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.
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.
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/
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.
Richmond Friends Meeting endorsed the statement on genocide in Gaza at Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business on November 16, 2025. The statement available at this link -- Quaker organizations discern genocide is occurring in Gaza and urge courageous action.
The Fourth and final session of Quakerism 101 will be held at the Meetinghouse on January 26 at 9:30 am.
Topic --"Quakers in the Wider World."
Kelly Kennedy will facilitate beginning with a PowerPoint including maps of Quakers in Virginia, the nation, and worldwide. With the help of three Friends with deep experience in organizations such as Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Friends General Conference, Friends Committee on National Legislation, and Friends in Unity with Nature, we'll look at how Quaker values drive their work and their outcomes.
Bring your coffee and join us Sunday January 26, at 9:30 in the Community Room. Childcare will be provided at 9:15.