by Web Posts | Aug 17, 2026 | Activity, Clearing, Current, Ministry and Worship, Retreat
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.
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 26, 2026 | Activity, Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Faith & Practice, Ministry and Worship
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.
by Diane Bowden | Mar 13, 2026 | Clearing, Ministry and Worship
Now that it’s spring, monthly meeting for worship at The Clearing will resume – 11 am on the first Sunday of each month beginning April 5. You are encouraged to bring lunch and enjoy the company of Friends and the beauty of The Clearing after worship. Worship at The Clearing on first Sundays continues all summer through fall. Note that 9:30 and 11 am meetings for worship will continue every week at the Meetinghouse.
by Diane Bowden | Feb 12, 2026 | Activity, Ministry and Worship
On Saturday March 21, from 10 am to noon, Friends will gather in the worship room to share thoughts and feelings about current immigration issues. A threshing session is an opportunity to consider a particular issue, listening to one another and to Spirit, trusting that "grains" of understanding and truth will emerge in the process. No decisions are made at a threshing session. There will be queries to guide the process. This will be an in-person gathering and all are welcome.
by Diane Bowden | Sep 30, 2025 | Ministry and Worship
Meeting for Worship is grounded in silent waiting on the Spirit. From the silence, someone may be led to offer a message.
- Taking time for spiritual nourishment during the week helps open our hearts to meeting for worship with others.
- Worship begins when the first person sits down.
- We enter quietly and settle into waiting worship.
- We minimize distractions and interruptions; for example, we silence electronics and avoid entering or leaving while someone is speaking.
- We are open to Spirit’s guidance during worship, neither delivering a pre-planned message nor rejecting one entrusted to us.
- We weigh messages before we stand to speak: Is this Spirit-led? Is this message meant just for me or for everyone? Is it harmonious with our values?
- We speak once. We allow space for reflection between messages. We avoid dialogue or direct response to another’s message.
- We accept messages graciously and tenderly.
- Because messages arise from Spirit, we do not state our names before speaking.
- We welcome people of all ages in Meeting for Worship. The movements and sounds of babies and children are welcome and appreciated.
- Each of us is growing into the experience of worship, children and adults alike, as we are all deepening our spiritual practice.
by Diane Bowden | Jul 22, 2025 | Ministry and Worship, Testimonies
A recent court decision now allows religious bodies to endorse political candidates and take part in partisan politics without the threat of losing their tax-exempt status.
This ruling does not change meeting's long-standing practice of eschewing partisan politics within meetings for worship, during announcements at rise of meeting, or through our committees. Our tax-exempt status has never been a primary motive.
Rather, our political advocacy arises from a deep concern for the general welfare and our hope for a world where everyone enjoys security and opportunities for joy.
Partisan politics requires taking sides. Our advocacy is based on our testimonies and advices. Love one another is our foundation.
by Diane Bowden | Jan 7, 2023 | Announcement, Ministry and Worship
Friends are asked to return to wearing masks during Meeting for Worship.
The community transmission rate in Richmond and surrounding counties is now High, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Transmission). Therefore, the Ministry and Worship Committee asks that starting January 8, 2023, we will wear masks for in-person worship. Friends may also choose to join 11:00 worship online using Zoom.
Here are the guidelines that the CDC provides:
• Wear a mask indoors in public and on public transportation.
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.
• Get tested if you have symptoms.
• If you are at high risk for severe illness, consider taking additional precautions.
M&W committee will keep an eye on the community transmission rates and make changes in the future as directed by the CDC.
Barbara Myers, for the Ministry and Worship Committee
by Diane Bowden | Nov 4, 2022 | Announcement, Ministry and Worship
On Sunday, November 6th at 11:00am, we’ll gather in worship at The Clearing for an opportunity to share treasured memories of those who have come before us, whether we are old-timers or newcomers at meeting alike.
Several years ago, the idea for a Meeting for Remembrance was formed, to keep alive the spirit and work of cherished Friends. We held our first Meeting for Remembrance in 2019, and decided to make it an annual tradition. We missed 2020 in the pandemic but resumed it last year at The Clearing. Join us again this Sunday, November 6th at 11:00am at The Clearing.
by Diane Bowden | Oct 21, 2022 | Announcement, Ministry and Worship
The CDC and the VA Dept of Health rate our region as LOW in community transmission of Covid. Hence, we are making modifications according to their guidelines and also in sensitivity to the desires of our Quaker community.
For the present:
- We will designate one section of the worship room as "Masks required" and the rest of the room as "Masking is optional."
- The "masks required" section is near the front of the room, on the right side if coming in from the front door. Greeters can help guide us to the section.
- We will have windows opened sufficiently to allow ventilation in the worship room, about an inch, every other window.
- We are investigating HEPA filters and will have specific recommendations soon.
- We will keep an eye on CDC guidelines and how our arrangements are working and make adjustments as needed as time goes on.
- We will continue to have blended worship with Zoom as an option for worship from home.
Note, the RE Committee makes decisions about children's masking. At this time, our young people, and their RE teachers, are wearing masks in their classrooms.
These decisions were made by the Ministry and Worship Committee in consultation with the Clerk of Meeting, the Covid Working Group, and Building and Grounds. We thank the Care and Counsel committee members, our Greeters, for their support. Thanks to all for their input and for their Light in making these decisions.
Barbara Myers
Clerk of Ministry & Worship
by Diane Bowden | Apr 13, 2022 | Announcement, Ministry and Worship
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
by Diane Bowden | Jun 24, 2020 | Announcement, Archive, COVID-19, Ministry and Worship, Minuted Decisions
Richmond Friends Meeting Solidarity Minute in Response to the Murder of George Floyd
Approved June 21, 2020
Richmond Friends Meeting (Virginia) mourns the death of George Floyd who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis as he begged for his life. In keeping with our peace tradition, we oppose all violence and support ardent and peaceful protest in response to his death.
The killings of Marcus-David Peters, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks are among many atrocities that have occurred in our country. Over 400 people have been killed by police across the U.S. this year, continuing the trend of about 1,000 police-involved deaths annually since 2015. These deaths fit into a broader pattern of state-sanctioned violence that disproportionally impacts African-Americans, Native Americans, and other people of color.
The insidious nature of racism in America impacts every aspect of our society, including health care, education, employment, wealth, and environmental protection. A current tragic example is disproportionate infection and death by COVID-19 in African-American and Native American communities. The reality of systemic racism calls for legal, structural, social, and cultural change.
As Quakers we are committed to challenging white supremacy in ourselves, our Religious Society of Friends and in society around us. With this as a foundation, we join in the march towards racial justice. We stand in solidarity with victims of racism. We will continue to work actively with others in our community to further racial equality and justice. We call for an end to oppression, whether perpetrated by private citizens or public bodies.
As a community, we endorse the following statement from Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends:
“We Friends are of many skin colors, ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, gender identities, sexual orientations, abilities, stages of life, and socially constructed racial identities. We are all seeking the Spirit’s presence in our lives and in our life together. We recognize that some of us have experienced oppression and marginalization in ways that others have not. We aspire to live as members of the blessed community, which is one of liberation, equity, and great diversity across all differences.”