Richmond Friends Meeting
Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
Ninth Month 20, 2015
Meeting began with silence at 11:00 AM. Thirty-seven (37) members and attenders were present. Clarisse Harton was greeter. Frances Stewart from Ministry and Worship sat on the facing bench to hold Meeting in the Light. Verónica Corrales Fuentes and Sebastian Wolff were welcomed as first-time attenders to MWB. Tracey Cain read the Baltimore Yearly Meeting (BYM) proposed Queries and Voices on Peace.
Religious Education: Barb Adams updated the meeting on the state of the Religious Education program. There are currently 29 children on the roster, of which about 14 are expected to attend regularly. The high school aged Young Friends (YF) and middle school aged Junior Young Friends (JYF) have typical enrollment numbers, while the elementary aged (ELF) class is quite small. All members of the JYF class will be attending the Our Whole Lives (OWL) program at the First Unitarian Universalist church for the majority of the First Days during the school year, and will only attend the meeting RE program sporadically. In order to accommodate these enrollment changes the K–8 children will be grouped together and have a rotating set of teachers. Upcoming RE events include the sale of handmade ‘Tz for Pz’ shirts (proceeds to Doctors without Borders), and participation in the International Day of Peace vigil to be held at the meetinghouse on Monday Sept. 21st at 7pm. Barb announced that there will be a program during Young Friends First Day class on October 4th on Conscientious Objection by Curt Terrell of Quaker House. Betsy Brinson, longtime QH Board member elaborated on the work of Quaker House.
Nominating Committee: Brooke Davis announced that the nominating committee is looking for members to serve on committees next year, and urged people to consider volunteering both to serve the meeting and to deepen their ties within the community.
Care and Counsel: Clarisse Harton announced that the committee is highly recommending Allen Lee for membership. As is customary his membership will be held over for approval to the October MWB, allowing Friends an opportunity to get to know Allen. Clarisse also urged people to consider joining a ‘Friendly 8s’ group by signing up on the lists on the bulletin board. These groups connect members with shared interests on a monthly basis and are a great way to get to know other meeting members. She highlighted the new group that will read One Year to Live by Steven Levine and discuss how to live meaningfully. Wade Smith announced that the trip sponsored by the birding group at the end of October still has openings.
Ministry and Worship: Tracey Cain announced the following upcoming events: (1) She extended an invitation to the Fall Retreat that is being held on November 14 from 9 am to 3 pm at The Clearing. John Calvi, a licensed massage therapist who has worked extensively with survivors of traumatic events, will lead The Goodness Workshop. This slow quiet time will include sharing by choice, simple clothes-on massage, an energy work form for deep relaxation, and John’s stories to keep us laughing. (2) John Calvi will lead two other events at the meetinghouse during the retreat weekend. On Friday evening he will give a presentation about QUIT, (the Quaker Initiative to End Torture,) and on Sunday at 9:30 am he will present ‘Journal Reading of a Quaker Healer After 30+ years’. (3) On November 1st, after meeting, VCCW (Virginia Correctional Center for Women) volunteers will gather for a light lunch and discussion, and invite people to learn more about their prison ministry (R.S.V.P. Rita Willett). The Quaker group at the women’s prison has been meeting for almost one year and plans to use the “spiritual state” process to develop a report to be shared with our meeting.
Website Committee: Don Miller updated members on changes to the meeting website, richmondfriendsmeeting.org, which has been available for more than a year. The committee has recently completed a significant revision to make it more convenient to use and make navigation more intuitive. Archives of meeting documents and the current directory are available in a password protected area. The committee would like to add more photographs once there is a clear privacy policy for publishing pictures. Don encouraged people to explore and use the website. Don also read a letter from Tom Illmensee, the primary architect of the website, who has moved to Hungary with his family. In his letter he talked about his family taking food and supplies to Syrian refugees who were at the Budapest train station and visiting the protest zone.
Peace and Social Concerns: (1) Mark Skolnick reported that PSC is selling Palestinian olive oil. Orders may be placed through Verna Boos. (2) Marcia Dickinson reminded members of the annual food drive we sponsor in October to collect food for the Fan Free Clinic. Leave donations of nonperishable foods, dog food, and paper bags in the collection box at the meetinghouse. (3) Ada Hammer announced that she is coordinating a dinner our meeting is sponsoring on 12/12/15 for families returning from a visiting day at distant prisons through Assisting Families of Inmates. Donations of time and food will be needed. (4) At its annual session in August, BYM approved a Climate Change Minute which had been created by Quaker Earthcare Witness, Quaker United Nations Office and Friends Committee on National Legislation. BYM asked individual meetings to consider the minute. The Climate Change minute was read and approved. This minute is separate from the one drafted and approved by RFM.
Adult Spiritual Education: Monica Shaw announced the following events, for which details are found on our website and in the newsletter: (1) Sunday, October 4th at 9:30 and 11 am in the Community Room: Workshops on Conscientious Objection and the Peace Testimony. There will be a session on Being an Advocate at rise of meeting, (2) Sunday, October 18th at 1 pm in the Community Room: Healing the Divide in Israel and Palestine. Dr. Alice Rothchild, Boston physician, human rights advocate and Jewish advocate for peace in Israel and Palestine, will present on her recent and ongoing travels to Gaza, (3) Saturday, October 24th from 10-12 noon in the Community Room: Moral Injury Workshop a presentation featuring Lynn and Steve Newsom, co-directors of Quaker House Military Counseling Center, Fayetteville, NC, home of Fort Bragg. Wade Smith, Quaker House Board Member spoke about the work that Quaker House is doing in this area to support veterans. (4) Sunday, October 25th, 9:30 to 10:45 am in the Community Room: The Spiritual Implications of Our Food Choices with Dr. Margaret Fisher of Herndon Friends Mtg.
Seventh Month 2015 MWB Minutes: Approved.
Clerk’s Business: The next potluck lunch will be September 27th, 2015, at rise of Meeting. Please bring food to share. The clerk announced the scheduled execution of Alfredo R. Prieto on Thursday, October 1st at 9:00 pm. RFM will hold a vigil beginning at 8:30. Friends are asked to consult the VADP (Virginians Against the Death Penalty) website for further information as the date approaches.
Other Business: Margaret Edds of Care and Counsel reported that Mary Bo Gassman has fallen ill and would appreciate cards and letters. Elizabeth Smith announced a silent retreat at The Clearing on Wednesday September 23rd from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. The day is co-sponsored with the group Chrysalis, and those interested were reminded to bring a bag lunch.
All business being concluded we settled into silence until the rise of meeting was signaled from the facing bench.
Denna Joy, Acting Clerk
Tina Mello, Acting Recording Clerk