Reading Between the Lines (Bible Workbench) in July
Reading Between the Lines (formerly called Bible Workshop) will not meet in July.
Play365 at Soar365, Saturday, July 5, 9:30-11 am
Everyone is invited to explore Richmond’s accessible playground at Soar365, located at 3600 Saunders Avenue, Richmond, VA 23227. The next day, Sunday, July 6, children attending RFM will learn about building community playgrounds and create their own wacky playground feature where physics may or may not apply.
Meeting for Weeding, Saturday, June 21, 8-10 am
Our next Meeting for Weeding is June 21, 8-10 am, on the Meetinghouse grounds. Come get out your frustrations by digging and chopping pesky weeds and get instant gratification! Come for a little or as long as you like. All ages and abilities are welcome.
Dine, Chat, and Rescue the Fan Free Clinic (now Health Brigade)
Next first day, June 8th, Peace & Social Concerns is hosting a fundraising luncheon at rise of meeting. Have lunch, have fund, and help out the Health Brigade (formerly Fan Free Clinic) which just had its budget slashed by 1/3 due to cuts at HHS and the state. Health Brigade's situation is dire, so much that it's put its building up for sale, hoping to *survive* in a cheaper facility.
That's this coming Sunday, First Day, June 8, at rise of meeting.
Hope to see you then. Bring your checkbook and maybe a friend!
Financial Stewardship Threshing Sessions
The Financial Stewardship Committee invites all members and attenders to attend one of the upcoming Threshing Sessions to voice your opinions on how best to disburse and/or invest the remaining Contingency Fund surplus of $25,600 and $20,000, respectively.
There will be two Threshing Session opportunities to discuss all options presented.
- In person gathering: Saturday, June 21 at 10:00 am in the Meeting Room
- Zoom gathering: Thursday, July 10 at 7:00 pm
*Please refer to the updated FSC Proposal document for an overview of the Contingency Fund and actions taken to date.
After thorough consideration and discernment of all input, FSC will bring a recommendation to a future Meeting with Attention to Business for approval of the final disbursement(s) and investment(s).
Reach out to any FSC member if you have any questions.
Add your Pronouns to your Nametag
If you would like your pronouns listed on your nametag, pronoun stickers are now available on the table in the entry.
Also, here are a few helpful links for understanding the use of pronouns:
From Friends General Conference-
"Why Pronouns Matter" Youtube-
Meeting for Weeding, Saturday, May 31, 9-11
It’s weed season and that means it’s time for Meetings for Weeding! We will hold our first weeding event on May 31 from 9-11. The RFM garden team will be there and we’d love to have you join us. It’s a great way to meet people and get out your frustrations on pesky weeds.
Reading Between the Lines, June 2025
The Adult Spiritual Education Committee will host a one-hour Reading Between the Lines (Bible Workbench)—through Zoom— on June 1, starting at 9 am. We will discuss Acts 16: 16-34: gifts that are honored; gifts that are being distorted or used to make money for others (or to serve their egos); awkwardness in wanting to halt these behaviors when we see them; examining our motives; disentanglement, freedom, hope, and help when we have handled something badly. The facilitator will send the Zoom link through the Newslist a few days before our conversation.
Spring Retreat RE Plans
Spring Retreat!
On Sunday, May 25th at Kensington - There will be Nursery care and an all ages group here at the Meeting house for those families not planning to attend the Spring Retreat at The Clearing.
Detailed information regarding activities at Spring Retreat are in the May email to parents and caregivers. Sunday morning, at the Clearing, following 15 minutes of intergenerational silent worship, children will split into two age groups. RE has planned activities planned for Saturday morning and the retreat committee has intergenerational activities planned for Saturday afternoon.
We are grateful to share this space and find joy, healing, and worship for whatever amount of time you can. As always, thank you to everyone who has signed up to help both with the Spring Retreat & the children’s programming there. It truly is a community effort.
We welcome all to worship with us
Damos la bienvenida a todos para adorar con nosotros en la Reunión de Amigos (Los Cuáqueros) de Richmond.
You are welcome here.
Fundraising Luncheon for Ramallah Friends School, April 6
Peace and Social Concerns will host a fundraising luncheon at the rise of Meeting for Worship on First Day/Sunday, April 6 to benefit the Ramallah Friends School (RFS) in Palestine's West Bank. Guest speakers are Betsy Brinson, a member of Richmond Friends Meeting now living in Chapel Hill NC, and Faedah Totah Ph.D., an Associate Professor at VCU's School of World Studies, coordinator of the International Studies Program, and mentor to the VCU Students for Justice in Palestine. Betsy and her husband Gordon Davies lived in Ramallah for two years (2009-2011) while working on a definitive history of the Ramallah
Friends School, which traces its Quaker roots to 1869. Faedah is a 1984 graduate of Ramallah Friends School and a sociocultural anthropologist who teaches courses in globalization, development, urbanism, and the Middle East.
Betsy will speak on the current plight of the Ramallah Friends School, where emergency tuition assistance is needed to assist families at risk of leaving the school community due to the 60-80% unemployment levels in Palestine. Faedah will provide additional context about the wartime conditions across Palestine that threaten the present and future educational infrastructure.
Bring your checkbooks! If you cannot attend but are led to contribute, send contributions to Friends United
Meeting, 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond IN 47374 and note Ramallah Friends School in the memo line.
P.S. For F/friends living at Westminster Canterbury Richmond, Betsy will visit there on Saturday, April 5 at 10
am in the Jaqueline Room and provide an update on the conditions and needs of Ramallah Friends School and
how you can help. To donate online to RFS: https://www.rfs.edu.ps/en/page/donate
Friends General Conference Joins over Two Dozen Religious Groups in New Immigration Lawsuit
by Sharlee DiMenichi, Friends Journal
Opposing immigration enforcement in houses of worship, Friends General Conference (FGC) joined an interfaith lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and two of its enforcement agencies, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Barry Crossno, the general secretary of FGC, said, “The suit asserts that subjecting places of worship to ICE enforcement actions without a judicial warrant substantially burdens our religious exercise in violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. These enforcement actions at our places of worship interfere with our religious activities and our ability to fulfill our religious mandate to welcome and serve immigrants.”
There are 26 other Christian and Jewish denominations and community organizing associations among the plaintiffs, including Baptist, Brethren, Mennonite, Methodist, and Unitarian Universalist, representing 12 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, with some being national bodies. The suit was filed Tuesday, February 11, by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Richmond Friends Meeting Joins Democracy Forward Lawsuit Against Department of Homeland Security
Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, New England Yearly Meeting and two BYM monthly meetings- Adelphi and Richmond - filed a lawsuit on January 27, 2025 against the Department of Homeland Security. The lawsuit challenges the Department’s rescission of a decades-old policy to not conduct immigration enforcement at "sensitive locations," which include schools, hospitals, houses of worship, and public religious ceremonies like weddings and funerals. The new policy allows government agents to conduct enforcement operations in those locations. As a result, people of various faiths will avoid going to their houses of worship for fear of government enforcement. This hurts immigrants who will stay home. And it hurts the houses of worship and the other members who lose the ability to worship with others, including a number of our monthly meetings with ties to immigrants of different kinds.
Learn more about the suit in the complaint filing or this Friends Journal article.
Spiritual State of the Meeting Announcement: January 25, 9-11:30
Please join us Saturday, January 25th from 9:00-11:30 in person/Zoom for the Spiritual State of Richmond Friends Meeting, meeting. Guided by BYM Queries, we will try to discern Spirit’s movement among us this past year. This is an opportunity to share your thoughts on our Meeting’s challenges and growth. Observations and insights by both long time members/attenders and folks newer to RFM are encouraged.
Agenda
9:00-9:30 Coffee and light snacks
9:30-11:30 Silent worship, response to queries, small groups
Child care will be provided. Please let Julia Hebner know if you plan on using care and the ages of your children.
December 5–Financial Dignity: Exploring the Historic Racial Wealth gap in RVA
Randy Cooper will share his extraordinary journey from hardship to leadership from his perspective as a credit union president in Richmond VA ......and growing up as the youngest of 11 children in Enfield NC.
Date of Event: Thursday, Dec 5
Time: From 1 pm to 2 pm
Place: Richmond Friends Meetinghouse
Contact: Kat Sharp for details
Request for assistance
Elizabeth Price and her family need assistance:
Elizabeth Price, mom of Rebecca and Joshua is having bicuspid aortic valve surgery on 4/28/23. The procedure involves open heart surgery and replacing her valve with a mechanical one. Complete recovery may take up to 6 months. So, there is a need for assistance over a long period of time. Richmond Friends will be joining with Elizabeth’s family and local Ashland/Hanover friends to offer tangible support in the way of meals and rides to and from Meeting for Rebecca and Joshua. Below are links to sign up
Meal Train: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/o9900n%5C
This link provides a calendar for signing up for meals through May. It will be continually updated.
The family has a refrigerator in their garage which can be accessed with a code. This will permit Friends to bring a meal at a time convenient to them throughout the day or even a day or two in advance. Text Denna for the access code.
If you cannot provide a meal, consider restaurant vouchers for McDonald's, Dominoes, Jersey Mikes and Panera. Contact Denna if you would like assistance in getting a voucher to the family.
Consider sharing the task of bringing a meal with another RFM member/attender. Ride up together and enjoy eating and visiting shops along the railroad.
TO ASSIST DRIVING REBECCA & JOSHUA TO MEETING
Driving (Sign Up Genius) https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a44acaa2ea3f49-drivers#/
Folks might want to consider signing up in pairs to split rides to and from Meeting.
Contact Care and Counsel for more information
A Quaker Wedding at The Clearing: All are invited!
Cameron Wooddy and Maddie Dalzell would like to extend their warmest wishes for your attendance at their marriage under the care of Richmond Friends Meeting on Saturday, May 20th, 2023 at 4:30pm at The Clearing. The ceremony will be followed by a potluck dinner, games, and dancing. All Meeting community members are welcome and encouraged to attend. To RSVP and find more information, please go to https://www.theknot.com/us/maddie-dalzell-and-cameron-wooddy-may- 2023.
The Marriage Committee welcomes any volunteers who would like to help with event details, particularly the reception following the ceremony. Contact Randee Humphrey (804-317-8030; randperk@gmail.com) or Annie Salter (571-246-7570; aesalter@yahoo.com) for more details.
Clearing Workday
The Clearing Building & Grounds Committee is having a Clearing Workday on Saturday, March 30. Everyone is invited to join us out at The Clearing starting at 9:30 am. Bring a lunch, work gloves, clothes appropriate for working outdoors, sunblock, bug repellent, a hat, and/or whatever else will help to sustain you for the day. Tools are welcome as well, especially clippers, hand saws, and other implements that might be useful for clearing trails and campsites. You may want to label your items so they are easy to keep track of.
The address is 14006 Genito Rd, Amelia Court House, VA 23002, which now works quite well in Google Maps!
Spring Retreat 2018 Report
Spring retreat this year was full of friends rooting deeply into old traditions and branching into new experiences. We sat on the big front porch and enjoyed each other’s stories and laughter. Friday night’s movie “Intelligent Trees” was foundational to Joe Murray’s talk on Saturday. We listened to Joe Murray speak about trees, a subject many of us thought we knew about, but were in lightened with new insights. We did a grounding yoga practice in the morning, and a laughing yoga in the afternoon. Barbara Myers led us in a flower arranging workshop, which by many reports was great fun. Flowers adorned all of the tables at dinner time, which brought great joy. When there was work to be done, folks just pitched in. We gathered at the pavilion and told cheesy jokes and
stories around the fire, cozy and dry, out of the rain. We celebrated Oakie and Atticus Hebner’s birthdays with cake and steak. The steaks came from a cow named Daisy, who lived on the Hebner’s farm. We saw a family of three foxes in the field. The twin flowers were in bloom. We witnessed a rite of passage, as Atticus removed his training wheels and rode his bicycle unassisted. The committee learned some lessons along the way, such as dinner is much simpler without sweet potatoes. We had a lower attendance this year, and we had a financial deficit for the first time in many years. However, the weekend was a tremendous success. It was full, but unhurried. Many thanks to all who attended, and all who planned this special weekend.
Workcamp Committee Helps a Homeowner
The Workcamp committee installed plantings for new homeowner, Sandra, at her home in southside Richmond, on June 2. The mission of this committee is:
The Workcamp Committee at Richmond Friends Meeting seeks to act on the Quaker belief that there is that of God in every person. We believe that working cooperatively can put us in touch with that deeper spirit. We seek to do physical work in the spirit of love. Working with a homeowner, we will devise a plan for the yard. With the homeowner, we will plant shrubs and flowers. We
have found that working together enhances relationships, which is our deeper mission. We believe that working with others in our community has tremendous potential to build relationships and reduce misunderstanding.
Sandra is a new homeowner recommended by HOME (Housing Opportunities Made Equal). Meeting with two committee members, Anne Gray and
Barbara Myers, a week in advance, we planned a small vegetable garden (tomatoes and okra) for Sandra’s sunny back yard and hydrangeas, azalea, and small hollies for the front of her brick house. It was a warm sunny day, and committee members Wendy Wadsworth (co-clerk), Barbara Myers (co-clerk), Anne Gray, Anna Best, Anne Atkins, Carolyn Moul, Mark Perry, Paul Kvam, and Al Best dug up the grass and installed the new plantings. A flat of begonias and a deep covering of mulch provided the finishing touch to the new garden. We had a picnic lunch in the shade and celebrated the new look of Sandra’s yard. Sandra later wrote to us, “I love my lawn. My family, friends, and neighbors have all expressed how beautiful my lawn looks. Thanks sooo much for your hard work and kindness. May God bless you all for being thoughtful and loving neighbors.”
Friendly Sing on Saturday April 8th
The Quaker Women’s A Capella Choir invites you to a Friendly Sing on Saturday, April 8th from 10 am to 3 pm in the meetinghouse. F/friends from all over BYM are invited to join our singing leader, Ruth Fitz, for a day of singing. We will break at noon for a meal so please bring a bag lunch. Drinks and dessert will be provided. Please let us know if you need childcare by emailing the names and ages of your children to Diane Bowden at bowden.diane@gmail.com by Wednesday, April 5th.
Strong and shy singers are welcome to join this circle of F/friends singing rounds, sacred chants, spirituals, peace songs, hymns, and fun songs. We will sing together to energize our bodies and nurture our souls, with music that affirms our diversity, reflects our beauty, and celebrates our unity.
No singing or music reading experience is necessary to participate, just a willing spirit and a desire to sing.
Ruth Fitz has a BA in Music. She carries an embraced ministry of music from York Monthly Meeting since 2013. Ruth has led singing in Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s Friendly Sings, in Spiritual Formation Retreats, in BYM’s Annual Session workshops, and in individual Monthly Meetings in Philadelphia and Baltimore Yearly Meetings. She has also had the privilege of leading Soulful Singing workshops in FGC’s week-long Gatherings.
How Richmond Friends Meeting Communicates News and Information
Richmond Friends Meeting (RFM) uses a monthly newsletter, email messages and a website to communicate with the Meeting community and beyond. The list below describes the ways we communicate, how to receive communications, and how to submit information.
RFM Newsletter – The monthly RFM Newsletter is published as paper copies and PDF files.
Paper copies are made available at the meetinghouse for visitors and newcomers and also mailed to a limited number of friends on a postal mailing list. To reduce costs and paper use, friends with computer access are asked to receive PDF file copies by email.
PDF file copies are 1. sent by email to the e-Newsletter list (see below) and 2. posted on the RFM website on the Life of the Meeting page. (Note: Personal contact information for everyone, and specifics about children, are redacted from the website PDF version.)
e-Newsletter List – A list of email addresses is used to send out PDF copies of the newsletter. Note: the e-Newsletter list is different from the Newslist aka listserv. The e-Newsletter list is used only to distribute the electronic newsletters. This allows newcomers, visitors and far-away friends to receive our newsletter by email without receiving all the emails from the Newslist.
To receive the newsletter by email, subscribe to the e-Newsletter list by sending an email to enewsletter@richmondfriends.org.
Newslist aka listserv – A list of email addresses used to email all announcements, news and documents such as the agenda for a meeting), except for the newsletter.
To receive RFM communications (not including the newsletter) by email, subscribe to the email distribution list by sending an email to newslist@richmondfriends.org.
RFM Website – The website at richmondfriendsmeeting.org has public pages devoted to basic information about RFM, a calendar and list of events, postings with news, articles, documents (including the newsletter), and information about The Clearing (the retreat facility operated under the care of RFM). It also provides access to a password-protected section with meeting and committee documents.
How to Submit News and Information
For the newsletter: Send email to the Newsletter editors at RFMNewsletter@gmail.com.
For the Newslist aka listserv: Send email to moderator@richmondfriends.org. Note: content must be pre-formatted and ready to send as email.
For the RFM website: Send email to webclerk@richmondfriends.org.