Our Calendar
Featured Events
Monthly Meeting Postponed ~ REMINDER: There is NO Monthly Meeting this Sunday. Please note that the January Monthly Meeting has been rescheduled and will take place on Sunday, January 26, instead of the usual third Sunday of the month. We hope to see you there!
Men’s Threshing Together ~ If you are interested in gathering with other men who mull over current issues or topics, where all points of view are heard, no decisions are made, and all in a non-threatening atmosphere over a meal, then Threshing Together is for you! Join us for our next in-person meeting on Thursday, January 16 at 7:00pm. See locations for the upcoming year here.
Shalom Zone MLK Service ~ Join us for the 7th Annual Shalom Zone Martin Luther King Jr Day Commemoration Service on Monday, January 20, 2025, at 10 a.m. at Cross & Crown Lutheran Church, 5233 E. 79th St., Indianapolis. This year’s theme, Building the Beloved Community, features guest preacher Rev. McKenzie Scott Lewis, music by Cari on Keys with Vitality Band Chicago, and the 2025 Drum Major for Justice Awards honoring Changing Footprints, Inc. and Outreach Indiana. A community luncheon with vegetarian and take-home options will follow. All are welcome to this celebration of unity and hope—bring your family and join us! Visit www.cclutheran.com or call 317-849-4500 for details. See and share the flyer online here! Brought to you by the Shalom Zone Communities of Faith in Partnership: Allisonville Christian Church, Cross & Crown Lutheran Church, Epworth United Methodist Church, The Garden Community Church, First Friends Quaker Meeting, Metanoia Church of Transformation, UCC and St. Pius X Catholic Church.
Inauguration Day Online Quaker Meeting for Worship ~ Join us on January 20th from 1:30 to 2:30 PM for a time of peaceful reflection and connection. This online Meeting for Worship offers space for inner silence, shared experience, spiritual nourishment, and prayer for political leaders and vulnerable populations. All are welcome, and no experience is necessary. Facilitated by Jackson Napier, this gathering reflects Quaker beliefs in the divine inner Light within all people. Through silent waiting, we seek to better know and experience this Light, holding our country, leaders, and vulnerable populations in the Light during these times. Contact the office for the Zoom link.
Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would like you to join us as we discuss Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
Pulitzer Prize Winner for Fiction for 2024
From one of our most accomplished novelists, a mesmerizing story about a mother and daughter seeking refuge in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War.
In 1874, in the wake of the War, erasure, trauma, and namelessness haunt civilians and veterans, renegades and wanderers, freedmen and runaways. Twelve-year-old ConaLee, the adult in her family for as long as she can remember, finds herself on a buckboard journey with her mother, Eliza, who hasn’t spoken in more than a year. They arrive at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, delivered to the hospital’s entrance by a war veteran who has forced himself into their world. There, far from family, a beloved neighbor, and the mountain home they knew, they try to reclaim their lives.
The omnipresent vagaries of war and race rise to the surface as we learn their their flight to the highest mountain ridges of western Virginia; the disappearance of ConaLee’s father, who left for the War and never returned. Meanwhile, in the asylum, they begin to find a new path. ConaLee pretends to be her mother’s maid; Eliza responds slowly to treatment. They get swept up in the life of the facility—the mysterious man they call the Night Watch; the orphan child called Weed; the fearsome woman who runs the kitchen; the remarkable doctor at the head of the institution.
Epic, enthralling, and meticulously crafted, Night Watch is a brilliant portrait of family endurance against all odds, and a stunning chronicle of surviving war and its aftermath.
We will gather in the parlor and simultaneously via Zoom starting at 7 pm EST on Tuesday, January 28th led by Ruth K.
Illuminate: Bible Study ~ Join the Thursday night Zoom Bible study starting January 30 for a 13-week study of Exodus. Books are available here: Illuminate: Exodus
In the book of Exodus, the Israelites move out from slavery in Egypt and into a wilderness wandering. There is a land of promise waiting for the people of God, but in the passages covered in this study, the Israelites are still living in the in-between. They are no longer enslaved. They are not yet independent. As we read together, notice how Exodus is a text of suffering. Notice how Exodus is a text of almost and not yet. Notice how Exodus is a text of possibility and promise.
You are welcome to drop in and out. The study is from 7:30 to approximately 8:30. Contact the office for the Zoom link.
WYM February Young Adult Retreat ~ Young adults (18-45ish) are invited to a special retreat on Saturday, February 1st, from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM here at First Friends. Led by Western Yearly Meeting (WYM) interns Lakshmi Piette and Demarius Walker, this retreat will explore the habits of deep, healthy communities and provide space for participants to share what they need and want from their religious communities. The event is free, with snacks, lunch, and childcare provided. Register at https://forms.gle/THEqq8oRr4JGeEtf6. We hope you’ll join us for this meaningful day of connection and reflection!
Soul Sisters ~ The Soul Sisters women’s group will be meeting Sunday, February 2nd after Meeting for Worship for lunch and fellowship. This is an opportunity for the women of our meeting to find connection and reflection and support we find among one another. Any and all women are invited. Lunch will be provided for everyone who attends. For planning purposes, RSVPs appreciated to the office at office@indyfriends.org. We look forward to seeing you there!
Seasoned Friends ~ Seasoned Friends will gather on Thursday, February 20 at 11:30am in the parlor for an afternoon of fellowship, laughter, and inspiration as we enjoy lunch and a screening of the heartwarming movie Secondhand Lions. Secondhand Lions, starring Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, is a heartwarming tale of adventure and family as a young boy uncovers the thrilling past of his two eccentric uncles. RSVPs to the office appreciated at office@indyfriends.org or 317-255-2485! Anyone who considers themselves a seasoned friend is welcome to attend.
Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading meets on the last Tuesday of the month in the Parlor. If you’d like to be on the monthly email list, contact the office at office@indyfriends.org.
January 28 ~ Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
February 25 ~ The Measure by Nikki Erlick
March 25 ~ Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper
April 29 ~ Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg
May 27 ~ Maus a Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman
June 24 ~ James by Percival Everett
July 29 ~ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
August 26 ~ Democracy Awakening by Heather Cox Richardson
September 30 ~ The Women by Kristin Hannah
October 28 ~ A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan
November 25 ~ Shakespeare by Dame Judi Dench
December 30 ~ The Delgado Connection by Gary J. Rhyne