Meeting for Business. On Sunday, March 7, at 9:00 a.m., Bethesda F(f)riends will consider various business items via Zoom. How the Spirit will lead us in discernment of issues both large and small is part of the mystery that is the Religious Society of Friends. We will hear the draft of our Spiritual State of the Meeting report and an update from our Treasurer. All who come to Meeting for Worship are welcome and encouraged to participate in our worshipful sharing of Meeting for Business. For more details, contact: Lee I. or Jabez M.
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11:00 - 12:00 on Sunday Meeting for Worship. Bethesda Friends continue worship together each Sunday. Friends can participate by videoconference using Zoom. Simultaneously, Friends who wish to worship in other settings or individually at home should do so knowing that others are sharing in worship.
At noon, all are welcome to open the BFM list serve and share their messages, joys and sorrows, and announcements. It has been a real joy to see so many people, including out-of-town Friends, and some families with kids, joining us each week.
Friends joining via Zoom are invited to log in at 10:45 to chat before settling into silence around 10:55 a.m. There is also an informal chat time at the Rise of Meeting at about 12:15.
See the most recent email Bulletin for access information and a current link to the Zoom Meeting for Worship. We will share joys and sorrows via Zoom and also via the BFM list-serve after Worship. If you have trouble joining the list-serve, please use our "Contact us" form.
Visitors: If you'd like to worship with our community, please use our "Contact us" form and tell us about your interest in Bethesda Friends. We welcome your joining us.
Joys and Sorrows: For those Bethesda Friends worshiping by Zoom, there will be an opportunity to share joys and sorrows with one another at about 12:00 noon in the Zoom meeting. For Bethesda Friends worshiping at home on their own, without connecting to Zoom, there will be sharing of joys and sorrows on the list-serve. You may want to check the list-serve after the Zoom meeting is over and see what other Friends have said. You might want to add your own joys and sorrows to the list-serve as well. (The list-serve is for BFM members and attenders. For more information, please use our Contact Us form).
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6:00-7:00 p.m. on Tuesdays Friends Meeting of Washington Mid-Week Meeting for Worship. To join via Zoom, please email "admin [AT] QuakersDC.org" or see information at http://quakersdc.org/
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8:00-8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays BFM Mid-Week Meeting for Worship. Held virtually (with email) each week. While some of our regulars prefer to simply join in Spirit at the appointed time, others are enjoying the brief connection provided by an email at 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 using reply-all. Contact Dot L. (see Directory) for more information.
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Thursdays, March at 7:00 p.m. Bible Study. A Bible Study will meet on Thursdays in March at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom with the Great Courses series, Understanding the Old Testament. The lectures cover Samuel, Kings, Ruth, Esther, and Amos. Newcomers are welcome. Please contact Alex B. for information and the Zoom link.
Before Abolition: Quakers and Slavery in the 1700s. On Thursday, March 11, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., the Sandy Spring Museum is hosting a talk by Elizabeth Cazden on the fact that before 1780, many Quakers enslaved Blacks to work in their households, farms, and plantations, with the notion that it was okay to enslave people as long as you treated them well. To register, click here, Quaker Book Group. The Quaker Book Group meets monthly on second Saturdays, via Zoom, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. We will meet on Saturday, March 13. The book is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. 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. The group is invited to share announcements, summaries, and thoughts about the readings through an online mailing list. To join the group and receive information about the book that is selected, please contact Leslie S. (see Directory).
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Junior Young Friends Conference. Baltimore Yearly Meeting hosts a gathering of 6th to 8th graders from Friends Meetings in this area three or four times per year. This is a fun way to see friends from other Meetings or camp, make new friends, and retreat from the pressures of teenage life, while still developing skills around living in community and having a lot of fun. There will be a virtual gathering on Saturday and Sunday, March 13 and 14. Please register as soon as possible. For more details: youthprograms@bym-rsf.org. The next one will be April 30 to May 2.
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Shalem Special Event. On Sunday, March 14, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., Shalem will be presenting the Contemplative Voices Award to Rev. Dr. Barbara Holmes, well-known author, spiritual teacher, activist, and scholar focused on African American spirituality, mysticism, cosmology, and culture. Note that this is the first day of Daylight Saving's Time. She will talk about her forthcoming book, Crisis Contemplation. Donate whatever amount you feel led to donate. Click here for link to register.
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Experiment with Light Session. 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. On the evening of Sunday, March 14, we will be having an Experiment with Light session. Starting at 7:30 p.m., you can follow the prompts at home and write or draw responses you have experienced during those prompts. Here is the link to the 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 link below (remember to "unmute" your device). We anticipate that part of the gathering could go until 9:15 p.m. For Zoom link, use our Contact Us form.
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