by Diane Bowden | Jul 23, 2026 | Activity, Coffee, Social justice, Wayne Taylor Ad Hoc Committee
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: August 2, 12:30-1:30 pm
Coffee Hour, Community Room
Hosted by the Wayne Taylor Bequest ad hoc committee
Were you there–on Zoom December 20, 2020–when our community was in unity to accept a bequest from the late Carl Wayne Taylor, someone no one among us knew personally? Mr. Taylor’s direction in his last will and testament was complex in its simplicity: RFM agreed to distribute his residual estate “for the direct benefit of needy people residing in the Richmond metropolitan area.”
Now that our task has been completed, with nearly $500,000 distributed by RFM over the past two years to 11 Richmond organizations, it’s time to reflect on and celebrate the Wayne Taylor bequest and the impact of Mr. Taylor’s philanthropy.
On First Day/Sunday August 2 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm the entire RFM community is invited to come together for coffee hour with Wayne’s circle of friends and representatives of the eleven organizations that have benefitted from his generosity.
Enjoy this time to visit with our guests from outside organizations and Wayne’s friends. The updated PowerPoint presentation about Wayne Taylor’s estate distribution process will be on view and special coffee hour refreshments will be available.
by Diane Bowden | Jul 23, 2026 | Activity, AFSC, Immigration, Racial Justice Team, Social justice
Diane Bowden, RFM’s liaison to the American Friends Service Committee, will inform the community on recent actions of the AFSC during a program at 9:30 am on August 16 in the community room. Among the questions to be addressed: What is AFSC doing regarding the immigration crisis? How might we as a community be helpful? All are welcome to attend. The Race and Racial Justice Team, sponsors of the event, will provide coffee and muffins.
by Diane Bowden | Jun 23, 2026 | Activity, AFSC, Gaza, Israel, Peace and Social Concerns, Social justice
With thanks to Steve Chase for his May 3 presentation on AFSC’s position on apartheid in Israel/Palestine, the Peace & Social Concerns Committee recommends that Meeting consider endorsing the Apartheid-Free Pledge below.
However, since this merits more explanation, and we anticipate some discussion within our meeting, before asking for approval and acceptance of the Pledge, we encourage Friends to attend the following:
- Information Session on the Pledge, Community Room, Saturday June 27, 10:30-11:30am
- Threshing Session on the Pledge, blended, in-person and via Zoom, Saturday July 25, 4-5:30
The Pledge:
WE AFFIRM our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people;
WE OPPOSE all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression; and
WE DECLARE ourselves an apartheid-free community and to that end,
WE PLEDGE to join others in working to end all support to Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.
After due consideration by Meeting, the Committee anticipates bringing this to Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business in September.
by Diane Bowden | May 19, 2026 | Activity, AFSC, Social justice
Please join us for “Love as Action—Richmond.” This one-hour silent witness will be held on Sunday, June 14, at 1 pm in the median of Monument Ave between Commonwealth Ave and Westmoreland St. The action is publicly posted on the AFSC website and RFM social media, and all are welcome. If you plan to join us, please register: https://www.mobilize.us/afsc/event/956948/
Please bring a chair or blanket to sit on, water and a snack, a hat and sunscreen, maybe a hand fan, and prepare for an hour of silent protest. We have many signs ready for you as a result of our poster party last Sunday. The Visibility Team will have ice, water, lemonade, and snacks available under the canopy.
This action is in the median of Monument Avenue, a wide two-lane residential street with left turn lanes. Be careful and aware when crossing the street. If you decide to walk from the meetinghouse, please use Westmoreland St because there is a pedestrian crossing at both Patterson Ave and Monument Ave.
Parking is on the street, with side streets suggested. There are shade trees but be aware that a portion of the median is in the sun. The forecast for tomorrow is 94 degrees and humid.
Contact Beth Morrison to arrange for a ride from the meetinghouse to Monument Ave. Contact Diane Bowden with questions or for more information.
by Diane Bowden | May 19, 2026 | Activity, Courageous Conversations, Racial Justice Team, Social justice
Continuing our focus on creating successful dialogue in multi-racial settings, the Race and Racial Justice Team will host a program on August 9 at 9:30 am in the community room. The topic will be: Describe a Courageous Conversation that you’ve had. What worked well? What didn’t? What can we learn from this experience? The format will provide opportunity for sharing personal experiences, as well as small and larger group discussion of some of the vignettes shared. We do not plan to offer food, only water. Please bring your own refreshments, as desired.
by Diane Bowden | Apr 7, 2026 | Activity, AFSC, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Peace and Social Concerns, Social justice
Don’t miss the rescheduled May 3 discernment workshop on joining the Apartheid-Free Communities Coalition, to be held at Richmond Friends Meeting, in person and online.
An ice storm bumped our guest speaker from the February schedule, but now, fresh back from Israel/Palestine, Steve Chase will speak to Friends about nurturing a sustainable peace by ending our complicity with the US-backed system of apartheid in Palestine … how Quakers can work nonviolently and effectively for peace, justice, and equality for all Palestinians and Jewish Israelis.
On First Day, May 3rd, Steve will speak at 1:00, with ample time for questions and discussion. This will follow the usual 11:00 am worship, then snacks and finger food, at the Richmond Meetinghouse, 4500 Kensington Ave., Richmond 23221. Or all are invited to attend virtually at this zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84881595048?pwd=Wty8zKfYpVh8iBVeuD5oCrotOp20H2.1
Steve Chase is a long-time Quaker activist, educator, and writer. He is a member Friends Meeting of Washington and is FMW’s Liaison to the American Friends Service Committee. In 2017, he began his public ministry on seeking a just peace in Israel/Palestine with the publication of his Pendle Hill pamphlet #445, Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions? A Quaker Zionist Rethinks Palestinian Rights.
by Diane Bowden | Jan 3, 2026 | Earthcare, Peace and Social Concerns, Social justice
All are welcome to an informational program with guest speaker Tim Cywinski, Communication Director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter on First Day, January 11 at the rise of Meeting (12:30 - 2:00 pm).
The Earthcare Working Group, continuing our exploration of water issues, became interested in the phenomenal impacts of data centers. Data center developers are increasingly tapping into freshwater resources to quench the thirst of data centers, which puts nearby communities, and the greater aquifer source, at risk. A medium-sized data center can consume up to roughly 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling purposes, equivalent to the annual usage of approximately 1,000 households. Larger data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day, or about 1.8 billion annually, equivalent to usage of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people!
We have invited Tim to do a deeper dive in our exploration. Tim is a noted expert speaker on data centers and skilled at empowering Virginians to voice their concerns when faced with powerful companies proposing such projects in their community. He will share latest information on the exponential increase of data centers in Virginia, their energy, environmental and economic impacts and what citizens can do. Tim will also share briefly on the environmental and environmental justice - related legislation being brought to this year’s General Assembly and ways we can support them.
Please bring your questions and thoughts to this first program of the New Year. There will be snacks! Questions? Contact Barb Adams.
by Diane Bowden | Nov 18, 2024 | Announcement, Business Meeting, Race & Racism ad hoc, Social justice
Come learn and contribute to RFM’s on-going discernment around race and racism. After a two-year process involving deep listening, study, and prayerful reflection, the Ad Hoc Committee on Race & Racism presented a proposed action/implementation plan at the November business meeting. The committee will hold an information-discussion session about the plan on December 7 (Saturday) from 12:30 to 2:00 pm, both at the Meetinghouse and by Zoom.
Please join us for this important session. A summary of the plan is below. The full document is available by request to either of the ad hoc committee clerks. The full document is also available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pBS2gc854JrvaGwB6Zj_rwNnLyKuHeRe/view?usp=sharing.
by Diane Bowden | May 19, 2024 | African American heritage, Announcement, Business Meeting, Minuted Decisions, Richmond Community Hospital, Social justice
Richmond Friends Meeting recognizes that inequality and injustice on race are deeply rooted in our society. Our faith community continues to deliberatively examine this cruel history and to face the on-going realities of systemic racism. We are committed to work with other groups who promote racial healing and seek to dismantle some aspect of structural racism.
We stand with others in calling upon Virginia Union University, an HBCU (Historically Black College and University), to abandon plans to demolish Richmond Community Hospital and instead explore plans to restore and repurpose this building.
Richmond Community Hospital stands as a witness to the harsh reality of segregation that necessitated its construction when Jim Crow laws prevented black citizens from being treated in white hospitals. This brick building also stands as a monument to the struggles and triumphs of the people who came together to care for each other. Historic restoration of this 1932 Art Deco structure is the best way to honor this legacy of determination.
Virginia Union University plans to raze the building for parking and apartments. An unspecified offer to “memorialize” the structure has been offered. The Historic Richmond Foundation has twice offered to convene a group of engineers and architectural historic preservation specialists to independently assess the state of the structure, but Virginia Union has not replied to their offer.
While we appreciate the financial challenges now facing VUU, we are called to add our voice to the chorus calling for preservation of the Richmond Community Hospital building.
Approved at Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, May 19, 2024