Our Newsletter
OFM publishes a newsletter once a month. In it are news, events by or of interest to Member and Attenders of the Meeting, and the Minutes of our most recent Meeting for Worship for Business.
Anyone can subscribe to the newsletter. We send it out via post mail and email. To subscribe, fill out a yellow card and put it in the sharing box at the Meetinghouse, or subscribe to the digital version we send out on MailChimp here.
OlyFriends Listserv and Subgroups
OFM runs the OlyFriends listserv (also known as an email list or group) to encourage and enhance communication to and between its members and regular attenders. It is not open to others.
OFM’s main listserv, OlyFriends, is a moderated one-way announcement list. It is managed by a designated member of the Care and Concerns Committee and the OFM Hearthkeeper, under the care of the Clerk of Worship & Ministry.
The purpose of the listserv is to help strengthen our OFM community – for our whole community – and cultivate Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship/service.
Appropriate types of messages to OlyFriends main listserv include:
- Meeting-related event announcements and reminders of events such as Meeting retreats, Quarterly Meeting and the Meeting’s Summer Camp Out. This includes a Weekly Bulletin which includes information on how to access things via online technology such as Zoom when that is being used.
- Meeting-related announcements such as problems with the Meetinghouse.
- Meeting educational opportunities such as spiritual learning events, newcomer classes, regional Quaker educational events, and online classes.
- Meeting-related planning and organizing such as requesting feedback on preferred dates for an event – with a reminder that responses should be sent to the individual (and how) not to the listserv.
- Materials or information distributed by Meeting committees or officers necessary for preparation for Meeting for Worship for Business.
- Important life events for members and attenders such as deaths, births and graduations.
- Announcements of non-Meeting opportunities and events that a Member or Attender is attending, especially those that are related to Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship/service; such as the FOR Retreat, activities to help immigrants, and activities to help the homeless.
- Limited personal sharing and requests for help such as asking for a recommendation for a plumber or other professional help, a request for help moving, or asking for packing materials. Include your contact information.
All emails sent to OlyFriends main listserv are moderated and are approved if they fit the OlyFriends guidelines. See Revised OlyFriends Listserv Guidelines – APPROVED at Meeting for Worship for Business on 12-08-2019 (PDF format, 94 KB)
OFM’s email list service allows subgroups, and those can be discussion lists. In order to be on a subgroup, a person must also be subscribed to OlyFriends. You can subscribe yourself or ask the Hearthkeeper to do it for you.
If you wish to start an email discussion group on a specific topic or issue, remember that the topic should be somehow related to the life of and community of the Meeting. Send a request to the Hearthkeeper that the subgroup be created. Subgroups are not moderated.
Current Subgroups include:
OFM Inspiring Books
What books have helped change your perspective on spiritual matters?
Let’s share and discuss them on this email fourm.
SPICES – Our Quaker Testimonies
This is an email forum on learning about and living our Quaker testimonies, the S.P.I.C.E.S: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship/Service — and things that are related to them. Posts including poetry, prose and prayer are encouraged.
OFM Immigration Concerns
This is an email forum for Olympia Friends Meeting members and attenders to share and discuss issues, concerns, and resources related to immigration, and events related to that topic.
John Woolman Study Group
This is an email forum for Olympia Friends Meeting members and attenders to share and discuss the John Woolman Study Group (started in March 2020) and issues related to that topic.
Coronavirus COVID-19 Discussion Forum
This is a discussion forum to share general & medical Coronavirus / COVID-19 information and concerns that may be of interest to OFM Members and Attenders.
Understanding Racism
A forum for us to discuss and work on racism as Olympia Friends which began when we were reading “White Fragility” by Robin DeAngelo and “How To Be An Anti-Racist” by Ibran X. Kendi.
Regarding OFM Queries
This is an email forum for Olympia Friends Meeting members and attenders to share and discuss responses to the OFM monthly queries, and our thoughts and resources related to those topics. Query Sunday is on the third Sunday of each month, and that is when we share if we are led at Meeting for Worship. This subgroup of OlyFriends gives us another way to share as we are inspired, and to discuss the topics which are chosen each month by the OFM Worship and Ministry Committee.
Earthcare
After our January 14, 2021 Community Conversation on the proposed North Pacific Yearly Meeting Minute on Earthcare (online in PDF format here), we recognized that we want to continue the conversation about the Minute and about the spiritual practice and practical work of doing Earthcare. This interest group on OlyFriends is a way for us and all subscribers to continue to explore our shared journey on this topic.
Some Meeting committees have subgroup discussion lists.
Committee subgroup discussion lists are closed so only the people on the committee get the emails. Committee subgroups are not moderated.
OFM on Facebook
We are on Facebook in two ways.
One is a public page for anyone interested in keeping up with Olympia Friends Meeting, and it is here: https://www.facebook.com/OlympiaFriendsMeeting/
Please ‘Like’ us!
The other is a private Facebook group for our Members and regular Attenders. If you are one of these and not yet a member of the group, put in a request on the page which is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/146726385400465/