Kyiv residents, organized by the Kyiv Municipal Government.
Revived Soldiers Ukraine – for provision of medical aid and sustainable living standards to wounded soldiers and members of their families.
Ukrainian People With Disabilities in Crisis – helps Ukrainians with disabilities – especially those who want but cannot evacuate – protect themselves in case of emergency.
Caritas Ukraine – provision of humanitarian assistance to various social groups and those impacted by the conflict. More information here.
CrimeaSOS – assistance to internally displaced persons from Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. With the support and partnership of UNHCR, it promotes community initiatives for these groups.
British-Ukraine Aid – assistance to vulnerable individuals who have been physically, mentally or socially disadvantaged, including the injured and wounded, orphaned children, the elderly, internally displaced persons and families who have lost their main earners. More information here.
People in Need: SOS Ukraine – for provision of food and sanitation packages, emergency shelter, psychosocial support, and more in Donetsk and Luhansk, both in territory under the control of the Ukrainian government and in territory not currently under government control.
9
UN Crisis Relief: Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund – contributions are collected into a single, unearmarked fund and managed locally under UN leadership. As crises evolve, funds are made directly and immediately available to a wide range of partner organizations at the front lines of response. This way, funding reaches the people most in need when they need it.
Religious and ethnic minority aid
JDC: Emergency in Ukraine – provides a lifeline for an estimated 40,000 Jewish elderly and 2,500 poor Jewish children and their families through its network of care services, Jewish community programs, and Jewish leaders in more than 1,000 locations across Ukraine.
Rabbi Bleich's Help Kyiv – help set up a Refugee Camp for the Kyiv Jewish Community, organized by Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi.
United Jewish Appeal (Donate) – support urgent and mounting humanitarian needs including food, shelter, transport, and emergency medical units.
Roma Women Fund – advocate for Roma women's rights in Ukraine and collaborate with Roma communities on the regional level.
LGBTQIA
NEW: Insight NGO (Donate) – A Ukrainian human rights public organization which brings together lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.
Ukrainian LGBT Military for Equal Rights Association – support LGBT military in their fight on the frontline and for equality of all citizens at home.
Children
Help Us Help – donations will be used to fund the following: evacuation and relocation of staff and beneficiaries (children, scholars and veteran families), humanitarian aid delivery, and medical assistance for victims.
Save the Children - Ukraine – distribute essential humanitarian aid to children and their families; deliver winter and hygiene kits; provide cash grants to families so they can meet basic needs like food, rent and medicines; provide access to safe, inclusive, quality education; work to help children overcome the mental and psychological impacts of conflict.
Voices of Children – psychological/psychosocial support for children affected by the war.
Saint Javelin – all proceeds of shirt and sticker sales go to a fund for the children of fallen and wounded Ukrainian
soldiers.
Toy Drive for the Children of Fallen Heroes – provides assistance for displaced people, orphans, and families of Ukrainian military who died or were hurt in action. Volunteers in Ukraine learn about needs on the ground and pass information on to us.
Education
Ukrainian Leadership Academy – an educational program that aims to develop a generation of young leaders for Ukraine and the world. Over the course of a gap year, young adults learn to work in a team, set goals, develop projects, take responsibility for their lives and the country's fate, and choose their future profession more consciously.
Ukrainian Catholic University Foundation – invest in the lives of young and talented future leaders of Ukraine and the diaspora.
Veteranius – help teach and employ veterans, volunteers and internally displaced persons in the IT sector and involve them in socially important projects.
Bohdan Radchenko Stipend for Veterans – tuition for a Master’s at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (KMA), Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU).
Quaker’s involvement in the Boarding Schools for Indigenous Children was extensive. Now is the time to look at this history honestly, then decide how we can best make reparations for the negative impact we had. In preparation for consideration of the Minute on these issues, the Peace and Social Concerns Committee will have a film and discussion on May 20th, 2022 at 7 pm. You can familiarize yourself further by reflecting on the following Minute and looking into some of the background resources included with the Minute.
MINUTE
The Baltimore Yearly Meeting wholeheartedly supports the establishment of a national commission to seek truth and a
measure of justice for those still suffering the residual effects of public policies that created and maintained hundreds of
boarding schools for Indigenous children in the United States from 1869 through the 1960s. We support legislation to fund
such a commission. Once established we will hold the people who come before it and the commission members in the Light,
in expectation that airing of harms and traumas will lead to some healing of long-suffered wounds. We want a commission
that yields real results and changes, not a report that gathers dust on a shelf.
We applaud the fact that one intention of the commission is to prevent continued removal of Indigenous (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) children from their families, communities, and cultural connections by adoption and foster care agencies.
We urge research by faith groups that ran residential schools, especially the Religious Society of Friends, to provide explicit
data requested by the federal government as part of the commission’s documentation of all boarding schools and students.
We believe accountability requires robust cooperation.
A Celebration of Life for Martha Leland Walker Owings (Lee Owings) will be held at Westminster Canterbury Retirement Community on May 6 at 2 p.m. in the sanctuary. Those wishing to attend should inquire about parking with the guard at the front gate. Lee Owings was raised as a Quaker and attended Richmond Friends Meeting periodically after relocating to the area about twelve years ago. She is survived by her husband, also a resident of Westminster Canterbury, and three daughters.
In December 2021 Business Meeting, we decided to look to the Virginia Department of Health framework when considering our own COVID precautions. In recent weeks, VDH has changed the way they talk about COVID risk and precautions in ways that my allow loosening our own considerations a bit.
As hospitalizations have dropped significantly, VDH has replaced their own “community transmission” reports and considerations with the Centers for Disease Control "risk ranking" model. The CDC model takes into account infection levels, but more heavily weighs the burden on local hospitals.
Under this, Richmond and environs are in the "Low" risk category, which for us suggests that we can:
-- request that friends use their own judgment on whether to mask or not. Some will want to continue masking, particularly those most vulnerable to COVID and anyone who may feel sick and thus want to protect others.
-- continue to attend to ventilation in any indoor space where people gather.
-- consider providing an area in the worship room where people can distance well. Some will want to continue social distancing, particularly those most vulnerable.
-- open the meetinghouse to eating, though still maximizing ventilation and encouraging people to distance, or better yet meet on the patio.
VDH notes that keeping gatherings in “well ventilated” areas is always important. Masking and distancing are still worthwhile precautions. And, as noted while Richmond is currently "Low" risk, we should quickly return to universal masking and consider other precautions if/when we to go to "Medium" risk.
Please contact me or other Working Group members with questions.
Thanks
Dan Shaw, clerk, COVID Working Group
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Worship at The Clearing will take a break over the winter and resume in the spring, in either March or April. Watch for forthcoming announcements.
Dear Friends,
Ministry and Worship Committee has decided that, for the next three Sundays (December 26, January 2, and January 9), worship on Sunday mornings will be on Zoom only. This is an interim policy until the 2022 Ministry and Worship Committee meets on January 8, when they can formulate a way forward.
There will be no 9:30 meeting for these three weeks.
Since you are receiving this message so late, there will also be worship in the meetinghouse at 11 am tomorrow (December 26) for those who come to the meetinghouse. It will not be blended with the Zoom meeting.
This interim policy, of course, is dictated by concern about the recent rapid rise in the number of covid cases. We are sorry for the very late announcements of important changes. It has been a scramble to keep up with the rapidly changing health and safety environment!
We hope you have had a warm, safe, and happy Christmas Day. We look forward to seeing you on Zoom!
Ministry and Worship needs once again to change the format for Christmas Eve worship. In only the last few days, several Friends have had close contact exposures and some are awaiting the results of tests.
Accordingly, Christmas Eve worship will be entirely on Zoom again this year. It will be from 5 to 6 pm, and we'll forego caroling until next year.
We ask you to light a candle and turn off all lights to create our special Christmas Eve atmosphere.
We are very sorry to introduce these changes so near to Christmas Eve, but we felt it necessary for the protection of all.
The Gathering
The annual Quaker weeklong retreat, The Gathering, will finally happen in person at Radford University. This Friends General Conference (FGC) event will take place July 3 - 9. Plans for the workshops and other events are coming together. More information will be available soon. In the meantime, save the first week in July for this family friendly event.
A COVID working group under the care of FGC’s Executive Committee is working to create a COVID Health and Safety policy all FGC events. Our RFM Adult Spiritual Education Committee has scholarship money available to attend The Gathering.
What is The Gathering?
The Gathering is a week of Quaker worship, workshops, and community for all ages. Friends come together from across the US and Canada (and sometimes further) to deepen our connection to one another and the Spirit. The Gathering is typically held on a college campus in late June/early July, and location changes from year to year.
Attenders range from newborns to elders in their 90s, and include both long-time Friends (mostly from the unprogrammed, liberal tradition), and those newer to Quakerism. In structure, it’s part conference and part family camp. In content, it provides an abundance of opportunities to learn about Quakerism and to foster your spiritual life – and to have fun together.
The Gathering schedule at a glance is available at this link: https://www.fgcquaker.org/connect/gathering/2022- schedule-glance You can also sign up to receive email updates to the schedule and registration information on the same page.
Where is The Gathering in 2022?
Radford University is the location of the 2022 Gathering. Radford University is located in Radford, Virginia, a town of about 17,400 in the "heart of the New River Valley", near the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwestern Virginia.
The campus is fairly level with some mild inclines in the central areas of the campus. The well-kept buildings made of red brick, the green grass and pathways are welcoming. There is a mix of air conditioned and non-air conditioned housing. The campus is relatively compact, with shade trees, benches, and pleasant quads scattered across campus.
Radford is about 15 miles southwest of Blacksburg, 45 minutes from the Roanoke airport, 20 minutes from Claytor Lake State Park and about an hour from the Blue Ridge Parkway. There is Amtrak service to Roanoke. For those who are driving, it is quite close to I-81.
How do I register?
Early Registration starts April 4, 2022 around 10:00 am (Eastern Daylight Time.) All full-time registrations completed during this time have equal access to workshops and housing options, and priority consideration for financial aid. Early registration closes April 14, 11:59 pm EDT.
Registration will temporarily close from April 15–21: Lotteries will occur for any oversubscribed workshops & housing choices. All early registrants will be informed of their workshop & housing assignments.
Standard Registration starts April 22: Workshops and financial assistance will be available on a first-come, first- served basis. Beginning June 1, there is a late fee for all full-time and half-Gathering registrations. Late fees will not be charged for part-time registrations.
Deadlines for younger Friends: Junior Gathering (infant - rising 9th grade) and High School program (teens in rising 10th grade to 12th grade*) participants must be registered in advance of the Gathering. Check back for the exact deadline (often May 31.) Registration is not complete until FGC receives a Parental Release Form for each registered young Friend.
A longtime Friend remembers that when she first arrived at Richmond Friends Meeting, she heard lots of announcements about Karen Counsel. She thought, Who is this person? She certainly is busy!
Yes, the Care and Counsel committee is busy, but there are lots of hands to share the work. The committee fills a “pastoral care” role, tending to the well-being of individuals in Meeting. The committee may give care and aid when members or attenders have illness, personal problems, or material needs. Upon request, the committee arranges “clearness committees,” a distinctly Quaker way of discerning personal leadings or answers to pressing personal concerns. Three or four people may sit with an individual—offering not answers or suggestions, but questions that may help them arrive at a right course of action.
The committee also attends to persons applying for membership or marriage; assists with changes of memberships; maintains periodic contact with absent or non-resident members; provides updates to the Directory Manager; and administers funds for relief of sufferings. Care and Counsel is responsible for greeting at 11:00 am worship each First Day. (Membership in RFM is required for service, and committee members serve for three years.)
Feel free to contact us if you have a question or a need.
Jim Thoroman and Allen Lee are teaming up to work with RFM members and attenders who may wish to apply for Comcast’s publicly available program, Internet Essentials. It provides internet service to qualified individuals at $9.95/month (plus tax) or about $120/year (plus tax). Care & Counsel may provide grants to qualified members or attenders of meeting to pay for this internet service.
Jim and Allen can help an interested person apply to the Internet Essentials program as well as contact Care & Counsel for a grant to pay for this internet service.
Anyone who is interested should contact Jim Thoroman or Allen Lee.
The annual Quaker weeklong retreat, The Gathering, will finally happen in person at Radford College. This Friends General Conference (FGC) event will take place July 3 - 9.
Plans for the workshops and other events are coming together. More information will be available soon. In the meantime, save the first week in July for this family friendly event.
A COVID working group under the care of FGC’s Executive Committee is working to create a COVID Health and Safety policy all FGC events.
Ada Hammer
FGC Liaison
Jim Thoroman and Allen Lee are teaming up to work with RFM members and attenders who may wish to apply for Comcast’s publicly available program, Internet Essentials. It provides internet service to qualified individuals at $9.95/month (plus tax) or about $120/year (plus tax). Care & Counsel may provide grants to qualified members or attenders of meeting to pay for this internet service.
Jim and Allen can help an interested person apply to the Internet Essentials program as well as contact Care & Counsel for a grant to pay for this internet service.
Anyone who is interested should contact Jim Thoroman or Allen Lee.
We will hold a Meeting for Remembrance at The Clearing on the first Sunday of November, November 7, at 11:00 am. This special worship session, sponsored by Care & Counsel and Ministry & Worship, will differ from a typical Meeting for Worship because we expect the messages shared to be memories and stories of Friends who have worshipped with us in the past but are no longer with us.
Call them our ancestors, the people who have come before us or once worshipped here among us. Each has shaped the life of this Meeting, just as we all do by our very presence. As Quakers, we’re called to show up-- for ourselves, for each other, for our world. We share our stories of Friends who have died to keep alive the spirit and work of those who have come before us, and perhaps to inspire us as we go forward. Meeting for Remembrance is more than just a chance for old-timers to swap memories; it’s a chance for newcomers to learn more about this community we call Richmond Friends Meeting.
It's also a great opportunity for us to gather together on a fall day at The Clearing, especially since we will not be holding our usual fall retreat there! Religious education for the children will also take place at The Clearing while we are holding the Meeting for Remembrance. Please join us at The Clearing, 14006 Genito Road, Amelia Court House, VA 23002. Give yourself plenty of time to arrive by 11:00 am. Depending on where you live, the drive could take 40 minutes to an hour. Bring a lawn chair and/or blanket and we’ll sit outside. If it’s chilly we can make a fire in the pavilion. Plan to stay afterwards to socialize! Bring your lunch, and we’ll have cookies and hot apple cider to share. We hope to see you on November 7.
From the Peace & Social Concerns Committee
RACE TO PEACE and support Quaker House
Quaker House provides counseling and support to service members who are questioning their role in the military; educates them, their families, and the public about military issues; and advocates for a more peaceful world. On October 24, at the Rise of Meeting, let’s gather and walk as participants in the Race to Peace event to raise money for Quaker House. Sign up and pay a $20 registration fee for the virtual race at: https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/Fayetteville/TheQuakerHouse5KPeaceRace There will be 2 routes: 1) A 3.4 mile loop where we will walk from the Meetinghouse up Grove Avenue to Libbie and return down Patterson. Or 2) A 1.4 mile loop where we will walk from the Meetinghouse up Grove Avenue to Wisteria Ave and return down Patterson. (A map is attached) Wear Your Richmond Friends T‐Shirt if you have one!. Quaker House will send you a 5K Peace Race T‐Shirt too!
The Peace & Social Concerns Committee looks Forward to Seeing you on the 24th for this fun event! Invite your friends to join us. Don’t forget to bring a water bottle.
Please email Rhonda Ligon (rhondaligon@gmail.com) if you will be joing us
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Spiritual Formation Registration Deadline is First Day September 26! You can email the form below to Jim Thoroman at jothoro1917@gmail.com, or call him at 804-349-8231. Spiritual Formation is available on Zoom or in person.
If you have not yet registered, consider how you may be called to "Spirit and Earth: Journeying towards Right Relationships." Between climate crisis problems and action solutions is the crucial spiritual work of discerning how the proposed solutions do or do not fit with your values and beliefs. This discernment process is the focus of spiritual formation this year..
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Please complete this registration form and submit electronicallyto jothoro1917@gmail.com.
What is your name?
Phone Number
Email Address
What is your first choice for monthly small group meeting time? *
What is your second choice for monthly small group meeting time? *
Friends are encouraged to attend both large and small group meetings – but we know sometimes scheduling for 8 months can be a challenge. Let us know at this time if you are able to attend:
The large group meetings monthly yes no ___________________________
The small friendship group monthly yes no _____________________________
If you have additional questions or concerns about the program, or scheduling is a challenge for you, please ask or describe below, and Mary Fran or Katy from Spiritual Formation Committee will get back with you:
Please join us for our first in a series of six programs focussed on Earthcare and the Climate Crisis, hosted by the Earthcare Working Group and the Climate Change Friendly 8s. All programs will be held via ZOOM (until safe otherwise), the second Fridays of the month 7:00 -8:30 pm.
This Friday, September 10th 7:00 - 8:30 (Flyer attached) Bound Issues: Environmental Injustice, Racism and the Climate CrisisCome hear noted speakers: Dr Mary Finley Brook - U of R professor of Geography, Environmental and Global Studies; Board member of VA EJ Collaborative, Rev Dr Faith Harris - VA Union assistant professor of Theological Studies; Director, VA Interfaith Power & Light, Elizabeth and Anderson Jones - Pittsylvania County NAACP and fenceline landowners to a proposed gas pipeline compressor station