by WebPost | May 28, 2023 | Clerk’s Business
What are we at Richmond Friends Meeting led to do around race and racism? At our business meeting in December of 2022, we approved the formation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Race and Racism. 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 within the meeting.
The ad hoc committee will begin the first phase of our discernment process in June. Subsequent phases may include one-on-one sharing, listening circles, threshing sessions, and other forms of reflection. For the first step, we will invite all members and attenders of RFM to anonymously contribute a written response to the following query:
“Please think about your own experiences and actions regarding race and racism and those of RFM and the wider society. Then, please answer this query: What should RFM do regarding race and racism?”
Here’s how it will work: On June 1, the committee will send an e-mail to the RFM mailing list (list serv) with a link to a website where a written response can be anonymously submitted through June 30. We will also install a drop box below the bulletin board at the meetinghouse, so members and attenders who prefer can submit a hard copy of their response. 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. Thanks in advance to our Meeting community for taking on this good, hard work. May we embrace this as an authentic exploration, begun out of curiosity 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 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.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact any of the committee members: Allen Lee (co-clerk), Kathleen Morgan (co-clerk), Margaret Edds, Ruth Morrison, Michael Pierce, Lynda Perry, Monica Shaw and Rita Willett.
by WebPost | Apr 27, 2023 | Uncategorized
Elizabeth Price and her family need assistance:
Elizabeth Price, mom of Rebecca and Joshua is having bicuspid aortic valve surgery on 4/28/23. The procedure involves open heart surgery and replacing her valve with a mechanical one. Complete recovery may take up to 6 months. So, there is a need for assistance over a long period of time. Richmond Friends will be joining with Elizabeth’s family and local Ashland/Hanover friends to offer tangible support in the way of meals and rides to and from Meeting for Rebecca and Joshua. Below are links to sign up
Meal Train: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/o9900n%5C
This link provides a calendar for signing up for meals through May. It will be continually updated.
The family has a refrigerator in their garage which can be accessed with a code. This will permit Friends to bring a meal at a time convenient to them throughout the day or even a day or two in advance. Text Denna for the access code.
If you cannot provide a meal, consider restaurant vouchers for McDonald's, Dominoes, Jersey Mikes and Panera. Contact Denna if you would like assistance in getting a voucher to the family.
Consider sharing the task of bringing a meal with another RFM member/attender. Ride up together and enjoy eating and visiting shops along the railroad.
TO ASSIST DRIVING REBECCA & JOSHUA TO MEETING
Driving (Sign Up Genius) https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a44acaa2ea3f49-drivers#/
Folks might want to consider signing up in pairs to split rides to and from Meeting.
Contact Care and Counsel for more information
by WebPost | Apr 19, 2023 | Uncategorized
Cameron Wooddy and Maddie Dalzell would like to extend their warmest wishes for your attendance at their marriage under the care of Richmond Friends Meeting on Saturday, May 20th, 2023 at 4:30pm at The Clearing. The ceremony will be followed by a potluck dinner, games, and dancing. All Meeting community members are welcome and encouraged to attend. To RSVP and find more information, please go to https://www.theknot.com/us/maddie-dalzell-and-cameron-wooddy-may- 2023.
The Marriage Committee welcomes any volunteers who would like to help with event details, particularly the reception following the ceremony. Contact Randee Humphrey (804-317-8030; [email protected]) or Annie Salter (571-246-7570; [email protected]) for more details.
by WebPost | Mar 23, 2023 | Announcement
Born of long-term Quaker tradition and originally established to help those suffering economic hardship due to acts of conscience, the Fund for Sufferings was reinstated at Richmond Friends Meeting in 2009 to be used for short-term help for members and attenders in financial need. A major distinction between this fund and the Meeting's annual operating budget for Care and Counsel is that Friends may contribute directly to the Fund for Sufferings by sending a check earmarked for that purpose to the RFM Assistant Treasurer. Applicants for Fund for Sufferings assistance submit a request in writing to the clerk of Care and Counsel. The process allows confidentiality for both donors and recipients.
The 2023 co-clerks of Care and Counsel are Sylvia Shurcliff and Denna Joy. (They are in the RFM Directory.) Reach out to them should you have need for guidance about or support from the Fund for Sufferings.
by WebPost | Mar 4, 2023 | Announcement
Since the transmission level for Richmond and the surrounding area is now at low levels, per CDC guidelines, mask wearing is now optional. We will still crack the windows to allow for proper ventilation and the air purifiers will be running.