Weekly Announcements as of 08.27.2023

Weekly Announcements

Reminder:

If you know of an event or a joy that you would like to see in the Weekly Announcements, please send the information to communications@annapolisfriends.org.

Coming Up:

The list of events below can also be viewed on the AFM website’s homepage or on the AFM Calendar.

Note: Titles link to the information down below for  greater detail and the word Zoom contains the link to the online meeting. 

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What’s News, Joys and Life Happenings

Friends are invited to share their News, Joys and Life Happenings with each other during Meeting for Worship, through the Weekly Announcements email, and on the AFM-Discuss. If you have joys to share, please contact Ellen M. at communications@annapolisfriends.org and the sharings will be added to our news, joys and life happenings section. It should be noted that inaccuracies may exist in the information given that sound quality or receiving is not always precise. On August 27, we heard or found out:

  • Joy that Karl R. is out of the hospital.
  • It was good to see Kallan B. and her dad, Carl B., in the meetinghouse before Kalan takes off for college in Scotland.
  • It was a joy to attend the Annapolis version of the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the youth were there. A 12-year old spoke to the adults about how we can become a country again. 
  • There is much joy for Margaret H. to have traveled from California to Maryland helping to move her son and his family to live in Maryland.
  • Jo Anna S. successful move and the feeling of Home.
  • Tom W. the publication of a booklet and that Kalan read it. Also, Kallan will be studying plants. 
  • Great joy that Bruce M. is doing much better and exceeding all expectations. 
  • Judy B. is filled with joy to be sitting in the living room of the house that she grew up in and being close to family in northern Michigan. Also, the joy of having a spectacular conversation with a friend with whom she attended kindergarten through high school. 
  • Francis W. expressed joy that he found a chiropractor/physiotherapist who has been very helpful to loosen up his neck and the chiropractor is located in his workplace, the prison.

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Anniversary of The March on Washington

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom that took place on August 28, 1963, sixty years ago. This was the event when Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King made his famous  “I have a Dream” speech. In order to advocate for the rights of African Americans and the end of racism, Dr. King and about a quarter of a million people marched to Washington, D.C. 

Annapolis commemorated this 60th anniversary with several activities, including a reenactment of the march from the Navy Stadium to downtown on Saturday, August 26. Some Friends participated in the Annapolis march with hundreds of others and shared that it was a quiet and meaningful event.

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CREC Meeting 

On August 28 (Monday) at 2:00 pm, the Children’s Religious Education Committee (CREC) will meet via Zoom. They are the Friends who plan for the weekly religious education called First Day School (Sunday School) where lessons are provided by volunteers to school aged children. 

Contact Nancy Jo S. at children@annapolisfriends.org for more information. 

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Clerk’s Support Committee

On August 29, 2023 (Tuesday) at 5:30 pm, the support committee for Clerk of Meeting, Karen C., will meet in the Library. 

Contact Karen C. at clerk@annapolisfriends.org for more information.

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Welcome Light Wednesday

Starting at 7 pm every Wednesday, the Welcome Light Wednesday group will meet on Zoom with 20 minutes of silence to start followed by spiritual readings and then listening to our spiritual journeys. Time will be given to hold friends in healing Light. In the past, this group was called the Wednesday Meditation Group.

Contact Patty R. at info@annapolisfriends.org for more information.

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5th Night Light – Every Thursday evening

From 7:00 pm until 8:00 pm every Thursday, the AFM community engages in a spiritual practice that acknowledges the Light of God within each person and that to be in community is to actively care for one another. During that time, Friends hold people and situations who need additional spiritual support in the Light. Friends will pause wherever they may be, read the list of names, and hold each person or situation in our hearts and in the Light. On Wednesday, the list of names or situations are sent out to the AFM-Announce list.

Friends are invited to share their request for a person or situations to be held in the Light by contacting the Pastoral Care Committee.

Contact Pastoral Care at pastoral-care@annapolisfriends.org for more information.

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Quaker Market Committee Meeting

The Quaker Market Committee will be meeting via Zoom starting at 7 pm on August 31 (Thursday). Among other activities, the Quaker Market Committee helps Annapolis Friends and the larger community practice being spiritual in our material world, especially through the Market process from preparation to conclusion using the Quaker testimonies (simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship) along the way.

Contact Cairn K. at market@annapolisfriends.org for more information.

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Summer Break for First Day School

AFM First Day School is on Summer Break through the summer; however, nursery care is offered. Advance notice if possible is much appreciated for nursery care. For school age children, AFM is offering supervision and reading/drawing supplies during the summer. First Day School will resume on September 10.

For more information, contact Martha L. at children@annapolisfriends.org.

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Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

Please participate in the September 3 (Sunday) Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business at 9:00 am. This is an opportunity to practice several of our testimonies as we carry out the practical work of maintaining our faith community. We seek to be Spirit-led in our work, with as much efficiency as possible, achieving a sense of what Friends call “right order.” This will be a blended meeting where there will be participants in person at the meetinghouse and on Zoom.

For more information, contact Karen C. at clerk@annapolisfriends.org.

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Potluck – Social Time

Following the 11 am Meeting for Worship (MfW) on September 3 (Sunday) about 12:15 pm, there will be an occasion for everyone to have an opportunity to socialize. There will be both an in-person Potluck and a virtual potluck. Please get or bring some food (or not)! There will be plenty of food, so join us for one or the other.  The Zoom link for 11:00 am Worship will stay open for this informal gathering. 

For more information, contact info@annapolisfriends.org.

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ACT’s Countywide Action Team Meeting

On September 7 at 7 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, the Anne Arundel Connecting Together (ACT) planning team will be meeting to determine how to celebrate their 5th anniversary and to identify actions for the Fall. AFM is a member of ACT and welcomes Friends to participate.

For more information, contact Barb T. at info@annapolisfriends.org.

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Worship in North County

On August 8 at 7 pm and each First Tuesday of the month, an in-person worship opportunity is held on a Friend’s back porch in northern Anne Arundel County (Glen Burnie). Masks are required. All are welcome! Come sit with us!

For more information, contact Diane E. at info@annapolisfriends.org.

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Ministry & Worship Committee Meeting

On September 8 (Friday) at 7:30 pm, the Ministry & Worship Committee will be meeting via Zoom.

Contact Ann R. at ministry@annapolisfriends.org for more information.

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Meetinghouse & Land – Work Day

On September 9 (Saturday) starting at 9 am, the Meetinghouse and Land Committee will be hosting a work day at the meetinghouse. Please join us for our monthly workday to complete some indoor and outdoor maintenance and beautification chores.

For more information, contact Kim F. or Jeanne W. at meetinghouse@annapolisfriends.org.

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Sacred Dance and Chant

On September 10  (Sunday) at 9:30 am in person, everyone is warmly welcome to join, in person at our meetinghouse, our sacred circle of chant and dance. Circle dance, for me, is a spiritual practice that is also fun, deeply encouraging, healing, and community-building. In the simple, repetitive movements, the words and rhythms can sink deeply into us, and we find ourselves gently connecting with one another and with our Creator, or Ground of Being. After each dance we pause for a moment to become more aware of this Divine Presence flowing from within us and outward to all creation. There will be no Zoom connection.

Contact Sylvia O. at info@annapolisfriends.org for more information, please.

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Special Event: “Journeying towards Justice and Repair”

After a simple lunch, Karen’s Support Committee will be sponsoring a special event at 1:00 pm on September 10 (Sunday) in the Classroom and via Zoom. Lynda Davis, co-facilitator of the Coming to the Table (CTTT) Annapolis Local Affiliate Group, will give a short presentation that will, among other things, give us a common understanding of what is meant by Retrospective Justice and Restorative Justice. After the presentation, Lynda and co-facilitator Jean Christianson will guide us through some related queries using a circle process (not unlike Worship Sharing). This event will be an opportunity to learn, share deeply, and listen with open hearts and minds as we continue to discern AFM’s role in addressing systemic racism.

Reminder: This event is in preparation for the Called Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business that is scheduled for September 24 focused on how AFM can move toward unity in a spirit-led way on our concern related to reparations and the Retrospective and Restorative Justice Fund (R&RJF). The AFM Anti-Racist Faith Community Declaration has a section of recommended actions that may be helpful to review. To read the declaration, click on the title above, left click on the tile on the web page and select Preview from the dropdown menu.

For the Called MfW wAtB on September 24, everyone is encouraged to attend. The hope is that the whole community will help with the spirit-led discernment. 

Contact Karen C. at clerk@annapolisfriends.org for more information.

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Library Committee Meeting

On September 11 (Monday) at 9 am, the Library Committee will be meeting in person. 

For more information, contact Martha L. at library@annapolisfriends.org.

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Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting

In the AFM Multipurpose Room on September 17 (Sunday) at 9:30 am, the Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting (CQM) that AFM is a member will hold a presentation by Steve Chase titled: “Is It Apartheid?” reflections on a Quaker delegation to Israel/Palestine.

For more information, point your browser to the CQM web page: Is It Apartheid?

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Uphold Ukraine Daily Meeting for Worship

  • Daily Meeting for Worship: EVERY DAY, Friends House Moscow supporters in the U.S.A. host a daily international online Meeting for Worship while joining other Friends who are holding in the Light all the people affected by the current crisis in Ukraine. For Eastern Standard Time, the meeting starts at 12:00 pm. Click on this Zoom link, which is the Friends House Moscow Cloud Meeting. Or use Meeting ID: 416 500 5614; Passcode: 182805
  • Sunday MfW: The Quakers in Kyiv meet on Sundays at 1:00 pm EDT in silence. For Zoom information, go to their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/QuakersKyivUkraine/.  On Zoom: Meeting ID: 852 8396 7313; Passcode: 2022.

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AFM Meetings for Worship

There are two options for Sunday worship with Annapolis Friends Meeting:

8:00 am weekly: This Meeting for Worship is in person (no technology) and, in good weather, is held outdoors, but will be indoors when the weather is not as kind. Masks and social distancing are optional inside the meetinghouse. Also at 8:00 am, Friends can worship in communion with the friends at the Meetinghouse from wherever they are and without technology. This option to gather in spirit only while being physically apart was created to link Friends in worship in the early days of the pandemic, and often Friends are at their own homes.

11:00 am weekly: This Meeting for Worship can be attended in person at the meetinghouse, or remotely on Zoom (Phone: 301-715-8592, Meeting ID: 650 269 455, Passcode: 241727). Nursery care is available; please email us at children@annapolisfriends.org if you would like to bring your child/children to our nursery. First Day School (a.k.a., Sunday School) is available for school age children in person during the school year (September through May). In the summer (June through August), AFM offers supervision and reading/drawing supplies for school age children.

There is an opportunity to worship on the First Tuesday each month at 7 pm in person that is held on a Friend’s porch in northern Anne Arundel County (Glen Burnie). Please see North County worship on the calendar. 

Contact info@annapolisfriends.org for more information.

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Care of Meeting 

The AFM meetinghouse is a precious place and the AFM Community cares for the building and property in many ways, including weekly care of the meeting that includes accomplishing certain tasks. There is a Committee Schedule for Care of Meeting indicating when the committee takes a turn to be responsible for cleaning up the meetinghouse and they may ask for help from others, as needed. The Care of Meeting Checklist helps to ensure that everyone knows what needs to be done. For the Month of August, the Pastoral Care Committee has responsibility for the care of the meetinghouse. All are welcome to help out at any time!

  • The Pastoral Care Committee seeks to nurture the spiritual well being of the Meeting Community by:
    • encouraging visiting and fellowship within the Meeting;
    • organizing Friendly 8s dinners;
    • facilitating spiritual formation and friendship;
    • providing assistance to those who are ill, absent, troubled or in material need;
    • organizing and facilitating Memorial Meetings;
    • recommending Memorial Garden policies and arranging Memorial Garden stones/plaques/plants with families;
    • establishing clearness committees for marriage and personal decisions re life transitions;
    • facilitating child welcoming ceremonies;
    • guiding applications for AFM’s Emergency Fund for Suffering;
    • checking in with Friends and notifying the Directory Coordinator of changes; and
    • contacting familial members about membership when they sunset at 26 years old.

For additional information about Annapolis Friends Meeting go to the homepage or for events click here for the calendar. 

Chicken of the Woods Mushroom
Photo Credit: Ellen M.
Red Shelf Fungus
Photo Credit: Ellen M.