Work Days at The Clearing
Join Friends for work days at The Clearing on Saturday, September 5, 9:30 am – 2:00 pm and Saturday, October 3, 9:30 am – 2:00 pm.
Four Asian Quakers Share Their Stories
The Race and Racial Justice Team is presenting a program, “Four Asian Quakers Share Their Stories.” It will take place in the community room at the meetinghouse on Saturday, September 26, 9:00 am to 11:00 am (8:30 am for bagels).
Monti Datta, Eunkyung Ahn, Danette Kong, and Allen Lee will take turns sharing their stories about being Asian, being a Quaker, and how being each of these contributes to the other.
Please direct questions to Allen Lee.
Spiritual Formation
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:
- Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s Spiritual Formation Retreat is in September, weekend of September 11-13 at the Claggett Center in Adamstown, MD. Scholarships are available through the Adult Spiritual Education Committee. Registration closes on August 24th.
- We invite you to participate in Spiritual Formation here at Richmond Friends Meeting with “large group” discussions and “small group” opportunities to build spiritual friendships offering mutual support and accompaniment.
- There is also the year-long online program offered through Zoom to Friends throughout the Yearly Meeting also offering large and small groups. (October-May)
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!
Befriend a Young Student at Redd Elementary
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 Day of Action
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:
- Bring communities together through shared labor, laughter, sweat, and love.
- Make Earthcare visible as a living Quaker witness.
- Invite neighbors, youth, families, and seekers into meaningful action.
- Deepen the spiritual connection between worship and ecological repair.
- Connect spiritually across time zones and share our stories around the world.
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.
Reading Between the Lines
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.
Wage Peace at PeaceFest
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.
Half-Day Silent Retreat at The Clearing
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:
- Arrive in silence (The lodge will be open by 9:00 am)
- Brief opening circle (9:30 am)
- Group silent contemplation
- Silent nature walk
- Open time for journaling, contemplative reading, prayer, art, etc.
- Silent shared meal
- End with worship sharing
Plan to bring your lunch, and supplies for contemplative practices like journaling. Please reach out to Mason Mairead for any questions.
Important Voter Info
Tuesday, November 3, 2026, is Election Day, the final date to vote in person.
Here are other DEADLINES:
- Register to vote/Update registration: 10/22/2026
- Early in-person voting: 9/18/2026 through 10/31/2026
- Apply for mail-in ballot through 10/23/2026
All of the above plus finding your polling place is at:
https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/VoterInformation
On The Ballot:
Three Virginia Constitutional Amendments:
- Will provide a constitutional right to reproductive freedom, often called the right-to-abortion amendment.
- Will repeal the provision defining marriage as between one man and one woman and prohibits the state from denying a marriage license to two adult persons based on sex, gender or race.
- Will provide that persons convicted of felonies have their voting rights restored upon release from incarceration.
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?
- Find out more at https://www.elections.virginia.gov/officer-of-elections.
- To learn more about how to be on an Election Protection Team, the largest non-partisan voter protection effort in Virginia at https://www.protectthevoteVA.org.
- Have concerns about Election Security Or Integrity at your polling site or have general questions about elections in your area, call 866-OUR-VOTE.
Prepared by Monica Shaw, clerk of the VICPP Working Group.
End of Life Planning
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.
RE Announcements
Upcoming Dates
- August 30th – Nominating Committee
- September 6th – First Sunday All Ages Class
- September 6th – (12:15-1 PM) Willow Working Group Meeting
- September 13th – First Day of Age-Grouped Classes for 2026-2027
Supply Closet – Do not drop off donations
RE closet is full of supplies ready for our teachers to use this fall. If you have supplies you think might be useful for RE, please talk to a member of the RE committee before bringing them to the meeting house. If we are unable to use the supplies, we encourage people to recycle or donate to ScrapRVa or local art teachers/schools.
Getting Ready for 2026-2027 RE Classes
Elementary Class (Ages 5-8) Our elementary class is fully staffed!
Junior Young Friends Class (Ages 9-12): We are looking for 2 teachers for our JYF class. This age group is so much fun. It is also a vital age for making long-term connections with our community. Do you remember what middle school or junior high school was like? Kids in this class are both gaining confidence in their growing independence and self-consciousness around peers all at once. They are experiencing cool stuff all the time and have intense interests. They have learned about S.P.I.C.E.S. for years. They want to learn about Quaker history and key figures, act, make videos, and generally just have fun together.
Young Friends Class (Ages 13-17): We are also looking for an additional teacher and assistant for the Young Friends class. We have a great teacher in place who could use a co-teacher to fill in when they are not available. Commitment should not be more than once/month. Let me tell you about this class. They are exploring Quakerism and current events in relation to their personal spiritual journeys. These discussions can serve to guide them into adulthood. Each student travels that journey in a way unique to them. One kid might be an attentive student. Another will talk about anime. One kid will just observe but hear every word. Then there are a few who visit when they can, bringing wisdom only a teen can on the spur of the moment.
Background checks filed with RFM are required to volunteer with our children. If you’d like to walk alongside our amazing children for a school year, contact Elizabeth Price.
New Baby / New Member Welcome
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.
Food Boxes for Our Neighbors
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.
Supporting the Immigrant Community
If you have been looking for ways to stand with our immigrant neighbors as they face harassment and possible arrest and deportation, the Immigrant Solidarity Informal Committee (under the care of the Race and Racial Justice Team) has developed this guide to help you find volunteer opportunities in the Richmond area in immigrant-led and immigrant-facing organizations. Contact information is provided if you are led to pursue one of these opportunities.