Richmond Meeting is one of 40 Monthly Meetings that make up the community of Friends known as Baltimore Yearly Meeting (BYM). BYM is made up of Meetings in most of Virginia, DC, and Maryland, as well as parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. We hold our week-long Annual Sessions once a year in the summer along with several one-day Interim Meetings throughout the year to do business together.
Most recently, we had a called Interim Meeting on January 31 to finish some vital time-sensitive business. There were just two items on the agenda. The first was to approve the 2026 budget. This was achieved in a relatively short amount of time.
The second item was a return of the report from the BYM Quaker Camps Governance Study Group. The report and its associated proposal for restructuring our camps’ governance was presented with an apology for the previous Interim Meeting in November when the proposal was presented without appearing to have addressed concerns raised at threshing sessions and without responding to concerns raised in the face of the Meeting. Those concerns were then addressed. The Yearly Meeting was able to then approve the minute for the Yearly Meeting to create an LLC, owned by the Yearly Meeting, to be called BYM Quaker Camps LLC, and that the study group continue working through the next Interim Meeting to assist with the creation of the initial Board of Directors and to draft a resource manual on matters to be considered by the new board.
Perhaps as important, how do we share that experience with others?
How do we take our deepest Quaker truth and practice the presence of the Holy in the public square?
Come join Friends and fellow seekers as we explore together our experiences of the Presence of Spirit. (We might each name the Spirit differently: the Holy One, God, Christ, Light, Higher Power, or Ground of All Being.) We'll offer stories about how we have come to recognize this Presence within ourselves and beyond ourselves. And we'll share practices that Friends have actively engaged as ways of opening ourselves to this Presence. There will be some teaching and some time for reflection around adding or deepening spiritual practice in our daily routines. Plus time for rest, fellowship and fun! Please consider joining us.
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.
The Gathering The annual Quaker weeklong retreat, The Gathering, will finally happen in person at Radford University. This Friends General Conference (FGC) event will take place July 3 - 9. Plans for the workshops and other events are coming together. More information will be available soon. In the meantime, save the first week in July for this family friendly event. A COVID working group under the care of FGC’s Executive Committee is working to create a COVID Health and Safety policy all FGC events. Our RFM Adult Spiritual Education Committee has scholarship money available to attend The Gathering. What is The Gathering? The Gathering is a week of Quaker worship, workshops, and community for all ages. Friends come together from across the US and Canada (and sometimes further) to deepen our connection to one another and the Spirit. The Gathering is typically held on a college campus in late June/early July, and location changes from year to year. Attenders range from newborns to elders in their 90s, and include both long-time Friends (mostly from the unprogrammed, liberal tradition), and those newer to Quakerism. In structure, it’s part conference and part family camp. In content, it provides an abundance of opportunities to learn about Quakerism and to foster your spiritual life – and to have fun together. The Gathering schedule at a glance is available at this link: https://www.fgcquaker.org/connect/gathering/2022- schedule-glance You can also sign up to receive email updates to the schedule and registration information on the same page. Where is The Gathering in 2022? Radford University is the location of the 2022 Gathering. Radford University is located in Radford, Virginia, a town of about 17,400 in the "heart of the New River Valley", near the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwestern Virginia. The campus is fairly level with some mild inclines in the central areas of the campus. The well-kept buildings made of red brick, the green grass and pathways are welcoming. There is a mix of air conditioned and non-air conditioned housing. The campus is relatively compact, with shade trees, benches, and pleasant quads scattered across campus. Radford is about 15 miles southwest of Blacksburg, 45 minutes from the Roanoke airport, 20 minutes from Claytor Lake State Park and about an hour from the Blue Ridge Parkway. There is Amtrak service to Roanoke. For those who are driving, it is quite close to I-81. How do I register? Early Registration starts April 4, 2022 around 10:00 am (Eastern Daylight Time.) All full-time registrations completed during this time have equal access to workshops and housing options, and priority consideration for financial aid. Early registration closes April 14, 11:59 pm EDT. Registration will temporarily close from April 15–21: Lotteries will occur for any oversubscribed workshops & housing choices. All early registrants will be informed of their workshop & housing assignments. Standard Registration starts April 22: Workshops and financial assistance will be available on a first-come, first- served basis. Beginning June 1, there is a late fee for all full-time and half-Gathering registrations. Late fees will not be charged for part-time registrations. Deadlines for younger Friends: Junior Gathering (infant - rising 9th grade) and High School program (teens in rising 10th grade to 12th grade*) participants must be registered in advance of the Gathering. Check back for the exact deadline (often May 31.) Registration is not complete until FGC receives a Parental Release Form for each registered young Friend.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
Register Here!In our Fall retreat, we'll go "back to the basics" and explore some of the practices that might help us
(re)discover the Ground of our Being and sustain our joyful attention there. Whatever language we use to describe the connection we seek - Spirit, Light, Truth - how can our lives become deeply attuned to it so that we can be faithful, alive, and active in our own times?
During the retreat, Friends will be invited to quiet, personal reflection, sharing in spiritual friendship in small groups, and fellowship with the whole group. Activities will be assigned during the off-line time. In addition, Zoom space will be kept open during meal time for virtual "table fellowship." Therefore, we ask that participants hold Saturday open just as if we were meeting on-site.
Friday's session will begin at 7pm. Saturday sessions will run: 9-11am, 1-3pm, and 7-9pm.We are also happy to announce that the Spiritual Formation Working Group will support a year-long program of monthly gatherings via Zoom for Friends who live remotely or whose Meeting cannot sustain a local group. More information about this opportunity will be shared at the retreat.To register, visit https://www.bym-rsf.org/events/spiritform/. We will follow the "pay as lead" model utilized at Annual Session. The suggested contribution is $50/person, which will cover the costs of participation.
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2021 Theme: Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world
Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.
In 2021, as we heal from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are inspired to think creatively and collectively about how to help everyone recover better, how to build resilience, and
how to transform our world into one that is more equal, more just, equitable, inclusive, sustainable, and healthier.
The pandemic is known for hitting the underprivileged and marginalized groups the hardest. By April 2021, over 687 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally, but over 100 countries have not received a single dose. People caught in conflict are especially vulnerable in
terms of lack of access to healthcare.
In line with the Secretary-General’s appeal for a global ceasefire last March, in February 2021 the Security Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for Member States to support a “sustained humanitarian pause” to localconflicts. The global ceasefire must continue to be honoured, to ensure people caught in conflict have access to lifesaving vaccinations and treatments.
The pandemic has been accompanied by a surge in stigma, discrimination, and hatred, which only cost more lives instead of saving them: the virus attacks all without caring about where we are from or what we believe in. Confronting this common enemy of humankind, we must be reminded that we are not each other’s enemy. To be able to recover from the
devastation of the pandemic, we must make peace with one another.
And we must make peace with nature. Despite the travel restrictions and economic shutdowns, climate change is not on pause. What we need is a green and sustainable global economy that produces jobs, reduces emissions, and builds
resilience to climate impacts.
The 2021 theme for the International Day of Peace is “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable world”. Weinvite you to join the efforts of the United Nations family as we focus on recovering better for a more equitable and peaceful world. Celebrate peace by standing up against acts of hate online and offline, and by spreading compassion,kindness, and hope in the face of the pandemic.