Upcoming Local Worshiping Communities Events

Come to learn how you can help farmers and ranchers work with nature to regenerate soils and revitalize ecosystems to help cool the planet. Bethesda Friends Meeting presents five very short films followed by a panel discussion with a carbon farmer, a policy expert, and a soil/ecosystem expert. Free and open to the public. For more information email Tod@tsw2.us or call 202-322-2267. The doors open at 6:40pm and the program begins at 7:00.

The Quaker Women’s A Capella Choir invites you to a Friendly Sing on Saturday, April 14th from 10am to 3pm in the Meeting House. F/friends from all over BYM are invited to join our 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. Contact Kathryn.beaton@gmail.com for overnight hospitality. 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 annual apportionment meetings will take place this year on April 21 (hosted by Williamsburg Friends Meeting) and April 28 (hosted by Eastland Preparative Meeting of Little Britain Monthly Meeting.) These are brown-bag lunch events which begin at 9am and continue until 3pm. The morning will be devoted to the first review of the 2019 apportionment and operating budget. There will be a general interest program in the afternoon. Details will be available later.
Workshop – Equity, Diversity, and Wholeness: What Monthly Meetings Can Do
Brought to you by the ad hoc Growing Diverse Leadership Committee
On the afternoon of the Apportionment Days, the ad hoc Growing Diverse Leadership Committee will offer a workshop in three parts. First, we will spend time thoughtfully exploring the ways that Friends of color and Young Adult Friends have experienced bias in the world and in our Meetings. We will then broaden the discussion to include things we say about ourselves as local Meetings and a Yearly Meeting that unintentionally create barriers for others to overcome if they feel led to join us, or that keep people away. Finally, those who attend will receive materials they can take back to their Meetings and use in the work of Change Groups or in the other ways that local Meetings will be working to make our Meetings more equitable and whole. Those who attend will leave better prepared to bring this ministry of equity, diversity, and wholeness to their Meetings.

Since 2002, men from Baltimore Monthly Meeting, Stony Run have gathered early in the spring to build connections among Friends at one of BYM’s magnificent camps. In recent years, male Friends from other Meetings have participated in the weekend. This year, all men Friends in BYM are invited to register and gather at Catoctin for dinner sixth day through lunch first day - or any portion thereof. The retreat is very loosely programmed and includes time to relax, work cooperatively, hike (or nap), talk, tell stories, play, and have fun. For more information, including the registration form, contact Blaine Keener (443-414-9103 or blkomg@hotmail.com).

The annual apportionment meetings will take place this year on April 21 (hosted by Williamsburg Friends Meeting) and April 28 (hosted by Eastland Preparative Meeting of Little Britain Monthly Meeting.) These are brown-bag lunch events which begin at 9am and continue until 3pm. The morning will be devoted to the first review of the 2019 apportionment and operating budget. There will be a general interest program in the afternoon. Details will be available later.
Workshop – Equity, Diversity, and Wholeness: What Monthly Meetings Can Do
Brought to you by the ad hoc Growing Diverse Leadership Committee
On the afternoon of the Apportionment Days, the ad hoc Growing Diverse Leadership Committee will offer a workshop in three parts. First, we will spend time thoughtfully exploring the ways that Friends of color and Young Adult Friends have experienced bias in the world and in our Meetings. We will then broaden the discussion to include things we say about ourselves as local Meetings and a Yearly Meeting that unintentionally create barriers for others to overcome if they feel led to join us, or that keep people away. Finally, those who attend will receive materials they can take back to their Meetings and use in the work of Change Groups or in the other ways that local Meetings will be working to make our Meetings more equitable and whole. Those who attend will leave better prepared to bring this ministry of equity, diversity, and wholeness to their Meetings.