by WebPost | Apr 7, 2026 | Activity, AFSC, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Peace and Social Concerns, Social justice
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/84881595048?pwd=Wty8zKfYpVh8iBVeuD5oCrotOp20H2.1
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.
by WebPost | Feb 11, 2026 | Activity, Fundraiser, Peace and Social Concerns
On Second First Day / March 8, Peace & Social Concerns will host a fundraising luncheon at rise of Meeting to benefit CrossOver Healthcare Ministries, which provides uninsured and Medicaid neighbors with primary and specialty healthcare, pediatrics, women’s health and prenatal care, mental health, and more.
CrossOver was hit very hard by federal and state budget cuts in 2025. Your generous donation to our luncheon will help them maintain services and ideally even restore HIV care for new patients, which they had to suspend last May.
That’s First Day March 8, at Rise of Meeting. P&SC provides a nicely varied lunch. You please be as generous as makes sense for you.
by WebPost | Jan 3, 2026 | Earthcare, Peace and Social Concerns, Social justice
All are welcome to an informational program with guest speaker Tim Cywinski, Communication Director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter on First Day, January 11 at the rise of Meeting (12:30 - 2:00 pm).
The Earthcare Working Group, continuing our exploration of water issues, became interested in the phenomenal impacts of data centers. Data center developers are increasingly tapping into freshwater resources to quench the thirst of data centers, which puts nearby communities, and the greater aquifer source, at risk. A medium-sized data center can consume up to roughly 110 million gallons of water per year for cooling purposes, equivalent to the annual usage of approximately 1,000 households. Larger data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day, or about 1.8 billion annually, equivalent to usage of a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people!
We have invited Tim to do a deeper dive in our exploration. Tim is a noted expert speaker on data centers and skilled at empowering Virginians to voice their concerns when faced with powerful companies proposing such projects in their community. He will share latest information on the exponential increase of data centers in Virginia, their energy, environmental and economic impacts and what citizens can do. Tim will also share briefly on the environmental and environmental justice - related legislation being brought to this year’s General Assembly and ways we can support them.
Please bring your questions and thoughts to this first program of the New Year. There will be snacks! Questions? Contact Barb Adams.
by WebPost | Dec 21, 2025 | Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Peace and Social Concerns
Watch for a new date for an event with Steve Chase from Friends Meeting of Washington (FMW), who will share his personal and several Meetings' discernment journeys toward joining the Apartheid-Free Communities coalition and working for a truly just peace in Israel/Palestine. The original program has been postponed due to weather and driving conditions.
A brief excerpt from Steve Chase’s overview on the topic follows, with the idea that whatever the outcome of the cease-fire...
“We ... know that there will not be a sustainable or just peace without ending Israeli apartheid. We are therefore prepared to take up the long-term ministry of working to build a strong international, nonviolent, anti-apartheid movement in solidarity with Palestinian and Israeli activists. This will require us to engage in peace and justice advocacy, humanitarian assistance, peacebuilding efforts, and strategic nonviolent resistance—the four cornerstones of Quaker faith-based activism. ...
“... I often hear from people in the wider Quaker world who believe their congregations are just too divided, too ill-informed, or too apathetic to come to unity on Israel/Palestine. My response is that the experience of Friends Meeting of Washington proves that Quaker meetings can engage in deep discernment and move from fractured disunity and inaction to unity and powerful faith-based activism for peace, justice, and equality for all in Israel/Palestine.”
by WebPost | Nov 11, 2025 | AFSC, Business Meeting, Gaza, Minuted Decisions, Peace and Social Concerns
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.