Our dear friend Bette Gilchrist died last night at Westminster Canterbury. Bette’s daughter-in-law, Julie, and her grandson, Charlie, were holding her hands when she left us. Bette had fallen earlier in the week and sustained a brain injury. We will miss her sweet smile, her sense of calm and trust. Bette’s sons, Mark and Jay are in town and are taking care of anything that needs to happen now.
Thank you for joining us to celebrate the life of Karen Kain, whose time was tragically cut short in a fatal road accident on 4th March, 2022.
Karen lived an eclectic life - filled with art and music and friendship. She lived her life mindfully and selflessly with compassion and kindness. Above all, she loved community and sought to build it wherever she went. So it is fitting that her community now stretches across the world. Thank you for being a part of it. Karen was bought up Quaker, and we are so pleased to be celebrating her life with the Richmond Friends.
Please join us on 23rd April at 2pm for a memorial Meeting for Worship at which you may share your remembrances of Karen. Afterward, there will be an exhibition of Karen's art.
Richmond Friends may remember Karen from her time among us several years ago. She visited with us in the fall. For those who would like to know more about Karen's life, below is a link to a memorial held in Portland OR earlier in March.
A longtime Friend remembers that when she first arrived at Richmond Friends Meeting, she heard lots of announcements about Karen Counsel. She thought, Who is this person? She certainly is busy!
Yes, the Care and Counsel committee is busy, but there are lots of hands to share the work. The committee fills a “pastoral care” role, tending to the well-being of individuals in Meeting. The committee may give care and aid when members or attenders have illness, personal problems, or material needs. Upon request, the committee arranges “clearness committees,” a distinctly Quaker way of discerning personal leadings or answers to pressing personal concerns. Three or four people may sit with an individual—offering not answers or suggestions, but questions that may help them arrive at a right course of action.
The committee also attends to persons applying for membership or marriage; assists with changes of memberships; maintains periodic contact with absent or non-resident members; provides updates to the Directory Manager; and administers funds for relief of sufferings. Care and Counsel is responsible for greeting at 11:00 am worship each First Day. (Membership in RFM is required for service, and committee members serve for three years.)
Feel free to contact us if you have a question or a need.
Jim Thoroman and Allen Lee are teaming up to work with RFM members and attenders who may wish to apply for Comcast’s publicly available program, Internet Essentials. It provides internet service to qualified individuals at $9.95/month (plus tax) or about $120/year (plus tax). Care & Counsel may provide grants to qualified members or attenders of meeting to pay for this internet service.
Jim and Allen can help an interested person apply to the Internet Essentials program as well as contact Care & Counsel for a grant to pay for this internet service.
Anyone who is interested should contact Jim Thoroman or Allen Lee.
Jim Thoroman and Allen Lee are teaming up to work with RFM members and attenders who may wish to apply for Comcast’s publicly available program, Internet Essentials. It provides internet service to qualified individuals at $9.95/month (plus tax) or about $120/year (plus tax). Care & Counsel may provide grants to qualified members or attenders of meeting to pay for this internet service.
Jim and Allen can help an interested person apply to the Internet Essentials program as well as contact Care & Counsel for a grant to pay for this internet service.
Anyone who is interested should contact Jim Thoroman or Allen Lee.