Our Calendar
Featured Events
Sign Up Your Kids for Sitting Saturday! Christmas is almost here. Do you need time to finish shopping or perhaps enjoy a much overdue date night? Our next Sitting Saturday is upon us. It is Saturday December 20th, 4:30-7:30 pm. Megan A and Andrew H are hosting a fun night of games and Christmas crafting. This is for kids ages 3rd thru 5th grade. We hope your kids can join us for an evening of fun. Bring a packed dinner, but drinks, snacks, and treats will be provided. Please use this link to sign-up. Questions? Reach out to Chrissy S via email or text.
Festive Christmas Celebration December 21 ~ We were deeply saddened that the weather caused us to postpone our annual Christmas Vespers, but we are excited to present a Festive Christmas Celebration on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 10:15am. We will be blending Vespers and our Children's Pageant into one special Christmas Worship. It will be a great way to kick off Christmas week. The celebration will be followed by our annual Christmas Tea in our parlor. Plan to join us in person. A video of this Celebration will premiere on our YouTube channel on Sunday, Dec. 28.
Annual Christmas Tea ~ Please join us on Sunday, December 21st immediately after worship for the annual Christmas Tea. There will be lots of cookies and punch and fellowship. If you can donate cookies, they can be dropped off at the meetinghouse from 10:00-11:00 am on Saturday, December 20th or on the morning of the event Sunday, December 21st. (Please, no cookies with peanuts or peanut products.) Happy holidays!
Fair-Trade Chocolate & More for Sale This Sunday ~ This Sunday, December 21 (note the new date), we’ll be selling fair-trade chocolate, coffee, olive oil, and hot cocoa after Meeting for Worship, with all proceeds supporting our Children and Youth programs. It’s a perfect opportunity to pick up meaningful stocking stuffers for Christmas while supporting our youth ministries. Be sure to bring your pocketbook this Sunday!
Christmas Eve Family Jazz Worship ~ Christmas Eve is just around the corner, and we at First Friends have a wonderful Christmas Eve Family Jazz Worship tradition. Bring the family and join us next Wednesday, December 24 at 5:30pm. There will be wonderful jazz music by the Eric Baker Jazz Band, a special art piece by Bob Henry, and readings focused on the Christmas Story!
Waiting worship on Sunday, December 28 – Please note that due to the holidays we will be holding waiting worship in the parlor on Sunday, December 28th at 10:15am. This is a nice quiet time for us to worship in the traditional Quaker manner. Please note there will be no 9am waiting worship session that day. We welcome anyone who would like to join us that day. Happy holidays!
Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would like you to join us as we discuss The Delgado Connection by Gary J. Rhyne
1980's New Orleans - A young public health investigator from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta is assigned to the Delgado Venereal Disease Clinic where he uncovers a multi-generational conspiracy orchestrated by a dangerous shadow organization that includes some of the state’s most powerful men. They will stop at nothing to satisfy their unquenchable thirst for power and the indiscriminate destruction of Louisiana’s celebrated way of life.
We will gather and via Zoom at Gary and Kathy R’s home starting at 7 pm EST on Tuesday, December 30th led by the author, Gary Rhyne.
Free eBook Promotion: The Delgado Connection by Gary J. Rhyne eBook version will be offered for free December 1st through December 5th at https://a.co/d/405qqx7
The eBook is also available on the Kindle Unlimited subscription.
Join us for a Free Piano Recital! Danny F, grandson of First Friends member Thomas F, will be performing a piano recital here in the First Friends sanctuary, on Saturday January 10 at. 11:00 am.
Danny is a senior at Park Tudor School and is in the process of applying to college. He is hoping to be admitted to the music school of whichever college he ultimately decides. He has participated in summer music programs at both IU and Purdue Ft. Wayne. He spent part of last summer at Interlochen Music Camp, near Traverse City, MI.
As part of this college admission process, Danny must audition either in person or by submitting a recording. As part of his preparation for these auditions, Danny is performing a series of recitals. His recital at First Friends on January 10 is part of this preparation. All are invited . Please come and support this amazing talent.
Vesper Luncheon ~ The Vesper Dinner is rescheduled as the Vesper Luncheon to follow meeting for worship on Sunday, January 11 in Fellowship Hall. The menu is lasagna, mac & cheese (for the kiddos), salad, rolls, and desserts. All are welcome! Donated desserts are requested. They can be brought to Fellowship Hall on Saturday, January 10 between 10 and Noon, or Sunday before 10:15 worship. Looking forward to seeing you there! ~The Fellowship Committee
Quaker Q&A: Worship, Process, and Values ~ Do you have questions about Quaker worship or about how committees are organized? Do you wonder why people stand up and speak in waiting worship? Do you wonder why it's called "waiting worship"? Or do you want to know what "meeting for business" means and why does it happen every month? Find out the answers to these questions and more at QUAKER Q&A, a two-part panel discussion on Quaker worship and Quaker practices. The first session will focus on worship and Quaker spirituality. Bring your questions and your appetite on February 1ST at 11:30AM. In the second session on February 8TH, the panelists will discuss meeting for business and how the meeting functions. Registration will open in January.
Centered Voices and Inner Wisdom: A Journey Through the Enneagram Centers — Our next annual women’s retreat will be on February 7, 2026, from 10:00 AM–4:30 PM at the Seton Cove Spirituality Center, 2025 Dugan Dr, 46260 (behind St. Vincent Hospital). Registration is now open: REGISTER HERE! The retreat cost is $50 and includes snacks, drinks, and lunch. Women who wish to extend their experience with a private overnight retreat on Saturday may stay at Seton Hall for an additional $100 (no meals included). Attendees are welcome to bring a favorite snack to share with the group. Scholarships are available for the daytime retreat—contact Beth.
In this retreat, we’ll explore the Enneagram’s three Centers of Intelligence through story-based interviews, music, and shared reflection. Rather than a lecture-based retreat, this day invites women to speak from personal experience, listen deeply, and discover how each of us embodies these Enneagram patterns in uniquely meaningful ways. Expect a day of sacred conversation and personal reflection that engages your whole self—head, heart, and body.
For those spending the night, Sam Ryan will offer an optional one-hour Shake Your Soul session, a somatic dance and movement practice that is accessible to all bodies and wonderfully grounding, creative, communal, and fun.
While this retreat does not require prior Enneagram knowledge, participants are encouraged to have a basic understanding of the system and their leading type. Excellent introductory resources include:
• The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson
• The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr
• The Essential Enneagram by David Daniels & Virginia Price
Happy Holidays from Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading! Oak Leaf 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. We’re happy to share the 2026 book list:
January 27 ~ Wintering by Katherine May
February 24 ~ The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall
March 31 ~ A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
April 28 ~ The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
May 26 ~ Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green
June 30 ~ Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
July 28 ~ Twice: A Novel by Mitch Albom
August 25 ~ West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
September 29 ~ My Friends by Fredrik Backman
October 27 ~ What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
November 24 ~ A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst
December 29 ~ A Home in the Woods by Howard Johnson