by WebPost | Aug 4, 2023 | Clerk’s Business
SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, September 14, 7-8:15 p.m.
Zoom presentation by the C. Wayne Taylor Bequest Ad Hoc Committee
". . .to be used for the direct benefit of needy people residing in the Richmond metropolitan area." This was the only guidance provided in the last will and testament of the late C. Wayne Taylor on the use of his estate after his death in July 2020. Mr. Taylor entrusted to Richmond Friends Meeting that estate and decisions about its distribution to the wider community. Since June 2021, the Ad Hoc committee charged with researching and making recommendations of possible uses of Mr. Taylor's bequest has been hard at work.
In this Zoom presentation, you will learn about the arc of Mr. Taylor's life; what the Ad Hoc committee has discovered from close friends about the values that guided his life; and the research we have conducted over the past two years, with guidance and assistance from community organizations. A Zoom link will be provided the week of September 11.
Randee Humphrey, Denna Joy, Scott Morrison, Barb Pedrotty
C. Wayne Taylor Ad Hoc Committee
by WebPost | Aug 2, 2023 | Clerk’s Business
The Race and Racism Ad Hoc Committee will host 4 listening circles, continuing our charge of engaging the Meeting in an inclusive and open discernment process to learn what our meeting is led to do around race and racism. The listening circles are open to all attenders- whether or not you submitted a written response to the query. Two listening circles will be held in person, and two will be held on zoom. You are invited to attend as many as you would like. Members and attenders who are people of color are invited to contact committee co-clerk Allen Lee who will be organizing and scheduling a listening circle for people of color.
The scheduled listening circles to date, open to all attenders:
August 20th at 12:30 p.m. in the Community Room
August 24th at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom
August 27th at 1:00 p.m. in the Worship Room
We are looking forward to your participation.
Thank you,
Allen Lee, co-clerk, Kathleen Morgan, co-clerk, Margaret Edds, Ruth Morrison, Lynda Perry, Michael Pierce, Monica Shaw, Rita Willet
by WebPost | Jul 29, 2023 | Care and Counsel
To the Richmond Friends Meeting community,
Brooke Davis, Nick Martina, and Andrew Kossan are deeply grieving after the heartbreaking sudden death by overdose of Andrew's older brother, Alex, on July 21. The Care + Counsel committee of Richmond Friends Meeting has organized this Meal Train service so that the family won't have to worry about dinner meals twice a week for the next three months. Andrew has a big appetite, so preparing for 3-4 adults is a good strategy. Along with the sustenance these meals provide, please send Brooke, Nick, and Andrew lots of love and Light during this tragic and difficult time for their family.
If you have difficulty using the link below to access the Meal Train schedule or need help signing up, contact Randee Humphrey.
by WebPost | Jul 14, 2023 | Clerk’s Business
Over 50 responses to the query, "What should RFM do regarding race and racism?,” have been received and are now available on the password-protected portion of the Richmond Friends Meeting website. First, go to https://www.richmondfriendsmeeting.org/. Second, click on “Login.” Third, enter the password. Fourth, click on "Ad Hoc Committee on Race and Racism."
If you have any questions or comments, contact any of the members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Race and Racism: Margaret Edds, Allen Lee, Kathleen Morgan, Ruth Morrison, Lynda Perry, Michael Pierce, Monica Shaw, Rita Willett.
by WebPost | Jun 2, 2023 | Clerk’s Business
First deeply consider your own experiences and actions regarding race and racism, and those of Richmond Friends Meeting, and the wider society. Then please write your response to this query:
What should RFM do regarding race and racism?
Members and attenders can respond in one of two ways, both designed to offer anonymity:
1. Provide your written response electronically using a special form at this link: https://tinyurl.com/3j935mjk
2. Write your answer on paper and place it in the drop box we’ve placed under the bulletin board in the foyer behind the meeting room.
Please respond by June 30. 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. Subsequent phases may include one-on-one sharing, listening circles, threshing sessions, and other forms of reflection.
Thank you for taking on the good, hard work of thinking about and answering the query. May we embrace this as an authentic exploration, begun out of curiosity, concern, 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 likely 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.
As a reminder, RFM approved the formation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Race and Racism during our twelfth-month 2022 Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business. 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.
Thank you again for your deep consideration of this query and for adding your voice to Meeting’s discernment process. Please reach out to any of the committee members if you have questions or concerns.