by WebPost | Jul 19, 2023 | Current
We enjoyed giving an ASE presentation last month about the spiritual process of creating Swing Bridge. As a follow-up, you can find more information about the book on: bronwynhughes.com
The Swing Bridge book is available several ways now:
• from Amazon
• Shelf Life Books in Carytown
• Mathews locations- MCVIC, Moughon's Hardware, Gwynn's Island Museum
• buy directly from the author- send a request to katsharpmassage@gmail.com
We hope you enjoy the stories!
Bronwyn Hughes (author) and Kat Sharp (illustrator)
by WebPost | Jun 30, 2023 | Adult Spiritual Education, Current
Baltimore Yearly Meeting (BYM) Annuals Sessions is fast approaching. Adult Spiritual Education (ASE) has scholarships, up to $500. If receiving this scholarship facilitates your attendance, please apply by send a written request with your name, the name of the conference (BYM) and the dates you will attend. You may send this to ellenandjules@protonmail.com or to any other member of ASE (names and contact in directory.)
BYM Annual Sessions provides a great opportunity to learn more about Quakerism and meet other Friends from our five state regional Yearly. Your children can attend their own programs, which will allow you to attend the adult programing. It will be held from August 1-7, 2023 at Hood College in Frederick, MD.You can attend any portion of that time.
You can register at https://www.bym-rsf.org/anuualsession/. You may notice it has a "pay as led" fee structure. As you make your decision about what you can pay, please remember the scholarship through ASE.
by WebPost | Jun 21, 2023 | Current, Peace and Social Concerns
We have been contacted by a member of Morningside Meeting in NYC about two recent emigres from Afghanistan. They wish to increase their contact with other Richmonders. While in Afghanistan they worked in different capacities for climate and human rights. After the withdrawal of the US, with their own lives in jeopardy, they helped other Afghan refugees fight for their rights. They are used to being involved in civic life and would like to find ways to help others in Richmond. If you would like to contact them, please contact Rhonda Ligon or Ellen Arginteanu. Also, they are looking to buy a second hand car, so if you know of a car for sale or a reputable dealer contact either Rhonda or Ellen for their contact information.
by WebPost | Jun 21, 2023 | Current, Peace and Social Concerns
The Peace Testimony Reading Group had their first session on Saturday, June 17th. There will be three more sessions, each on the third Saturday at 9:30 am, specifically, July 15th, August 19th and Sept 16th. If you wish to join and have not signed up, please contact Ellen Arginteanu.
by WebPost | May 28, 2023 | Clerk’s Business, Current
What are we at Richmond Friends Meeting led to do around race and racism? At our business meeting in December of 2022, we approved the formation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Race and Racism. The committee’s charge is to 1) develop and engage the Meeting in an inclusive and open discernment process to learn what our meeting is led to do around race and racism; and 2) using the learning gained from the discernment process, develop an action/implementation plan that engages committees and individuals within the meeting.
The ad hoc committee will begin the first phase of our discernment process in June. Subsequent phases may include one-on-one sharing, listening circles, threshing sessions, and other forms of reflection. For the first step, we will invite all members and attenders of RFM to anonymously contribute a written response to the following query:
“Please think about your own experiences and actions regarding race and racism and those of RFM and the wider society. Then, please answer this query: What should RFM do regarding race and racism?”
Here’s how it will work: On June 1, the committee will send an e-mail to the RFM mailing list (list serv) with a link to a website where a written response can be anonymously submitted through June 30. We will also install a drop box below the bulletin board at the meetinghouse, so members and attenders who prefer can submit a hard copy of their response. Beginning on July 15, all query responses will be made available for the entire RFM community to read on the password-protected portion of the RFM web site. If you need access, the committee can supply you with the password.
Sometime in August, the committee will embark on subsequent phases of the discernment and make available additional ways that RFM members and attenders can reflect on the query. Thanks in advance to our Meeting community for taking on this good, hard work. May we embrace this as an authentic exploration, begun out of curiosity and openness to what the way forward might be – not out of a sense of having all the answers, but knowing that all of us are on different places along the spectrum of understanding how race affects each of us and the society we live in. May we encourage one another to embrace vulnerability, and listen with humility and acceptance of our varied experiences and understandings of the impact of race and racism.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact any of the committee members: Allen Lee (co-clerk), Kathleen Morgan (co-clerk), Margaret Edds, Ruth Morrison, Michael Pierce, Lynda Perry, Monica Shaw and Rita Willett.
by WebPost | May 28, 2023 | Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Current
BYM’s committees need new members every year. This year, we especially need new members to bring energy and new perspectives to:
● Program Committee – to plan and carry out all aspects of our annual session
● Stewardship & Finance – for faithfully translating our financial resources into our vision
● Youth Programs – to plan and attend conferences or “cons” for the Yearly Meeting’s middle and high
school folks
● Development – to support, renew and enlarge the giving activity that forms an important revenue stream
Are you someone who attends a local meeting, Annual Session, Interim Meeting, camp, Spiritual Formation, or another Quaker activity? Someone who is curious about what our committees do? Maybe you are wondering where your gifts, interests, and skills might most be needed. BYM committees shape much of the work of the Yearly Meeting, and your perspective could help shape a committee.
BYM’s Nominating Committee has care of the process of talking with and nominating F/friends who are interested in joining committees or representing BYM in another organization. Filling these positions is a community-wide process you are welcome to engage in. Let’s talk! Replying to this message won’t create an obligation for you to join a committee, but it will provide a way to share information and start a dialogue. Nominating Committee believes that new relationships and fresh dialogue will benefit our faith community.
Please email us at nominating@bym-rsf.org, and one of our members will respond.
