News & Events
From 6/9/2024 or until further notice, Berkeley Friends Meeting will:
Have a 9 a.m. Meeting for Worship in-person only.
Have an 11 a.m. hybrid Meeting for Worship; you may attend in-person or online. See the link below to attend virtually.
At both Meetings, masks are no longer required, but are recommended. Masks, if needed, are available without cost to you.
At both Meetings, COVID-19 vaccination is encouraged, but is no longer required.
Meeting for Worship via Zoom
To join the Zoom meeting, click HERE.
or call 1-669-900-9128 then use Meeting ID 863 2903 6864 Passcode 195653
(Handout on using Zoom)
Upcoming Events
The contact for any follow-up questions is our Meeting Clerk, Theresa Cox, at BFM.Clerk@gmail.com
Friends are invited to bring food to share next week, for a pre-Meeting for Business potluck lunch. Please keep in mind that the kitchen is currently out of commission, so serving dishes will need to be washed at home. Eco-friendly disposable plates and utensils will be provided.
Donations are still needed and accepted by the Berkeley Friends Meeting. Checks can be mailed to the Meetinghouse at 2151 Vine Street, Berkeley, CA 94709 or to the home of Kathleen Mock, Assistant Treasurer.
Because of the demolition and repair to remediate leaks, the community room, kitchen, restrooms, parlor, and First Day School room are all closed and off-limits to anyone other than the workers. There is a restroom off the library and also downstairs. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
The Young Adult Friends have requested nibbles between the 9 am and 11 am Meetings for Worship. Please bring something to share that requires no prep or cleanup!
The Ministry and Care Committee will meet Monday, April 7, at 7 pm. Please get concerns or agenda items to Committee Clerk, Matthew Vafidis.
A Memorial Meeting for our friend, Eric Moon, is planned for Sunday, April 13, beginning at 4 pm, on Zoom only, so there will not be an in-person reception afterwards. Margaret Mossman will convene. For more information, contact Roy Allen.
The Poetry Group will resume its regular Sunday meeting time on April 20, at 1:30 pm on Zoom.
The Spring meeting of College Park Quarterly Meeting will be at Ben Lomond Quaker Center on the weekend of April 25-27.
Save the date of Sunday, April 27, for the Newcomer’s Brunch on the Porch at the rise of Meeting and for the following “Introduction Quakerism” presented by Roy Allen. Come enjoy refreshments and conversations with old and new Friends!
Keenan Lorenzatto, Pacific Yearly Meeting Youth Coordinator, will be starting an online program called, "Vespers", where we will share our ideas about short spiritual activities we do that inspire us. Contact Keenan at aboutyouth@pacoficyearlymeeting.org., where we will share our ideas about short spiritual activities we do that inspire us.
The Outreach and Nurture Committee will sponsor an intergenerational movie night on Friday, May 16, at 6:30 pm in the Meetinghouse. The movie will be “Born in East L.A.,” a 1987 film directed by Cheech Marin about a man who is accidentally caught in an immigration raid without documents, money, or a way to contact his relatives. This very funny movie about a very serious subject will be presented by Sharon Shen and followed by a discussion and a simple dinner.
This year’s Berkeley CROP Hunger Walk will be held on Sunday, May 18. Funds raised will benefit the international relief programs of Friends Church World Service and the local programs at Berkeley Food Pantry and Dorothy Day House. For more information on how to join the team and make a donation, contact Tom Yamaguchi of the Berkeley Quakers Team.
Regularly Scheduled Events
Meeting for Business, Every 2nd Sunday at 1 pm, in the Meetingroom and on Zoom. Speak to the Meeting Clerk, Theresa Cox, for more information.
Social and Environmental Action Committee: First First Day of the month at 1 pm, Library (currently being held via Zoom). See Genie Stowers for more information.
Immigrant Accompaniment Team: Meets at 7 pm on the 3rd Sunday. Talk to Marilyn Cleveland for more information.
Racial Justice Action Team: Meets the first Tuesday of every month at 7 pm on Zoom. Contact Barb Atwell for more information.
Poetry Discussion Group: Meets the First Sunday of every month at 1:30, Meeting Parlor (currently on zoom)
Work party: 4th Saturday, 10 am - 2 pm. Speak to David Standish for more information.
Standing Announcements
Feel like you want/need to do something, but not sure what? Join the Friends Committee on National Legislation Berkeley - San Francisco Advocacy Team! This year, we are lobbying to get UN and US humanitarian relief funds (UNRWA) restored to Gaza. Want to know more? Ask Marilyn Cleveland or Genie Stowers.
Our Meeting for Healing, Holding, and Support is held every Wednesday at 12:30 on Zoom, using the same Zoom link as Meeting for Worship. Please contact Theresa Cox and Kathryn Manalo for more information.
Nominating Committee is starting their important work of calling everyone in Meeting for an annual check-in, and they would love to talk to you! If you did not receive a NomCom call last year, or if you have started attending Meeting within the past year, please let one of them know so that they can make sure you are on their call list. The members of the Committee are: Bob McNally, Darcy Vafidis, Anne Nesbet, Sarah Tyrrell, Hannah-Ruth Miller, George Millikan, with Raph Levien and Dorothy Gilbert as alternates.
The Library Committee would like to invite Friends to come explore the collection. After Rise of Meeting, attendees are warmly encouraged to visit the Library and discover our remarkable collection of books—including many recent acquisitions. Each month, the Committee spotlights a recently acquired book that we think Friends would find interesting. If you wish to check out this or any other book, Library Committee members are available to help you do so; please see Meghan McAllister, Joe Magruder, Bethany Suter, Elianne de la Vega, or AJ Fox for assistance.
The Science and Technology Subcommittee is looking to expand our roster of Friends who can help with the Meeting's hybrid worship setup. As we look to sustain hybrid worship into the future, the Meeting needs more volunteers to manage the technology that enables Zoom access for remote attendees. Recent improvements in our technology setup have made this easier than ever, and no prior skills are needed to help out. This is a great way to support the Meeting and ensure that we remain accessible to those with health or mobility concerns. Anyone who would like to volunteer should contact Science and Technology Coordinator, AJ Fox.
After a hiatus of several years, the Visiting Subcommittee plans to resume its work. Anyone interested in participating should contact Raph Levien.
There is a daily prayer circle for Friend, Carl Magruder, every morning at 7:30, and also a CaringBridge page with daily updates by Mica. Details for both have been sent to the groups.io list.
The Meeting library is now open for use after the 11 am Meeting for Worship! Someone from Library Committee will be there to answer your questions and to help you check out books.
Ben Lomond Quaker Center now presenting workshops in person as well as over Zoom. See quakercenter.org to find out more. The Meeting has a pass, which allows us to send one person to each Quaker Center workshop for free. For more information, please contact Gayle Eleanor.
Kitchen Committee really needs your help! Even though Kitchen Committee has several members, not all of them are comfortable returning in person just yet, and this is putting a heavy burden on those who are. For anyone attending in person, if you can possibly help out with refreshments, either set-up or clean-up, please contact Chris and Theolia Valentine. Thank you so much for pitching in!
The Meeting's YouTube channel is up and running! Search for “Berkeley Society of Friends YouTube channel,” use this link, or go to the bottom of any page of this website and click on YouTube, and you'll find a number of videos, including fascinating oral histories by Gale Lederer, Anthony Graffagnino, and Dorothy Gilbert.
You are invited to join the Racial Justice Action Team, the outcome of our recent study group. The group’s goal is to define our work for community safety in Berkeley and Oakland, via police reform. We have a focus on interfaith collaboration, working with other Quakers as well as the non-profit Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). This non-profit is supported by the American Friend Service Committee. Meetings will be on Tuesday, every other week, from 7 – 8:30 pm on Zoom. Please email Barbara Atwell if you have any questions and can join the group.
Please visit the new page on this website on Quakers and Racial Justice; this is a compilation of meaningful actions Quakers and Quaker meetings can take to foster racial justice. including links to organizations to which we could send donations. This is sponsored by Social and Environmental Action.
The Meeting uses a groups.io mailing list for announcements. If you’re not on it, contact Genie Stowers. This list is for announcements only; the Communications Committee is exploring other options more suited to discussions.
The Emergency Preparedness Network still has some small groups that meet or exchange emails. If you would like to join, please contact Judy Tate.
The Meeting has an Immigrant Assistance Fund. The family who was “accompanied,” or assisted, by the Social and Environmental Action Committee’s Immigrant Accompaniment Team is currently experiencing job and food insecurity. If you would like to donate to the Immigrant Assistance Fund to help them or others, please send your donations to the Berkeley Society of Friends with Immigrant Assistance Fund on the memo line. Checks can still be mailed to the Meetinghouse or to the home of Kathleen Mock, Assistant Treasurer.
The Berkeley Meeting has a Young Adult Friends group which meets regularly. Young Adult Friends is a good way for people between the ages of about 18 to 40 to get to know one another better and to meet Young Adults from other local Meetings. If you have any questions, please contact any of the members of the Young Adult Friends planning group: Jesse Mitchell, AJSchaerer, Anthony Graffagnino, and Meghan McAllister.
A list of oral histories from the Berkeley Meeting’s Oral History Project is now available for purchase on the Berkeley Meeting website, under Members and Attenders. The oral histories are available on flash drives, although some are still available on DVD, and they cost $10 each. Barb Atwell is the contact, and her email, as well as some background information about the Oral History Project, is also on the website at Oral Histories.
