Our Calendar
Featured Events
Woods Pop Up Work Day~ Come join anytime on Saturday, April 12 from 9:30-11:30 AM. The little honeysuckles will be ripe for easy removal by hand and other weedy things are popping up everywhere after the abundant rain we have experienced. The ground will be soft and easy to work with. We can clean up a few areas before our Easter celebration on April 20.
Sign Up for Organic Garden Plots ~ Plans regarding the organic Community Garden on the north side of the Meetinghouse are in process. If you want to retain your raised beds from last season, please contact the office right away.
If you want to put in a request for a plot, please contact Nancy. Gardeners need not be experienced. It helps to have one's own hand tools but gardeners may borrow larger tools for use on-site.
A workday will be announced later for people to meet one another and start tending their gardens. Watch Friend to Friend and listen for announcements.
Sue Reed has volunteered to take charge of a compost effort. She will educate us and provide guidelines. She will need helpers to get the containers ready and to help layer and mix compost throughout the season. Thank you, Sue.
See you in the Garden as Spring progresses!
Connections Fair ~ Do you want to become a more active participant in First Friends Meeting and get to know others on a deeper level? Learn more about Meeting committees and ongoing small groups by attending the Connections Fair on SUNDAY, APRIL 13, in Fellowship Hall immediately after worship. The fair will give new folks and regular attenders a chance to see where they might be led to connect with others and help serve at the Meeting. Representatives will be available to answer questions at each booth. The Fair is sponsored by the Connections Committee. Contact the office if you have questions or if you want a space at the fair to represent your group.
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, April 17 at 7:00pm. See locations for the upcoming year here.
Young/Mid Adults, Families, and Youth Gathering ~ Join us for a fun and welcoming gathering at First Friends, Richmond from Saturday, April 26 to the morning of April 27! This free event is a chance for young and mid adults, families, and youth to build community, enjoy good food, play games, have meaningful discussions, and simply spend time together. Those who wish can participate in a teen lock-in at the meetinghouse, and hospitality options are available in Richmond for others needing accommodations. Children are welcome, and you’re invited to stay for the whole event or just drop in for a bit. We hope to see you there! To see more details, schedule, or to register, click here. Questions, contact toms@westernyearlymeeting.org.
April Monthly Meeting Rescheduled ~ Due to Easter falling on the third Sunday of April, our Monthly Meeting for Business will be held on Sunday, April 27, instead of the usual third Sunday. Please mark your calendars, and we hope to see you there!
Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would love for you to join us as we discuss Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendship by Nina Totenberg (320 pages)
Celebrated NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg delivers an extraordinary memoir of her personal successes, struggles, and life-affirming relationships, including her beautiful friendship of nearly fifty years with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.Four years before Nina Totenberg was hired at NPR, where she cemented her legacy as a prizewinning reporter, and nearly twenty-two years before Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court, Nina called Ruth. A reporter for The National Observer, Nina was curious about Ruth’s legal brief, asking the Supreme Court to do something declare a law that discriminated “on the basis of sex” to be unconstitutional. In a time when women were fired for becoming pregnant, often could not apply for credit cards or get a mortgage in their own names, Ruth patiently explained her argument. That call launched a remarkable, nearly fifty-year friendship. Dinners with Ruth is an extraordinary account of two women who paved the way for future generations by tearing down professional and legal barriers. It is also an intimate memoir of the power of friendships as women began to pry open career doors and transform the workplace. At the story’s heart is one, special Ruth and Nina saw each other not only through personal joys, but also illness, loss, and widowhood. During the devastating illness and eventual death of Nina’s first husband, Ruth drew her out of grief; twelve years later, Nina would reciprocate when Ruth’s beloved husband died. They shared not only a love of opera, but also of shopping, as they instinctively understood that clothes were armor for women who wanted to be taken seriously in a workplace dominated by men. During Ruth’s last year, they shared so many small dinners that Saturdays were “reserved for Ruth” in Nina’s house. Dinners with Ruth also weaves together compelling, personal portraits of other fascinating women and men from Nina’s life, including her cherished NPR colleagues Cokie Roberts and Linda Wertheimer; her beloved husbands; her friendships with multiple Supreme Court Justices, including Lewis Powell, William Brennan, and Antonin Scalia, and Nina’s own family—her father, the legendary violinist Roman Totenberg, and her “best friends,” her sisters. Inspiring and revelatory, Dinners with Ruth is a moving story of the joy and true meaning of friendship.
We will gather in the parlor and simultaneously via Zoom starting at 7 pm EST, April 29th led by Jeannie Z.
Seasoned Friends Gathering: Lunch, Film, and Discussion with Filmmaker ~ Seasoned Friends will gather in the parlor on Thursday, May 1, at 11:30am for lunch and a special screening of Worm Land, a short documentary by our own Will Wertz. Farmer Keith Miller champions sustainable agriculture, no-till practices and advocates for nightcrawlers - not the little wigglers. As he faces retirement, he reflects on a lifetime dedicated to the land. This short documentary was funded by Indiana Humanities as part of the Unearthed initiative. Will is an award-winning independent filmmaker exploring stories around often-overlooked people with curiosity and an open heart. After the screening, Will Wertz will join us for a discussion. Anyone who considers themselves a seasoned friend is welcome! RSVPs to the office are appreciated at office@indyfriends.org or 317-255-2485.
2025 Linda Lee Spirituality Retreat: REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! ~ Mark your calendars for our fourth annual Linda Lee Spirituality Retreat! It will be held Saturday, May 3 from 10am-4pm at the Seton Cove Retreat Center, 2025 Dugan Dr, Indianapolis, IN 46260. This year’s theme is Lessons for Today from the Female Catholic Mystics. You can now register online! The registration cost is $35. Scholarships available—contact Beth at beth.henricks@indyfriends.org to ask about scholarships.
Our facilitator this year will be Rachel Doll O’Mahoney. Rachel is a Quaker and Catholic minister with a Master’s in Theological Studies. Her ministry began in prison chaplaincy and expanded to interfaith, formation, and LGBTQ ministry in Jesuit Higher Education. She pastors Valley Mills Friends Meeting and offers spiritual direction. She has authored prayer services featured in various publications and hosted the Bringing Forth podcast on parenting and spirituality from an inclusive perspective. We hope you will join us!
Jazz With Friends: Save the date, Sunday, May 18, for “Jazz With Friends” in the First Friends meetingroom. This benefit concert features the artistry of our music director, Eric Baker, and other talented jazz musicians. Tickets are $15 each, with proceeds supporting our Meeting and ministries. Read more and reserve your tickets at indyfriends.org/jazz.
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