Current ad hoc Committees

1. Threshing Prep Committee
2. Digitization Committee 

Past ad hoc Committees

The ad hoc Threshing Preparation Committee (2021-present)

Mission: In February, 2021, Bethesda Friends Meeting (BFM) agreed to move forward on a Threshing process to discern whom we wish to become as a Meeting (as it pertains to systemic racism) and which of the BFM-wide ideas generated will be taken up by the Meeting as a whole with an action plan.  The Meeting agreed: 

Next steps

• On Sunday, October 24, 2021 from 1:00-2:30 p.m., we will gather via Zoom for a Threshing Session. To obtain the Zoom link, see your email bulletin or use our Contact Us form.   
• We will listen to the Spirit working within and through us to discern what type of community BFM is, and who we wish to be, as we seek to be an institutional instrument of peace. 
• For more details, please read the event listing and the October 2021 Newsletter article.  
• Any questions?  Please email us at forum@bethesdafriends.org or contact Gale T. (see BFM Directory).

Background and invitation to our Sunday, October 24th event

For several years and in many ways individuals and groups within the Bethesda Friends Meeting (BFM) community have sought to uplift our testimony of equality, especially as it relates to race. To see a timeline of key milestones, please click here.  There is much work and discernment left to be done.

• You are invited to come together to discern whether BFM, as a Meeting, wishes to undertake an exploration of our identity regarding racism, what approach may be used to reflect on where we are as individuals and as a Meeting, and what transformative steps we are willing to take. 
• As part of such reflections, we invite you to consider next steps, including whether the Meeting will need the support of an external facilitator. 
• Depending on our commitments, we will need to consider how willing the Meeting is to raise funds required to compensate this person. 

On October 24, 2021 as we continue to emerge from the isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic, we will gather by Zoom for a Threshing Session. Click here for the invitation and details. We will listen to the Spirit working within and through us to discern what type of community BFM is and who we wish to be as we seek to be an institutional instrument of peace.  We gather in response to Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s June 2020 Call for Action against Systemic Racism, which can be viewed here.  The Religious Society of Friends, like all groups, has been damaged by historic racial injustice and our members and neighbors are harmed by persistent inequalities.  We are called to do better.  

• Everyone is invited and all are requested to schedule your time so that you do not need to arrive late or leave early.   
• Once gathered we will settle into the silence of a Threshing Session facilitated by a weighty Friend to consider queries provided in advance.  
• With a mixture of eagerness, trepidation, and confidence in Way Opening, we look forward to seeing BFM members and attenders gather together.
• For more information and links to our reports, please click here. 

~ Alex Bell, Margaret Benefiel, Jackie DeCarlo, Peirce Hammond, Gale Thompson, Aura Triana Pacheco