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• BFM Book Discussion

  • When
    September 25, 2021
  •  
    3:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom

  Sept 25th: Book Discussion of The Sum of Us

              On Saturday, September 25, at 3:00 p.m., please join the book discussion (via Zoom) of The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee. The session is sponsored by the Peace & Social Justice Committee and will be led by Jane Meleney Coe. Reading and discussing the book is a way to understand more fully how systemic racism affects us all. Use our Contract Us form for the Zoom link. 

  • In the book, the author looks at obstacles which prevent our dealing with the causes of inequality.
  • Underlying issues like mortgage and credit availability, climate change, and location and avail-ability of community assets (e.g. swimming pools) and liabilities (e.g. industrial facilities and waste sites) are a common thread.
  • If an action or policy might benefit everyone in a community, including people of color, then powers-that-be tend to choose not to take that action or adopt that policy.
  • As a policy researcher Heather McGhee decided to delve deeply into the mystery of why people would choose to privatize public services when they became available to everyone.

              For people who won’t have the time or energy to read the book or be able to get a copy easily and want to follow along and participate in the discussion -- or those who loved the book and would love to hear the author speak about it in her own voice, there are three recommended interviews:

  • TED talk: Racism has a cost for everyone.   
  • Podcast with Ezra Klein: a discussion about drained-pool politics (the zero-sum stories at the heart of American policymaking) 
  • YouTube with Trevor Noah, which provides an interesting contrast to the Ted Talk she gave
  • The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together 

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• Book Discussion of The Sum of Us

  • When
    September 25, 2021
  •  
    3:00 PM

  On Saturday, September 25, at 3:00 p.m., please join the book discussion (via Zoom) of The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee. The session is sponsored by the Peace & Social Justice Committee. Reading and discussing the book is a way to understand more fully how systemic racism affects us all. In the book, the author looks at obstacles which prevent our dealing with the causes of inequality. Underlying issues like mortgage and credit availability, climate change, and location and availability of community assets (e.g. swimming pools) and liabilities (e.g. industrial facilities and waste sites) are a common thread: if an action or policy might benefit everyone in a community, including people of color, then powers that be tend to choose not to take that action or adopt that policy. As a policy researcher she decided to delve deeply into the mystery of why people would choose to privatize public services when they became available to everyone.

              For people who won’t have the time or energy to read the book or be able to get a copy easily and want to follow along and participate in the discussion or those who loved the book and would love to hear the author speak about it in her own voice, there are three recommended interviews:

              TED talk:

  https://www.ted.com/talks/heather_c_mcghee_racism_has_a_cost_for_everyone?language=en

              Podcast with Ezra Klein:

  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cost-all-americans-pay-for-racism/id1548604447?i=1000509231359

              YouTube with Trevor Noah, which provides an interesting contrast to the Ted Talk she gave:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZpse-90KTY

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• Peace & Social Justice Committee

  • When
    September 26, 2021
  •  
    9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

  The Peace & Social Justice Committee is a self-constituted group of folks interested in deepening the Meeting’s engagement with peace building and social justice, as individuals and as a community on all levels – personal, interpersonal, local, national, and international. Advocacy, education, vigils, and financial support of community groups are among the ways the committee pursues its mission. You are invited to join us. We meet on the fourth Sunday of the month, by Zoom during the pandemic, at 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.

   

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• Meeting for Worship

  • When
    September 26, 2021
  •  
    11:00 AM

  Bethesda Friends worship together each Sunday at 11:00 a.m.

              Worship in the Meeting House. Friends are invited to participate in a hybrid meeting for worship in the meeting room at the Lower School.  Friends participating in this in-person worship must wear a mask at all times and maintain social distancing. We will ask everyone attending in person to sign in on a simple sign in sheet. You may not attend in-person Meeting for Worship if you have a fever, have COVID symptoms, have tested positive for COVID, or have recently been exposed to an individual testing positive for, or displaying symptoms of, COVID. Any friends who cannot participate in person due to these restrictions are welcome to participate by Zoom.

              Participating in worship via Zoom. Friends wishing to join meeting for worship remotely can do so via Zoom. Here is the Zoom link:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88297849424?pwd=bDFhdzBxTUM1c1FzeEFXUFQ3NXdhQT09# You can also participate by telephone (without video) by dialing 1 301 715 8592. When prompted for the Meeting ID, enter 882 9784 9424 followed by #. You will be prompted to enter your unique participant ID. Press # to skip this step and join the meeting.

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• Coordinating Gathering

  • When
    September 26, 2021
  •  
    1:00 PM

  Representatives of most BFM committees meet during the week before Meeting for Business to discuss the upcoming agenda. These meetings are open to all who wish to attend. There will be one on Sunday, September 26, at 1:00 p.m., via Zoom, in preparation for the Meeting for Business on October 3.

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• Experiment with Light

  • When
    September 26, 2021
  •  
    7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

  How do we quiet our brains enough to hear the still, small voice within us? How might we deepen our experience of meeting for worship? Experiment With Light is a meditative and centering practice based upon Rex Ambler’s book Light to Live By, which describes early Quaker meditative habits and translates them into a highly accessible process of clearness and understanding. All are welcome to attend. First-time participants find the process quite easy to follow and, often,  richly rewarding.

              There will be two sessions in September, on Sunday, September 12, and Sunday, September 26, from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Starting at 7:30 p.m., you can follow the prompts at home and write or draw responses you have experienced during those prompts:

  https://experiment-with-light.org.uk/meditations/ We usually use the meditation on the individual in modern language, full length, 37 minute version. Then around 8:30 p.m., if you would like to worship-share from your meditation experience and want to join in a Zoom gathering, please use the links below. We anticipate that this part of the gathering could go until 9:15 p.m.

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• Meeting for Worship

  • When
    September 29, 2021
  •  
    8:00 PM - 8:30 PM

  Over-zoomed? Join BFM Friends’ “low tech” email mid- week worship on Wednesdays from 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. Each of us worships in our homes without video or audio. While some simply join in spirit, those wishing to touch base with the others receive emails at the start and end of worship.

  At rise of meeting, email participants are invited to worship-share via reply-all with the evening’s email group.

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• World Quaker Day

  • When
    October 03, 2021
  • Location
    worldwide

  Celebrate with Friends around the world on World Quaker Day: Sunday, 3rd October, 2021.  Watch and share the video invitation.  to World Quaker Day 2021.

  • This year, Friends in the Americas are taking this opportunity to capture part of the history of our meetings in the words of the oldest members of our meetings. 
  • Attend BFM's "after worship chat" at 12:15 on Sunday, October 3rd. Share with others "How I came to Quakerism."  

  If you're looking to join Friends around the world for online worship, we have three opportunities for you:

  1. Join with Friends in a koinonia time honoring World Quaker Day organized by the Young Adult Friends of the FWCC Traveling Ministry Corps!

  • 4PM Pacific | 5PM Mountain | 6PM Central | 7PM Eastern

    Register here to receive the Zoom link

    2. Europe and Middle East Section (EMES) will be hosting an hour of unprogrammed worship on World Quaker Day

    ·     At the corresponding times: 1pm London / 2pm Paris.  ·     Find out more on EMES' website.

  3.  Africa and Asia West Pacific Sections will be hosting an hour of semi-programmed worship on World Quaker Day.  At the corresponding times: 8:00 am Cape Town, Kigali / 9:00 am Nairobi / 11:30 am New Delhi, Bhopal / 2:00 pm Manila, Fremantle / 3:00 pm Tokyo / 5:00 pm Melbourne / 7:00 pm Wellington   Register online.

  
  

  
  

  
  

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• Comparative Religions

  • Start
    October 05, 2021
  •  
  • End
    March 29, 2022
  •  
  • Schedule
    26 sessions
  • Location
    via Zoom

              Beginning in October, Bible Study will morph into Comparative Religions, using the Great Courses series, Religions of the Axial Age (800-200 BCE, examining Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Vedanta, Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism, and Taoism).

  • We will meet once a week by Zoom, starting Tuesday, October 5, at 7:00 p.m., for 24 half-hour lectures with an additional half hour discussion, probably ending in late March. 
  • A group of 8 to 10 has been meeting over the last two years studying the Old and New Testaments, and we greatly enjoyed the fellowship as much as the lessons.
  • Use our Contact Us form to get to get the Zoom link, or see your email bulletin. Each session is self-contained, so you can attend any session.

  
  

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• Quaker Book Group

  • When
    October 09, 2021
  •  
    1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

  The Quaker Book Group meets monthly via Zoom, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. on the second Saturday of the month. Newcomers are always welcome (even if you have not read the book!). We read a mix of books by Quakers, books about Quakerism, and books that speak to Quaker values and concerns. We will be discussing Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rudger Bregman in October.  The group is invited to share announcements, summaries, and thoughts about the readings through an online mailing list.

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• Exploring and Deepening Our Quaker Faith & Practice

  • Start
    October 10, 2021
  •  
  • End
    December 12, 2021
  •  
  • Schedule
    3 sessions
  • Location
    TBD

  Starting October 10 at 9:30 a.m., and continuing monthly on the second Sunday of the month, Ministry & Worship will have an hour-long discussion on Quaker faith and practice for both those new to Meeting and those looking to deepen their experience.

  • Do you sometime wish you could have a deeper conversation with others about their experience in Meeting for Worship?  Are you curious about what draws people to Quaker Meeting, and about how their Quaker faith and practice informs their lives?  Would you like to feel a deeper connection spiritually to others in the Meeting?
  • A short video from Quaker Speak will introduce a topic, and then we will continue the conversation.
  • On October 10, the video we will be watching is entitled “What do Quakers do in Silent Worship?  It is about 8 minutes long, and so we will have plenty of time to talk with one another in response to the video.  To see the video for Session 1, click here. 
  • The meeting will be via zoom.  For more information, contact Stephanie K. or Bernie B. or use our "Contact us" form. 

  
  

   

  
  

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• Call to Action: BFM’s Identity and Role in Approaching Racism

  • When
    October 24, 2021
  •  
    12:15 PM
  • Location
    In-person SFS & via Zoom

  Will you join us in a conversation about whether BFM wishes to take a journey toward living our Quaker testimony of equality by taking steps to dismantle systemic racism within and around us? We’re gathering on Sunday, October 24, at 12:15 after Meeting for Worship, to engage in a “threshing” session to clarify who wishes to go on this journey, what the initial leg of a collective journey might entail and require, and what preparation we choose to make for embarking on it together.

  • In response to Baltimore Yearly Meeting’s “Call to Action” on systemic racism, and after some collective Meeting steps to identify near term actions committees might take, a Threshing Prep group was commissioned to research and ponder how we might conduct a “threshing” process to get more clarity about our community identity regarding systemic racism and the actions we would commit to in order to uproot it. 
  • What might we commit to as a group, rather than just as individuals?
  • We wish, therefore, to understand who wants to go on this collective journey and sees value in doing it in the context of the BFM community. 
  • If we agree that – in light of our blind spots and the nuanced expertise required to do it well – we choose to engage someone to help us, we will need to generate funds from the current budget or from new commitments. 
  • A first step would be confirming the willingness of the community to undertake this effort, and to commit money and time to the process, which would indicate the importance we place on it. Is this important to you? 

  Will you join us on October 24 and help to shape our approach?

  The session will be hybrid: you can choose to meet in-person at SFS lower campus or via Zoom.

  To read more details and to RSVP, please click here. 
  

  
  

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