Events Calendar

Young Friends should plant to begin arriving at 7:00 pm on Friday. For information, check the Young Friends website (https://bym-rsforg.presencehost.net/what_we_do/yfs/yfcon.html) or contact Jocelyn Dowling. (301-774-7663) Please remember that the deadline to register and be guaranteed a slot is two weeks before the conference (March 17). Any one registering after that date will be placed on a waiting list and may not be able to attend.

The Quaker Women’s A Capella Choir invites you to a Friendly Sing on Saturday, April 8th from 10am to 3pm in the Richmond Meeting House. F/friends from all over BYM are invited to join singing leader, Ruth Fitz, for a day of singing. We will break at noon for a meal so please bring a bag lunch. Drinks and dessert will be provided. Please let us know if you need childcare by emailing the names and ages of your children to Diane Bowden at bowden.diane@gmail.com by Wednesday, April 5th. Strong and shy singers are welcome to join this circle of F/friends singing rounds, sacred chants, spirituals, peace songs, hymns, and fun songs. We will sing together to energize our bodies and nurture our souls, with music that affirms our diversity, reflects our beauty, and celebrates our unity. No singing or music reading experience is necessary to participate, just a willing spirit and a desire to sing.

The ad hoc Faith and Practice Process Clarification Committee seeks your input on the guidance that should be given to a new Faith and Practice Committee. Join Friends at Bethesda Friends Meeting from 1-3pm. The Process Clarification Committee reported on its progress at Interim Meeting on March 18. The committee has scheduled this listening session, and your participation will help us provide necessary guidance to the new Faith and Practice Committee. See the committee’s report at https://t.e2ma.net/click/wfj56e/0e1p7t/k2wl2cc. Contact the Process Clarification committee at fandp@bym-rsf.org for more details. There will be two more listening sessions during the Apportionment Meetings on April 22 and 29.

Come find out more about the money that your Meeting sends to BYM! You’ll hear about how other Meetings are handling their finances and about how the Yearly Meeting is doing. The Stewardship and Finance Committee hosts this annual meeting to consider issues of apportionment – that is, financial support of BYM. New this year will be our holding the event on two Saturdays, one toward the north and one to the south. Friends will gather beginning at 9:30am for coffee and snacks. The Apportionment Meeting will begin at 10:00 and is expected to conclude by 2:30pm. In the morning, the Stewardship and Finance Committee will present a rough draft of the 2018 Yearly Meeting Budget, as well as a first proposal of Monthly Meeting Apportionments for 2018. For documents that explain the apportionment process, go to www.bym-rsf.org/what_we_do/committees/sandf. Please register for your preferred meeting location so that our hosts may know how many Friends to expect. (http://www.bym-rsf.org/events/ymevents/apportionreg.html)

Family Camp Weekends at Baltimore Yearly Meeting Camp Properties offer us all a chance enjoy our beautiful camp properties during the greening up time of year. Individuals and families are invited to come and enjoy the camps for a day or for the weekend. This spring, we will have a program coordinator at each weekend who will plan camp-familiar activities for Saturday and Sunday mornings, as well as Saturday afternoon and evening. These may include things such as playing in the creek, a crafts project or hiking around one of the most precious places on earth. There will also be plenty of work projects to do! Work projects offer people with all kinds of skills the opportunity to enjoy some meaningful and satisfying work! We will enjoy meals together, have time to explore and even spend time around a camp fire in the evening. We invite you to join us for a BYM Quaker Camp experience, give the gift of your time, participate with children in activities and find yourself rejuvenated.

Come find out more about the money that your Meeting sends to BYM! You’ll hear about how other Meetings are handling their finances and about how the Yearly Meeting is doing. The Stewardship and Finance Committee hosts this annual meeting to consider issues of apportionment – that is, financial support of BYM. New this year will be our holding the event on two Saturdays, one toward the north and one to the south. Friends will gather beginning at 9:30am for coffee and snacks. The Apportionment Meeting will begin at 10:00 and is expected to conclude by 2:30pm. In the morning, the Stewardship and Finance Committee will present a rough draft of the 2018 Yearly Meeting Budget, as well as a first proposal of Monthly Meeting Apportionments for 2018. For documents that explain the apportionment process, go to www.bym-rsf.org/what_we_do/committees/sandf. Please register for your preferred meeting location so that our hosts may know how many Friends to expect. (http://www.bym-rsf.org/events/ymevents/apportionreg.html)

Empowering Women: The Link to Population: How will the new federal administration affect family planning clinics? How do increasing population and consumption patterns affect declining environmental quality? How does family planning affect population numbers? How do these fit with Quaker values? What can Friends do locally? Presentations by Roanoke Planned Parenthood and Ruah Swennerfelt, a founding member of Quaker Earthcare Witness. Meeting for Worship will begin at 10:30am. There will be a potluck lunch at noon. Child care will be provided. If possible, please call in advance so that we will have an idea of how many children or for more information: Tony Martin 540-874-4212.