by Web Posts | Aug 17, 2026 | Activity, Aging, Care and Counsel, Current, Ministry and Worship, Trustees
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.
by Diane Bowden | Jul 24, 2026 | Activity, Care and Counsel, Coffee, Current
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.
by Diane Bowden | May 26, 2026 | Activity, Care and Counsel, Memorial meeting for worship
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.mcmillianfuneralhome.com/obituary/Juan-Whittington
by Diane Bowden | Mar 24, 2026 | Activity, Archive, Care and Counsel, Memorial meeting for worship
Please join us to reflect on the life of friend, Chris Maxwell, with a memorial meeting for worship on Saturday, April 4 at 11 am.
by Diane Bowden | Jul 29, 2023 | Care and Counsel
To the Richmond Friends Meeting community,
Brooke Davis, Nick Martina, and Andrew Kossan are deeply grieving after the heartbreaking sudden death by overdose of Andrew's older brother, Alex, on July 21. The Care + Counsel committee of Richmond Friends Meeting has organized this Meal Train service so that the family won't have to worry about dinner meals twice a week for the next three months. Andrew has a big appetite, so preparing for 3-4 adults is a good strategy. Along with the sustenance these meals provide, please send Brooke, Nick, and Andrew lots of love and Light during this tragic and difficult time for their family.
If you have difficulty using the link below to access the Meal Train schedule or need help signing up, contact Randee Humphrey.
by Diane Bowden | Dec 20, 2022 | Aging, Announcement, Care and Counsel
The “Aging in Community Support Group” restructured to a simpler format this past year. In July, the aging group approved a scaled-down organizational structure; essentially needing only a clerk and four care coordinators, dropping the “official” program and social chairs and donating the collected funds in our treasury. This donation was made to Faith Community Church to purchase supplies for the repair of houses of needy seniors.
In summary:
● The Mission Statement is “We want to help each other. We want to be a source of practical, emotional, and spiritual support to help each other as we age in community. “
● Membership is open to retirement age members and attenders of Richmond Friends Meeting. Membership is open to non-Quaker spouses.
● The aging group will have one yearly meeting in January. The upcoming January meeting will be held at the Meeting house on Tues. Jan.10th from 4:00-6:00 pm.
● The Aging in Community Group will function autonomously under the care of Care & Counsel.
For more information, contact the current clerk, Ada Hammer or the incoming clerk, Carolyn Moul.
by Diane Bowden | Dec 20, 2022 | Announcement, Care and Counsel
This recommendation follows three meetings over the last two months with a marriage clearness committee composed of Annie Salter, clerk, Catherine Roseberry, Don Miller, and Randee Humphrey.
The recommendation will be held over until January's business meeting, to allow everyone a chance to get acquainted (and reacquainted!) with Maddie and Cameron. Please reach out to them!
Their wedding is planned on Saturday, May 20, 2023 at The Clearing (RFM's retreat center in Amelia County). Care and Counsel will organize a Marriage Committee to assist Cameron and Maddie with their plans, as is the custom when a marriage takes place under the care of Meeting. If you feel led to serve on the Marriage Committee, please reach out to Denna Joy and Sylvia Shurcliff of Care and Counsel.
Randee and Steve Humphrey are hosting a coffee at their home on Saturday, January 21 from 10-noon, so the Meeting community can greet and celebrate Cameron and Maddie. All are welcomed at 1604 Laburnum Park Blvd, RVA 23227. All are welcomed; questions /directions, contact Randee. Drop by and say hi and show your loving support!
by Diane Bowden | Oct 13, 2022 | Announcement, Care and Counsel
Care and Counsel reminds everyone that the committee administers the Fund for Sufferings. This fund was born of long-standing Quaker tradition, originally to help those suffering economic hardship due to acts of conscience. Today, the Fund for Sufferings stands apart from our annual operating budget, and exists to support anyone in the RFM community who encounters sudden and disruptive financial hardship. The fund also relies on our individual contributions to help replenish it each year to a level that allows us to respond to personal and confidential emergency financial needs. To request assistance, contact the clerk of Care and Counsel. If you feel led to contribute, make a check payable to Richmond Friends Meeting and note in the memo line that the amount is for the Fund for Sufferings.
by Diane Bowden | Sep 2, 2022 | Announcement, Care and Counsel
From the Care and Counsel Committee
It's been a long-standing autumn tradition at Richmond Friends Meeting to welcome new members of RFM at a reception held at the rise of worship. The Care and Counsel Committee will revive this tradition on First Day September 25, and invites everyone following Meeting for Worship to gather to welcome and recognize several new members and members by transfer. Covid protocols will be announced closer to the date.
This event is a good way for anyone contemplating "the fullness of membership" to learn more about the process of joining the Religious Society of Friends. Any member of the Care and Counsel Committee can be a resource on the subject.
by Diane Bowden | Aug 7, 2022 | Announcement, Care and Counsel
F/friend Jules Arginteanu passed away Friday, August 5 in the care of hospice at home and surrounded by his family. Please continue to hold Ellen and Jules' family in the Light. Details of Jules memorial meeting will be provided later.
by Diane Bowden | May 10, 2022 | Announcement, Care and Counsel
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.
by Diane Bowden | Apr 15, 2022 | Announcement, Care and Counsel
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.
by Diane Bowden | Apr 12, 2022 | Announcement, Care and Counsel
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.
by Diane Bowden | Apr 7, 2021 | Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Care and Counsel
Please Help Us Open Camp
Sign up for a workday! Invite friends and family!
Let’s be clear. It is OUR job to do the physical work to open our BYM camps. Work is available for all abilities and skill levels. Sign up and invite others! Announcements will go out in newsletters, but personal invitations help.
There is a LOT of work to do. BYM Staff cannot and should not do it all. Let’s descend on camps in such numbers that we run out of work to do--early.
How to Sign Up
Three Sign Up Genius links, one for each of the residential camps:
Catoctin Dates – April 3rd, 10th, 17th and May 1st
www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C48AFA62CABF8C43-lets
Opequon Dates – April 17th, May 8th, 19th and 29th
www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C48AFA62CABF8C43-lets2
Shiloh Dates - April 24th, May 5th, and May 15th
www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C48AFA62CABF8C43-lets1
There will be a checklist of tasks to do at each camp.
Contacts
Anne Honn: Questions about the sign-up anhonn@gmail.com or 240-441-6688
David Hunter: Questions about work to be done davidhunter@bym-rsf.org or 240-285-5186
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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.
by Diane Bowden | Oct 11, 2019 | Announcement, Care and Counsel, Worship
Please join us for a special meeting on the evening of Friday, November 1, from 7 to 8 p.m. to remember and celebrate the lives of our dear treasured Friends who have worshipped together with us.
The idea for this came from a query at a couple of different planning meetings earlier in the year, asking when folks felt particularly welcomed by Meeting. Out came these wonderful stories about people who have been part of Richmond Friends Meeting over the years, many of them long since passed away.
So, we thought, what if we created a space where we could share stories and reflections about people who have shaped this Meeting and our own lives? We had the idea for a special Meeting for Worship for Remembrance, held by Adult Spiritual Education and Ministry and Worship. We think it’s a wonderful way to keep alive the spirit and work of those who have come before us in this meeting community, whether we are old-timers or newcomers.
by Diane Bowden | Oct 7, 2019 | Announcement, Care and Counsel
Friends, The committee on Ministry and Worship is sharing the sad news that Mike Jeffrey died on Tuesday evening, October 1st. He was at home surrounded by family and friends. The memorial meeting will be held on Saturday, October 19th at the Meeting House at 2:00 PM with a reception following. All are invited.
by Diane Bowden | Jul 26, 2019 | Care and Counsel
Richmond Friends’ tradition of forming Friendly Eights in the fall will continue this September. Friendly Eights are groups of eight or so individuals who meet
from October to May (or longer!) each year to share a common interest or activity. The groups are a way for Friends to get to know other Friends in a social
setting, which helps strengthen our RFM community.
Typical themes or topics for groups have included book discussions, biking, movie viewing, poetry reading and eating out together. On-going groups include
bird-watching, knitting/stitchery, and quilting. Every year there is an Old Friends/New Friends group started by a long-time RFM member, which usually includes a potluck meal together monthly.
Sign-up sheets for all groups will be posted on the back-foyer bulletin board at the start of September. Anyone can form a new group or sign up for one of the on-going groups mentioned above. The sheets will be taken down at the end of the month, and the groups will begin to meet in October. Some groups remain open to new people
joining at any time during the year. (They are specified on their sign-up sheets.)
If you have questions, please check with Janet Thoroman (Care and Counsel member).
by Diane Bowden | Jul 16, 2019 | Announcement, Care and Counsel
BECOME A MEMBER OF RFM!
As Quakers, we have no creed to recite, no confession of confess, no rituals to undergo that will reliably bring us into the fullness of membership. But we do have a rich and inspiring tradition; we each other; and we have the Spirit. . . which, we are promised, will “lead us into all things.” Thomas Gates, 2004
Richmond Friends Meeting is a diverse community of seekers. We welcome all who wish to explore Quaker principles, testimonies, and way of worship.
If you wish to consider membership after attending Meeting and participating in our community, the following may be helpful as you continue on your quest:
First, we suggest that you attend Meeting for Worship on a regular basis, become involved in committee work, and participate in Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business in order to understand fully the meaning of the commitment to become a member.
Second, prospective members are encouraged to become familiar with Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s Faith and Practice. Other Books to consider reading are: The Quakers: A Very Short Introduction by Pink Dandelion and Friends for 350 Years by Howard Brinton. These books are available in our library and through the Friends General Conference bookstore, https://quakerbooks.org/.
If you are then led to seek membership, submit a letter to the Clerk of Meeting saying why you wish to request membership in the Richmond Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends. If you like, describe the journey that led you to seek membership. The clerk will submit your letter to the Care and Counsel Committee, which will form a Clearness Committee to discuss with you your application and your readiness for membership.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask any member of Care and Counsel for guidance.