Bethesda Friends Meeting

WELCOME VISITORS events

Information on the October 24th

"Call to Action Threshing Session"

Help Support our Meeting

Donate here

COVID-19 Meeting Information

Bethesda Friends are worshiping together

on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. via two venues

Outdoors on the breezeway at the Sidwell Friends Lower School,
Online via Zoom (ask us for the Zoom link via our Contact Us form).

Click here for our Weekly Bulletin, which has details about our week's activities and programs, opportunities to learn and meet in Spirit with each other, and our outdoor Meeting Covid restrictions.
Children's playground supervision is available for ages 3+ during 11:00 a.m. worship.

Welcome to Bethesda Friends Meeting

We're Quakers who meet every Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

Our meetinghouse is on the Sidwell Friends Lower School campus.

We are now worshiping via Zoom as well as in person, outdoors.

We strive for:

SIMPLICITY - Learning to discern the essential from the non-essential.

PEACE - Living in a spirit that takes away the occasion for all war.

INTEGRITY - Being who we truly are and truly meaning what we say.

COMMUNITY - Knowing that we need one another in order to be whole.

EQUALITY - Knowing that everyone, everywhere is equally precious to God. This includes people of all ages, abilities, sexual orientation, races, ethnicities, levels of resources, and theological perspectives.

STEWARDSHIP - Caring for the environment and using time and resources wisely, not wastefully.

We are a welcoming community.
We believe there is that of the Divine
in every person.

See more videos and learn more about Quakers at quakerspeak.com

Exploring and Deepening Our Quaker Faith and Practice

Starting Sunday, October 10 at 9:30-10:30 a.m., and continuing monthly on the second Sunday.
We will watch a video and then have a discussion on Quaker faith and practice for both those new to Meeting and those looking to deepen their experience.
Scroll up to see the first video on "What do Quakers do in Silent Worship?" or click here.
For more details about the classes, click here.

Comparative Religions

A Bible study using the Great Courses series Religions of the Axial Age (800-200 BCE) to examine religions of the ages.
Meeting weekly by Zoom, starting Tuesday, October 5, at 7:00 p.m., for a half-hour video lecture and a half hour discussion. Text of the lectures are also provided.
Join anytime as the sessions are independent of each other.

For more details, click here.

The Social Concerns Box for October supports the Interfaith Works housing program which provides affordable housing and social services to homeless families in Montgomery County as they transition from homelessness to independence.

On any given day in Montgomery County, 1,100 people are homeless. Between 2005 and 2015 childhood poverty increased from 4% to almost 10%. BFM has been one of the member organizations for more than 25 years.
To donate online to this Social Concern, you can go to: https://www.bethesdafriends.org/Donate-Online-Now. Be sure to designate that your contribution is for the September social concern.
You can also send a check, made payable to Bethesda Friends Meeting, to Assistant Treasurer, 3050 Military Rd, NW, Washington, DC 20015. Please write the designation on the memo line.

Answering The Call To Equality:

A Threshing Session

Sunday, Oct 24 at 1:00-2:30 p.m. via Zoom

Please join us as we gather via Zoom to engage in a “threshing” session. To request the Zoom link, please use our "Contact us" form.

We seek to clarify whether BFM wishes to take a journey toward healing the harm, reducing the impact, understanding and counteracting systemic racism within ourselves, our community, and the world.

Queries:

In what way is systemic racism an area of continuing revelation on our testimonies of Equality, Integrity, and Community which calls us to concerted collective effort and action to support uprooting systemic racism and developing the “Beloved Community”?
What internal work do we need to undertake in our mindset, behavior, words, processes, and systems to avoid unwittingly perpetuating systemic racism in ourselves as we seek to take collective actions to uproot it in the external world?
What is the support and expertise we need to see our biases and address the resistance, pain, fear, anger, hurt, shame, and guilt that might arise, so we can move forward to effective action?
What level of time and energy are we willing to commit at both an individual and community level?
At what level are we prepared to pay for external expertise and how would we secure funds (budget adjustments and/or special fund-raising)? (Note: there is an offer by a family in the Meeting to make a contribution matching that of the Meeting)

Kathryn Pettus, a member of Baltimore Friends Meeting, Stony Run, has agreed to clerk this session and has provided a brief description of threshing sessions and the role of the clerk.

Please review her description of a Threshing Session here if you are planning to attend.
We hope many of you will join us to discern our way forward!

For additional background and context, please see the Annual Report of the Change and Threshing Groups.

COVID-19 AND END OF LIFE ISSUES

BFM has formed an End of Life Group to provide legal, spiritual, and practical resources to help our community cope with the uncertainties and fears surrounding the end of life.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly elevated concerns about the health of family and friends, and the possibility that they could become gravely ill and die.
Although conversations with our loved ones about such a possibility are difficult, it’s important to prepare.
Please click here to see more details and resources.