Head of Meeting: Margaret B. On August 21, Georgianna Z.

Pastoral Care: If you have concerns about personal issues or questions about membership, Bethesda Friends Meeting, or Quaker faith and practice, please be in touch with today's Friendly Ear (a member of the Pastoral Care Committee, see your email bulletin and the person will be introduced at the end of Worship each Sunday).

The Social Concern for July and August is Jubilee Jobs, which since 1981 has placed nearly 27,000 people into marketplace employment. Work for sustenance, dignity, and hope describes the common goals Jubilee Jobs shares with those in need, including those who are homeless, in recovery, ex-offenders, public welfare recipients, and recent immigrants. It provides continuing support for up to two years. For details: www.jubileejobs.org

To donate to this Social Concern, please go to: www.bethesdafriends.org. Be sure to designate that your contribution is for the social concern. 

You're also welcome to donate to Bethesda Friends Meeting directly to support all Meeting activities via the same methods (online or by check).

Meeting for Worship: Bethesda Friends worship together each Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Friends can participate remotely via Zoom, or meet in person at the Meeting House on the Sidwell Friends Lower School campus. Currently, due to the fact that the COVID-19 Community Level Status in Montgomery County now "high," our Meeting for Worship will be held outside in the Breezeway. The rules regarding COVID apply to all of those attending in person.

Participating in worship via Zoom. Friends wishing to join Meeting for Worship remotely can do so via Zoom.  If you'd like the Zoom link for online worship with our community, please use our "Contact us" form and tell us about your interest in Bethesda Friends. We welcome your joining us.

Childcare during Meeting for Worship: Supervised play for older children will be held outside, and childcare for young children ages 6 months through prekindergarten in the Childcare Room is cancelled. 

Religious Education Summer Schedule: Supervised child care during Meeting for Worship is available for children in K-6th grade on the playground due to the COVID-19 Community Level Status in Montgomery County. If you are interested in supervised child care for the whole of Meeting for Worship, please bring your child to the playground before Meeting for Worship between 10:50 and 11:00 a.m. Children are welcome to stay with their families for the first 15 minutes of Meeting for Worship (please escort your child to the playground to sign them in at 11:15 a.m.) or stay for the full hour.

Please note that children must be signed in and signed out by their parent or caregiver. For new and visiting families, parents will be asked to fill out a very short registration form. The BFM Youth Safety Policy requires that all young people infant-18 years old must be supervised by a parent, teachers or child care staff at all times.  We will resume First Day School classes in September (please stay tuned for the date classes will resume).

The Fellowship of Friends of African Descent Annual Gathering for 2022 will be held virtually from Friday, August 12, to Sunday, August 14. The theme is Continuing Revelation: Spirit, Society, Self. The 2022 Gathering is free to attend. White allies are welcome to donate to support the Gathering. Please visit this link for more information and to register.

The Quaker Book Group will meet Saturday August 13 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. to discuss Princess Ruth: Love and Tragedy in Hawaii by Joann Lordhal. Set in Kauai, this novel follows a haole (non-Hawaiian) visitor as she encounters the history, life and Indigenous culture of the islands. Newcomers are always welcome to the discussion, even if you have not read the book. For details: Leslie S. to request information or to receive the Zoom link, please use the "Contact us" form.

The Comparative Religions discussion group will continue a 12-lecture series from Great Courses entitled Great World Religions: Hinduism taught by Prof. Mark Muesse of Rhodes College. We meet weekly on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. for a half hour lecture and a half hour discussion. A group of 8 to 10 has been meeting, and we greatly enjoy the fellowship as much as the lessons. You are welcome to join anytime. For more information contact Najla D. using the "Contact us" form.

Bethesda Friends Meeting’s stay-at-home Mid-Week Worship by email on Wednesdays, from 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. While some of our regulars prefer to simply join in Spirit at the appointed time, others enjoy the brief connection provided by an email at the start and end of worship. At rise of meeting, those on that session's email list who are moved to do so may share experiences by reply-all. Please use the "Contact us" form to request more information.

Quaker Urgent Call to Action to Protect Our Democracy.  A group of Friends led to speak out against lies, extremist movements, and anti-democratic actions has issued a Call to others in the Quaker community. They encourage prayerful discernment of this “Urgent Call” and invite all concerned Friends and friends to join them in a national conversation on these issues to be hosted by the Earlham School of Religion on Thursday, August 18 (7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.). For more details and to register, please visit https://quakercall.net/.

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. There will be a session on August 21 from 7:30 p.m. 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 "Contact us" form to request more information.

COVID-19 Rules for In-Person Meeting for Worship:

• You must be vaccinated against COVID-19.  
• You must wear a mask. Tight fitting masks such as N95 or KN95 are recommended.
•  You must maintain social distancing.
• You must self-screen based on COVID symptoms or exposure.  You may not attend in-person Meeting for Worship if you have a fever, have COVID symptoms, have tested positive for COVID, or have been exposed in the past 10 days to an individual testing positive for, or displaying symptoms of, COVID.
• You must sign in on a simple sign-in sheet.
• You must notify BFM promptly if you have a positive test after attending in person.  BFM will provide notice to others who attended the same meeting of the COVID case (but will not identify the person testing positive). Send notification to covid.committee@bethesdafriends.org, or use the "Contact us" form.
• Click here for BFM's Covid-19 information and policy.