April 10, 2020

Dear F/friends,

We hope that you are in good health, good spirits and discerning a new normal for this period of Covid-19 induced change in our lives. There are many ways F/friends are reaching out to each other during the quarantine, including lots of Zooming with creative ways to worship, sing, play, connect, do business, and even dine.

We thank you for your financial contributions to the life of the Meeting. They are much-needed as we continue to pay staff, taxes, utilities, and other expenses.

Due to the quarantine and disruption to health, well-being, and finances, Olympia Friends Meeting is experiencing a decline in revenue. We have no rental income, and financial contributions from members and attenders have decreased. Our expenses for March were more than our income.

So, a gentle suggestion that if you are accustomed to paying by check and the satisfaction of putting it the giving box at Meeting, consider paying online for the time being. It’s very easy. Go to http://olympiafriends.org/, and click on “donate” in the upper right of the web page. This will take you to a page with a gold-colored “donate” button. Click that, and it will take you to a page where you put in the amount you wish to donate and click to either pay by credit/debit card or by PayPal. Alternately, you can mail a check to the Meetinghouse, 3201 Boston Harbor Road N.E., Olympia, WA 98506.

These are tough times. The physical, emotional, spiritual and financial resources are strained for many. And yet, we have each other. Thank you for all you are doing for your families, Meeting, the community, and in the world.

In the Light,
Finance Committee, Olympia Friends Meeting

Download this letter in PDF format here.

Olympia Friends Meeting made the decision – because of the risk of transmission of Coronavirus COVID-19 when meeting in person – to close the Meetinghouse to our own events and renter’s events for the foreseeable future.

So that we are able to continue having Meeting for Worship on Sundays at 10 a.m. and other meetings, we will be meeting online with Zoom, a video conferencing tool. You can see our calendar of current Meetings and events here. Zoom is successfully used by Quaker organizations to let people meet “face-to-face” to conduct committee meetings, and many Monthly Meetings are making the move to it or something similar for the same reason we are now – so that we stay connected as a community and are able to worship together.

With Zoom it is not necessary to download anything or to sign up for an account. You can connect with a computer or a cell phone, or you can call in on a land line.

Here are some directions from Zoom on how to join a meeting:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-Joining-a-Meeting

And here are some great directions from Chapel Hill Friends Meeting – with our thanks:
https://www.chapelhillfriends.org/zoom/browser.html

Before joining a Zoom meeting on a computer or mobile device, you can download the Zoom app from the Zoom Download Center : https://zoom.us/download. If you don’t do that, you will be prompted to download and install Zoom when you click a join link. You can at that time also cancel the download and click on “If you cannot download or run the application, join from your browser.”

To join the Meeting for Worship, we gather starting around 9:45 AM on Sunday mornings, and have a few minutes to greet each other. When it is 10:00 AM, quiet your surroundings and yourself (mute if possible unless you are led to speak during worship) and be present in the Zoom meeting as you would be entering the Meeting for Worship at the meetinghouse.

Please make sure your computer or cell phone camera is turned on because it’s really nice to see each other’s faces in this time of isolation.

Once you’ve “entered” you’ll see the faces and names of the others who are present.

Please mute yourself by clicking the button on the bottom left of the screen and then if you want to speak you can un-mute yourself there.

The Meeting for Worship will close with the moderator thanking us.

We’ll take some time for introductions (alphabetically by first name since we can’t go around in a circle) and announcements, and then have some “virtual” social time.

To join the Meeting:

Link: https://zoom.us/j/395448936
or if using the ZOOM app: Meeting ID: 395-448-936

There is a password. Ask us if you need it. (See below)

You can either choose to connect with your web browser or download the Zoom app for cell phones and computers. When you click a link to join a Zoom meeting the first time, you will be offered the opportunity to download the app. This is not necessary. You can choose to do that or to connect via a browser.

If you do not have access with a computer or cell phone, there is also an option to call in on a phone line, though without video. 
Phone: (253) 215-8782 or (301) 715-8592.
Calling in international?  Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/aemqdrgb4W

If you are using your browser, you may need to approve Zoom to use your camera in the lower left of your screen so we can see you in video.

If you want to download the app ahead of time, do that through the app store on your cell phone or this link for your computer: https://zoom.us/client/latest/ZoomInstaller.exe

If you have a problem, slow down and try again.

Questions ahead of time? Contact our Hearthkeeper via this form or call (360) 561-7067 (calls only, no texts). Inquiries left after 9 a.m. Friday will be replied to the following Monday.

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Find Other Quaker Worship and Fellowship Online

See the information and links here: https://westernfriend.org/quaker-worship-and-fellowship-online
which is created and maintained by Western Friend, the official publication of Quakers in Pacific, North Pacific, and Intermountain Yearly Meetings.

Olympia Friends Meeting folks “quaking” while marching at Capital City Pride 2019. ~ Photos thanks to Darleen Adkins.

Camp Huston, Gold Bar, Washington

January 25–27, 2019 (with optional extension to Jan. 28)

This retreat offers an opportunity to reach more profound depths in the Silence of Quaker worship.  The weekend is not a retreat inthe sense of turning away from life.  It is a temporary intentional community where we seek communion with the Holy Spirit, the world around us, and each other. With God’s help, we may be led to new priorities and insight for ourlives.  We may reach a deeper communionwith our authentic selves, our spiritual community, and with the Divine.

The weekend begins with a potluck supper Friday evening at 6:30. Visiting helps us unwind and begin to know each other.  After supper, housekeeping details arearranged, questions are discussed, and our schedule completed and explained.  We will begin Meeting for Worship and enter the living Silence that will last until the rise of Meeting on Sunday noon, no matter what the activity.

Cost should not be a barrier, but we need to average $100 per person to meet expenses.

A link to the registration form is below. Please register by 1/21/2019 – see the form for details. 
Contact Heather Saunders at hstarathome @ gmail.com (take out the spaces) or 360-252-0548 for more information.  AND, I highly recommend the extra day: it was wonderful, and the drive home was easy!

Download/read more information about the retreat in PDF format:

2019 PNQM Silent Retreat info:
http://olympiafriends.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2019-PNQM-Silent-Retreat-info.pdf

Download the registration form in PDF format:

2019 PNQM Silent Retreat Registration Form:
http://olympiafriends.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2019-PNQM-Silent-Retreat-Registration-Form.pdf

Olympia Friends Meeting is seeking a Children’s Program Support Specialist: a quarter-time (approximately) paid staff member to coordinate and support our programs for children and teens.

We are hoping for a person who has experience with working with children/youth, has a background in the Quaker faith and/or religious education of a compatible faith, and a willingness to become knowledgeable and qualified to support and teach about Quaker traditions and values.

The person in this position will assist our Children’s Committee in implementing our programs, by helping with curriculum, coordinating volunteers, obtaining supplies and helping support our events for children, youth and families.

We would like this person to be ready to start in early July.

Interested folks should read the job description carefully, then submit a resume and cover letter by June 19, 2017. We are hoping to interview in late June.

See the job description here. (PDF format)

by Vince Schueler

Oh God of mercy, justice and truth
 You who have raised up nations in Your name
      And have brought them low
Hear our prayer of atonement

We who in our arrogance and pride
 have placed ourselves above your holy order
    and have exalted ourselves above all nations, call your name
We have plundered the earth’s natural bounty
 to preserve our comfort, wealth and safety
   in a measure far greater than our share.

We who have abandoned you
 to worship the idols of hatred and contempt, hear our prayer.

Our divisions increase in number as
  we fuel the fires of resentment in our furnace of disparity
    and with bellows of fear and distrust we heat to white hot
    what holds us together in law and harmony.
      Forging asunder
       Blue and red, rural and urban,
         Muslim, christian, jew, white, black and brown
            Immigrant or native, legal and illegal
                Traitor – Patriot, Us – Them

Oh merciful one
  Save us from our failing institutions and leaders
    Who bend truth to serve their desires, not Yours
      and who have made selfishness a virtue.
Protect us from those who have betrayed us,
  as we have betrayed them, in our surrender
      to the demons of distraction, indifference and despair

Open our eyes to what we have become
  Let us not turn away in disgust and shame
    Or strut away in affronted anger
      Or run from our creation in fear

God of justice mercy and truth
  Bring us back into unity with You and Your one law of love
    Bring us back to your holy presence

Fill us with your mercy and love
Provide sweet balm for our callused callousness
and quench our heat with Your love
Direct our thoughts and actions to those that will mend our bonds
And return us to your divine center

New Testament Version

Jesus – we have really screwed this country up,
  Help us with your love.

May 20, 2017

Friends Committee on Washington (State) Public Policy* (FCWPP) is looking for a part-time Legislative Advocate and Policy Analyst (lobbyist) for the 2017 legislative session in Olympia.  This position will require approximately 20 hours a week during session and 10 hours a month before and after session (starting November 1, 2016).  Compensation is $20-30/hr., depending on experience.

Deadline for resume and letter of interest – September 15, 2016.

Download the full announcement with more details here in PDF format.