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April 2023 Newsletter

For the schedule of upcoming events, see the list below. For the monthly Queries, see April: Harmony with Creation. (The blue text on this page and within this web site contains embedded hypertext links. Click on a link to open the web page associated with that link.)

Announcements

We gather in our Meeting House for Silent Worship at 10 am on Sundays. Twice a month, on the first and the third Sundays, we will have Hybrid Silent Worship, which will be both on Zoom and in-person at the Meeting House. When the weather is poor we may hold worship over Zoom instead of gathering at the Meeting House; watch your email for an alert.

Our First Day School for children is open, with a varied schedule of classes on Zoom or in person in the First Day School. We are also holding online meetings, spiritual discussions, book discussions and yoga on Zoom. For details on using Zoom, see our Zoom guidelines.

April 2023 Reno Friends Meeting Schedule

Sun. Apr. 2 – Hybrid Silent Worship (on Zoom and In-Person), 10 am (details) 

Sun. Apr. 9 – In-Person Silent Worship, 10 am (details) 

Sun. Apr. 9 – In-Person First Day School, 10 am (details)

Sun. Apr. 9 – EASTER POTLUCK, 11:30 am (details) 

Tues. Apr. 11 – RFM Book Club on Zoom, 4-5 pm (details)

Wed. Apr. 12 – Embodying the Light on Zoom, 10-11 am (details)

Sun. Apr. 16 – Hybrid Silent Worship (in-person and on Zoom), 10 am (details)

Sun. Apr. 16 – Zoom Meeting for Business, 12:30 pm (NOTE START TIME) (details)

Thurs. Apr. 20 – In-Person Brown Bag Lunch, with hosts Melanie and Peg, 12 noon (details)

Sun. Apr. 23 – In-Person Silent Worship, 10 am (details) 

Sun. Apr. 23 – In-Person First Day School, 10 am (details)

Sun. Apr. 23 – Potluck, 11:30 am (details) 

Tues. Apr. 25 – Zoom Spiritual Discussion on “The Future of Quakerism,” with Catie Polley, 7-8 pm (details)

Wed. Apr. 26 – Embodying the Light on Zoom, 10-11 am (details)

Sun. Apr. 30 – In-Person Silent Worship, 10 am (details) 

Other Important Dates

Sat. May 13 – Meeting House and Garden Clean-up, 9 am to 12 noon

Reno Friends Meeting Event Details & Other Notices

Join Us for Silent Worship Back in the Meeting House

Reno Friends Meeting has returned to the Meeting House for Silent Worship, at 10 am, with fellowship afterwards. We ask that attenders be vaccinated and boosted; masks are optional for indoor activities. If necessary, we may open doors and/or windows for air. We plan to run our air purifiers. If you are not feeling well – even if it’s just a cold – we ask that you stay home, even if you are vaccinated. If you test positive for COVID and have attended Silent Worship or another indoor Reno Friends event within the previous two days, please contact clerk (at) renofriends.org.

For Hybrid Worship, you may join us either in person on online via Zoom. You can read more about our setup here. For Hybrid Silent Worship on Zoom, we have developed a set of Zoom Worship guidelines. 

We plan to hold Hybrid Silent Worship twice a month on First and Third Sundays. Here is the recurring Zoom link for Hybrid Silent Worship:

https://zoom.us/j/98305205938?pwd=cDZseGdLbWMyYWZsZDdiN00rMjRUZz09

Occasionally we may need to run Parallel Silent Worship, which means that the Zoom Meeting will be separate from the In-Person Meeting in the Meeting House. For Parallel Zoom Worship, use the Zoom link above.

If you would prefer to sit in Silent Worship quietly at home rather than joining us online with Zoom, we invite you to send after-thoughts, joys and concerns, and requests to hold people in the Light to Rhonda at classes(at)renofriends.org. Our worship clerk will read them at the next Silent Worship.

First Day School: Sun. Apr. 9 In-Person, 10-11 am; and Sun. Apr. 23 In-Person, 10-11 am.

First Day School this month will have two in-person sessions: Sun. Apr. 9 (Easter Potluck) from 10-11 am, and Sun. Apr. 23 (April Potluck) from 10-11 am. Most months, the First Day School meets in Zoom classes on the second Sunday of the month, and in person on the fourth Sunday/Potluck Sunday. On in-person Sundays, the children sit in worship with their parents for the first ten to fifteen minutes before class, before joining their class in the First Day School building. The theme for First Day School this Spring is “Growing in the Light.” Please contact the Meeting if you are interested in bringing children to the First Day School for the first time or would like to have your children attend First Day School on a Sunday other than the second or fourth Sundays. You can email us at firstdayschool(at)renofriends.org.

New RFM First Day School Policy

Reno Friends has developed a policy to foster safety for our children in First Day School. You can read the policy on our website here. We are also looking for adult volunteers to assist with First Day School. If you would like to volunteer to help with the children, you need to be well-known to the Meeting and have been an active member or attender for at least six months. Signup information for volunteers is available in our weekly update email or you may email firstdayschool(at)renofriends.org.

The Reno Friends Book Club, Apr. 11, from 4-5 pm

The RFM Book Club meets monthly on second Tuesdays, from 4-5 pm on Zoom. This month, the book club will meet Tues. April. 11 at 4 pm to discuss Falling to Heaven: A Novel, by Jeanne Peterson. The book is 320 pages long, fiction, and is available used and in Kindle format.

Our next book selections are:

Discussion questions for the group can be sent to the the book club moderator at bookclub(at)renofriends.org. The Zoom link for the gathering will be sent out in the RFM Weekly Update email.

Embodying the Light: Wed. Apr. 12 on Zoom & Wed. Apr. 26 on Zoom, 10-11 am

Rhonda Ashurst leads our “Embodying the Light” class of gentle yoga and Tai Chi/Qigong as a service to Reno Friends and the community. The class is usually held on Zoom from 10-11 am, on second and fourth Wednesday mornings. This month, the Zoom sessions will be Wed. Apr. 12 and Wed. Apr. 26. The Zoom link will be sent in the Weekly Update. See our website for more details.

Brown Bag Lunch, Thurs. Apr. 20, at 12 noon

Join hosts Peg McCall and Melanie Scott for an in-person Brown Bag Lunch at the Meeting House on Thurs. Apr. 20 at 12 noon. Anyone who wants to share lunch and fellowship with other Reno Friends is welcome.

Zoom Spiritual Discussion: Tues. Apr. 25 “Quakerism 101: The Future of Quakerism,” with Catie Polley, 7-8 pm

RFM’s spiritual discussions are currently exploring Quakerism 101, a program to learn more about Quaker faith and practice. On Apr. 25, we will be discussing the Future of Quakerism, with Catie Polley facilitating. For our Quakerism 101 series, we are using a curriculum developed by the Chapel Hill Friends of North Carolina: https://www.chapelhillfriends.org/Q101.html.

We meet for an hour on 4th Tuesdays from 7-8 pm on Zoom and cover what we can during that time, continuing on in the next month’s session. Each month we have a different topic and some brief readings, with a volunteer facilitator to summarize the readings and pose queries for discussion. If you can, please read the assigned readings (they are all online — see link, above) and come prepared to discuss the material. We have a volunteer facilitator to summarize each reading and pose queries. It is not necessary to attend every session in this ongoing series; please drop in as you can.

If you have questions, please email them to classes(at)renofriends.org. The Zoom links, session topics, and background info for each topic will be sent out in the RFM Weekly Updates.

Upcoming Quakerism 101 Topics

May 23: S-P-I-C-E-S: The Quaker Testimonies, Friends Testimonies, and Confident Quakerism, with Cheri and Doug Smith

The Spiritual Discussion Committee includes: Rhonda Ashurst, Earl Piercy, Catie Polley and Cliff Smith. The committee welcomes your ideas/topics and encourages you to join us to facilitate a topic of interest to you.

Donating to Reno Friends in 2023

If you would like to support Reno Friends Meeting, donations can be sent to our Meeting Treasurer Charlie Shepard at his home at 4395 Mountaingate Dr., Reno, NV, 89519. Or you can send money to the Meeting via your bank using the zelle payment application, which most banks offer for free. To make a Zelle transfer, you’ll need Reno Friends’ bank account number, which you can get by emailing treasurer(at)renofriends.org. Zelle eliminates the need to write a check and, for our Treasurers, the need to deposit your check at the bank. Thank you from Reno Friends!

Quaker Earthcare Witness

Those who support Quaker Earthcare Witness, a Quaker-led environmental group, say they believe it is important for Quakers to have a place to share concerns about the planet within the context of Quaker values, while also being cared for. One member said: “It is inspiring to be a small part of a community of Earthcare activists.” If you’ve enjoyed and benefited from reading BeFriending Creation this year, please consider making a donation to support our efforts. In peace, Hayley Hathaway, Editor, BeFriending Creation

For suggestions of books recommended by Quaker Earthcare Witness, click here:  https://www.quakerearthcare.org/article/qews-favorite-books 

Carson City Worship Group

The Carson City worship group meets every Sunday of the month for unprogrammed worship from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm in the living room of the Rectory of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Carson City. Attenders are asked to wear a mask. St. Peter’s, located at 314 North Division Street, occupies a small city block in the heart of Carson City’s Historic District. The Rectory, an historic two-story brick house, sits just south of the church building. If anyone would like to be connected to the Carson group, just email clerk(at)renofriends.org.

Quaker Mission Stamp Project

Your canceled stamps are needed!  Read about it here! https://rswr.org/sites/default/files/Newsletters/2022-Q1-Newsletter.pdf    Reno Friends Meeting has been supporting Right Sharing of World Resources for decades. Learn how this Quaker organization helps women in Sierra Leon, Kenya, India and before too long, Guatemala, support themselves, which in turn helps their families and villages.  

Outside Non-Profits That Meet at the Quaker Meeting House

NOTE:  Please contact the groups directly for updates.

Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families meets every Thursday from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm, and every Saturday from 5 pm to 6 pm. ACA is a world service 12-step program for those struggling with the legacy of growing up in an alcoholic or dysfunctional home. These groups are open to all.

Citizens Climate Lobby of Northern Nevada works with local and national legislators to pass a carbon tax and dividend to help stop global warming. CCL meets the 4th Tuesday of the month, 6:30 to 8 pm (except for Dec.). For more info, email Betsy Fadali at bfadali (at) sbcglobal.net. Feel free to bring friends and neighbors, if they are interested. For more on CCL, go to www.citizensclimatelobby.org.

Other Quaker Activities & Announcements

College Park Spring Quarterly Meeting, May 19-21, at Ben Lomond Quaker Center, Santa Cruz, CA

College Park Spring Quarterly Meeting is May 19-21, at Ben Lomond Quaker Center near Santa Cruz, CA. Reno Friends Monthly Meeting is a member of College Park Quarterly Meeting (CPQM), a quarterly meeting of the unprogrammed Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in northern California and northern Nevada. CPQM holds Quarterly Meetings in the Winter, Spring and Fall, which are gatherings of Quakers from all the member Monthly Meetings, and it also provides support for member Meetings. There are 24 Monthly Meetings and six Worship Groups in CPQM.

Pacific Yearly Meeting Annual Session 2023, July 21-26, Mount Madonna Center, near Watsonville, CA

Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Annual Session 2023 will be a hybrid event (in-person gathering with opportunities for remote or online participation) held at Mount Madonna Center near Watsonville, CA, July 21-26, 2023. The theme for Annual Session 2023 will be: “Beloved Community Part II: Centering the Voices of the Next Generation.” Read the clerk’s call here. PacYM has decided to make Annual Session FREE for kids this year, and many Monthly Meetings are encouraging Young Friends to participate.

Pacific Yearly Meeting is a community of “unprogrammed” Friends (Quaker) Meetings in parts of Mexico and the western USA. After decades of independence, PYM recently became affiliated with Friends General Conference. In FGC there is another PYM, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, so Pacific Yearly Meeting is now known as PacYM instead. Reno Monthly Meeting is a member of PacYM, and uses the PacYM book Faith and Practice which sets out the beliefs of Friends, PacYM’s structures and processes, and the spiritual foundation of these processes and of our way of worship. Western Friend is the official publication of Quakers in Pacific, North Pacific, and Intermountain Yearly Meetings. PacYM is a year-round community, and holds a four-day summer gathering called “PacYM Annual Session.”

Ben Lomond Quaker Center, Ben Lomond, CA

Ben Lomond Quaker Center has posted its 2023 calendar of programs and retreats. Programs include daily online Silent Worship (7:30-8 am) and Wednesday morning online Worship Sharing (10-11:30 am), go to http://www.quakercenter.org.

Camp Woolman at Sierra Friends Center

The Woolman at Sierra Friends Center has released its Winter 2022/Spring 2023 Programs for children, adults, and intergenerational. Information can be found at woolman.org by selecting the “View Upcoming Events” link on the home page at the bottom right. Programs include art workshops, archery and disc golf workshops, one and two-week residential camp sessions, writers retreat, activist workshops, book discussion group [no cost], community potlucks [no cost], and first responder certification course. In addition, the Center is offering Friends a 20% discount on accommodations for a personal or a group retreat. For questions or to book a stay, contact Shannon Boling at shannonb (at) woolman.org.

Write for What Canst Thou Say?

Tell us your stories! What Canst Thou Say? (WCTS) is an independent publication co-operatively produced by Friends with an interest in mystical experience and contemplative practice. WCTS is a worship-sharing group in print. We hope to help Friends be tender and open to the Spirit. Articles that best communicate to our readers are those that focus on specific events and are written in the first person. We welcome submissions of articles less than 1500 words and artwork suitable for black and white reproduction. It is published in February, May, August, and November. The editorial and production team is Muriel Dimock, Lissa Field, Mariellen Gilpin, Judy Lumb, Grayce Mesner, Mike Resman, Earl Smith, Eleanor Warnock, and Rhonda Ashurst.

Reno Friends are welcome to email submissions to Rhonda Ashurst at classes (at) renofriends.org. Please send your text submissions in Word or generic text format, and artwork in high-resolution jpeg files. Photocopied art and typed submissions are also accepted. All authors and artists retain copyright to their articles and artwork published in WCTS. WCTS retains the right to publish initially and to reprint in WCTS anthologies.

Reno Friends Newsletter: How To Contribute

Submissions: Please submit your items for the newsletter by the 25th of the month for inclusion in the following month’s newsletter. Send Friends events and information to Reno Friends newsletter editor Wendy Swallow, wswallow54 (at) gmail.com.

Getting the newsletter in the mail: If you need to receive your newsletter by postal mail, please notify RFM newsletter editor Wendy Swallow by emailing wswallow54 (at) gmail.com or calling 775-473-5559.

Subscribing and Unsubscribing: We use the same email list for all our communications, including the monthly newsletter and the weekly email update.

  • To subscribe to our email list, attend Silent Worship with us either virtually or in person and be sure that we get your email address. Add the address “update (at) renofriends.org” to your email address book to help keep our email from going in to your spam folder. If email from us still goes into your spam folder, go into your spam folder, find the email from us, and mark it as “not SPAM.”
  • To unsubscribe to the mailing list, email  clerk (at) renofriends.org with the subject line “unsubscribe.”

Reno Friends Monthly Meeting (Quakers)
497 Highland Avenue
Reno, NV 89512