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 have Hybrid Silent Worship, which is 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.
For the schedule of upcoming events, see the list below. For the monthly Queries, see September: Personal Relationships. (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.)
September 2023 Reno Friends Meeting Schedule
Sun. Sept. 3 – Hybrid Silent Worship (In-Person and on Zoom), 10 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 10 – In-Person Silent Worship, 10 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 10 – In-Person First Day School, 10 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 10 – Zoom Meeting for Business, 12:30 pm (details)
Wed. Sept. 13 – Embodying the Light on Zoom, 10-11 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 17 – Hybrid Silent Worship (In-Person and on Zoom), 10 am (details)
Mon. Sept. 18 – RFM Book Club on Zoom, 5:30-6:30 pm (details)
Thurs. Sept. 21 – In-Person Brown Bag Lunch, with hosts Melanie and Peg, 12 noon (details)
Sun. Sept. 24 – In-Person Silent Worship, 10 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 24 – In-Person First Day School, 10 am (details)
Sun. Sept. 24 – Potluck, 11:30 am (details)
Tues. Sept. 26 – Zoom Spiritual Discussion “Quakerism 101 Follow-Up Q&A,” with Rhonda Ashurst, 7-8 pm (details)
Wed. Sept. 27 – Embodying the Light on Zoom, 10-11 am (details)
Sat. Sept. 30 – Memorial Meeting for Worship for Liz Smith, 10:00 am
Other Important Dates
Fri. Oct. 13 – Sun. Oct. 15: College Park Fall Quarterly Meeting, Sierra Friends Center, Nevada City, CA (details)
Announcements
We hold online meetings, spiritual discussions, book discussions and yoga on Zoom throughout the year. For details on using Zoom, see our Zoom guidelines.
Reno Friends Meeting Event Details & Other Notices
Join Us for Silent Worship in the Meeting House Every Sunday, or for Zoom Hybrid Worship, 1st and 3rd Sundays
Reno Friends Meeting holds Silent Worship in the Meeting House every Sunday at 10 am, with fellowship afterwards. On First and Third Sundays, we hold Hybrid Worship — and you may join us either in person or 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. Here is the recurring Zoom link for Hybrid Silent Worship:
https://zoom.us/j/98305205938?pwd=cDZseGdLbWMyYWZsZDdiN00rMjRUZz09
If you cannot attend, 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: In-Person Sun. Sept. 10 & 24, 10-11 am.
Our First Day School is back in business this Fall, with in-person classes twice a month, on second and fourth Sundays. Children sit in Silent Worship with their parents for the first ten to fifteen minutes, then join their class in the First Day School building. 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.
The Reno Friends Book Club, Mon. Sept. 18, from 5:30-6:30 pm
The book for discussion on Sept. 18 is Sand in a Whirlwind: The Paiute Indian War of 1860 by Ferol Egan https://unpress.nevada.edu/9780874170979/. Using a combination of historical fact and fictional dialog, Ferol Egan has captured the dramatic events of the Paiute Indian War of 1860. The book is a history, 280 pages plus references, for a total of 360 pages. The book is in print and widely available used; any edition will do. A Kindle version is available.
If you are joining us for the Sept. 18 discussion, or joined us for our June First Day School Stewart School field trip, you may also be interested in the following supplementary material, available online:
- Surviving: The Story of the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (YouTube/documentary, free, 30 minutes, 2019) The Pyramid Lake Lahontan Cutthroat Trout was declared extinct in the 1940’s as a result of a badly planned diversion dam on the Truckee River. Built with no consideration of the downstream Indigenous Peoples of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and their cherished homeland, the dam desiccated the lake and destroyed the habitat of its native fish. However, the fish made a near-impossible return, aided by the efforts of biologists, tribal litigators, and a carpenter. Note the prominence of tribal voices in the documentary.
- The Washoe People, Past and Present (PDF, 2021, 44 pages with illustrations and maps) written by the Washoe tribe. Our September book focuses on the Pyramid Lake tribe, so this is a useful supplement. In particular, notice the sections on contact with immigrants and settlers. Because the economically-desirable lands around Lake Tahoe are the original Washoe homelands, Washoe lifeways were profoundly disrupted early on by the arrival of Euro-Americans.
Our upcoming book selections are:
October, 2023: The Quakers: A Very Short Introduction by Ben Pink Dandelion; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-quakers-a-very-short-introduction-9780199206797 Nonfiction; 142 pages; Kindle version available; also available used.
November, 2023: How the Quakers Invented America by David Yount; https://www.amazon.com/Quakers-Invented-America-Success-Marriage/dp/0742558339 Nationally-syndicated columnist David Yount shows how Quakers and the Society of Friends shaped the basic distinctive features of American life, from the days of the colonies, revolution and founders, to the civil rights movements of modern times: freedom, equality, community, straightforwardness, and spirituality. Nonfiction, 192 pages. No Kindle version available; available in hardback and used.
December, 2023: We will take a break for the month of December and will resume in January.
The RFM Book Club meets monthly on third Mondays from 5:30-6:30 pm on Zoom. The Zoom link for the book gathering will be sent out in the RFM Weekly Update email.
We have volunteers facilitate our book discussions. Is there a Quaker-ish book that you would like to share with our book club? Sit in on one of our Zoom sessions to see how our discussions go. For the book discussion, you can provide Quaker-style queries, or a few easy discussion questions, or a few quotes or passages from the book we’re discussing. If you have questions, email bookclub (at) renofriends.org .
Embodying the Light: Wednesdays on Zoom: Sept. 13, Sept. 27, 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. Zoom sessions this month will be Wednesdays Sept. 13 and Sept. 27. The Zoom link will be sent in the Weekly Update. See our website for more details.
Brown Bag Lunch, Thursday, Sept. 21, at 12 noon
Join hosts Peg McCall and Melanie Scott for an in-person Brown Bag Lunch at the Meeting House on Sept. 21 at 12 noon. Anyone who wants to share lunch and fellowship with other Reno Friends is welcome.
Zoom Spiritual Discussion: Tues. Sept. 22 “Quakerism 101 Follow-Up Q&A”, with Rhonda Ashurst, 7-8 pm
RFM’s spiritual discussions are currently exploring Quakerism 101, a program to learn more about Quaker faith and practice. Over the past several months we’ve covered a lot of topics, and we know there are questions out there. Join us Tues. Sept. 22 from 7-8 pm for clarity, as well as details on Universalism, Centering Down and other Quaker concepts, all led by Rhonda Ashurst. 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.
For our Spiritual Discussions, 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.
Upcoming Spiritual Discussions are:
Oct. 24: “Seeking Right Relationships with Native Americans” with Catie Polley.
Nov. 28: “Cultivating Joy,” with Rhonda Ashurst.
There will be no Spiritual Discussion in December.
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. 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.
Memorial Meeting for Worship for Liz Smith, Sat. Sept. 30 at 10 am
Friends will gather in the Meeting House on Sat. Sept. 30 for a Memorial Meeting in honor of attender Liz Smith. The worship service will be followed by music and singing, possibly in the garden if the weather is good, and a potluck. Please bring something delicious for our shared meal.
Peace and Social Concerns News Update
Friends Committee on National Legislation’s Executive Secretary Bridget Moix will address the challenge of living our Quaker faith and spiritual truths in her Sept. 11 lecture “Forging Beloved Community with Friends – A Journey through the Refiner’s Fire,” 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm (PST). This event is free and open to the public; registration is required. Links to watch via Zoom can be found under “Events” at FCNL.org and “Learn” at PendleHill.org.
Also, FCNL is encouraging Friends “Take Action” to send letters to Nevada Congressional representatives to support the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies. You might also include a note encouraging opposition to HR 4374, Energy Opportunities for All Act, which threatens protections to ancestral-Puebloans historic areas around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. FCNL’s “Act Now” requests are facilitated by their online email-writing process, in which they develop a suggested email and send it to your representatives; all you do is authorize for emailing with your signature and any modifications you want to make or add to the email.
FCNL brought hundreds of young advocates to Washington, D.C. for the March 2023 Spring Lobby Weekend, lobbying Congress to invest in violence-interrupter programs – community-based programs that use peacebuilding approaches to stop violence on the ground before it happens. A new group of young adults will come to D.C. in August for the Advocacy Corps Training. You can also support this effort to Protect and Invest in Peacebuilding at fcnl.org/act. As Congress enters the negotiation phase of the annual appropriations process, your advocacy can help protect and preserve critical peacebuilding efforts.
Along with Reno Friends Meeting’s statement on Women and Abortion approved at April Business Meeting, FCNL received 300 responses for consideration on reproductive health care. FCNL’s request for feedback has opened up a venue for discussions within Meetings across the country that has long needed to take place. This issue is likely to come up for consideration at FCNL’s annual meeting November 15-19, 2023 in Washington, D.C., in-person and online.
Quaker Earthcare Witness and the American Friends Service Committee are both encouraging Friends to contact their Congressional representatives in support of revisions to the upcoming Farm Bill before it comes up for a vote at the end of the 2023 fiscal year, September 30, 2023. Check their websites for more information: Quakerearthcare.org has an article “The 2023Farm Bill: Advocate for a Just and Faithful Bill” at the bottom of its home page. AFSC.org has articles “5 Tips to advocate for a Farm Bill for all” and “4 Ways the Farm Bill can protect our climate” under its News > Topics > Food Security area and a “Take Action – Tell Congress: Pass a Farm Bill to Reduce Hunger and Address Climate Change” under its Get Involved area.
Several Quaker organizations, including the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW), and Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) are part of the Global Coalition of Civil Society, Indigenous People, Social Movements, and Local Communities for the Universal Recognition of the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment. This coalition was recognized as one of the recipients of the prestigious 2023 United Nations Human Rights Prize, awarded for its essential role in advocating for the recognition of the right to a healthy environment by the U.N. General Assembly in July 2022.
The Nevada Legislature passed and Governor Lombardo signed several bills centered on Indigenous Concerns, including:
- AB 125 which allows any police officer in Nevada to accept a report of a missing Indigenous person, dropping the jurisdictional barriers when time is of the essence in getting a person into missing persons registries.
- AB 144 codifies the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) into state law, addressing the disproportionate separation of Indigenous children from their families and their culture. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the ICWA in a case addressing sovereignty in adoption proceedings involving Native American children.
- AB 519 allocated $64.5 million for a new PK-12 School on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation and allows rural counties to raise their property taxes, collecting proceeds in a new state fund just for their school building needs. The fund will be seeded with $50 million, of which $25 million will be for tribal schools.
- AB 391 silenced the “sundown siren” in Minden.
Donating to Reno Friends in 2023
If you would like to support Reno Friends Meeting, donations can be sent to our Meeting Co-Treasurer Katie Dwyer at her home at 40 Arbor Oak Ct., Reno, NV, 89509. 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 the 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!
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. Masks are optional at this time. 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: These groups are negotiating their return to our Meeting House. 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 Fall Quarterly, Oct. 13-15, Sierra Friends Center, Nevada City, CA
College Park Quarterly invites you to attend in person or via zoom the Fall College Park Quarterly Meeting, a gathering of Friends in northern California, Friday, October 13 starting at dinner and ending with lunch on Sunday, Oct 15th. There will be an optional training in the early afternoon by the American Friends Service Committee. We will meet at Woolman at Sierra Friends Center in Nevada City, CA.
Registration will be available via email and at the collegeparkquarterlymeeting.org website soon. A shuttle will be available on campus to help Friends get around.
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
Woolman at Sierra Friends Center has programs for children, adults, and intergenerational groups. 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.”