February Winter Series Guest: Michael Sherman

Post date: 2.1.2025

On Sunday, November 24th, women in Belize experienced spiritual transformation. Hear it in Miriam's words:

After everyone had arrived and greeted one another I shared the vision for us women coming together and the power of standing together. How I pray that this will be a group of encouragement, wisdom, prayer and support.

In sharing of the word, we read from Luke 8, the text of the women following Jesus. I highlighted how important the women were for Jesus.

One by one the women shared how they had never heard that Jesus had female disciples. One of them highlighted how Jesus was treating everyone equal. Our conversation led to how women, in everyday life, are not often treated equal. But Jesus treats us equal. The women shared their experiences and prayer requests, including that Belize will have a female prime minister.

This is a milestone for our church. The women now know that they are valued, and that Jesus and hopefully the church will treat them as equal. And they start to get mobilised, by coming together around scripture, prayer, and fellowship. We will see a lot of good initiative come out of this group.”

Want to know more about the Friends Church in Belize? Our Winter Series continues with Michael Sherman, North American and Caribbean Ministries Coordinator at Friends United Meeting. Michael served as the Program Director at Quaker Haven Camp, pastor of Raysville Friends Church, and is currently serving as the pastor of Muncie Friends Church. He has a degree in Organizational Leadership and Supervision from Purdue University, and an MDiv from Earlham School of Religion.

Michael will be preaching at our programmed worship service. Following worship, a simple potluck will be held in the lower level of the meetinghouse. At 1pm, Michael will speak about Friends ministries in Belize.

Winter Series Opening with Gail Nuth

Post date: 01.07.25

Gail Nuth will be visiting Farmington Friends Meeting on January 12th to present Hope and Action in the Midst of Climate Change.  Whether you come at 11:00 AM for meeting for worship or 12:15 for the meet and greet, fellowship and a hearty soup and bread lunch followed by our guest speaker presentation, all are welcome here.

Gail is visiting the meeting from Rochester Area Interfaith Climate Action (RAICA). RAICA is a group of individuals and organizations of faith in the Rochester metropolitan area seeking to create a meaningful response to Climate Change.

Gail moved to the Finger Lakes two years ago after being impacted by repeated wildfires in Colorado. She graduated from Colorado College and earned her M.Div from Yale Divinity School. Her concern for climate gave her the opportunity to represent Colorado College at United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 25 in Madrid, Spain, in 2019. The COP was eye-opening and motivated Gail to work on climate issues for the sake of current and future generations.

As a former United Methodist minister, Gail’s particular interest is the role of faith communities in addressing climate change. Through RAICA, she leads a group committed to the topic. Her quotes have been published in The Natural Resource Defense Council blog (NRDC.org), The Colorado College Bulletin, and The Colorado Springs Gazette.

Gail’s visit to Farmington Friends Meeting will be the first entry in our Winter Series, a seasonal program focused on peace and social justice. This year, the series runs on Second Sundays from December-May. The series is sponsored by the meeting’s Peace and Social Justice committee. More information will be coming soon about upcoming speakers!

Join Friends for Christmas Eve

Post date: 12.01.25

This Christmas Eve, we invite you to join us in a joyous celebration of the season! Our greens are hung, our candles will be lit, and our vocal and handbell choirs are excited to share the fruits of all their practice.

We will be reading the familiar Christmas story from Luke 2 over the course of the service. A portion of the Scripture will be shared, followed by a piece from one of the choirs that will celebrate that portion of the story. We will light candles together and remember that Christ our Light is always with us.

Whether you're a longtime member of our congregation or visiting for the first time, we warmly welcome you to be a part of this worshipful evening. Come celebrate Christmas with Friends!

Talent Show Fundraiser Held at Farmington Friends

Post date: 04.15.25

Community and creativity converged at Farmington Friends Meeting as they hosted an enriching event, showcasing an eclectic blend of art, delectable treats, and charitable endeavors.

The highlight of the event was an art exhibit, featuring works from Friends in the meeting. From traditional paintings to contemporary sculptures, attendees were able to immerse themselves in a diverse array of artistic expressions and learn more about what leads so many Friends in the meeting to make art.

Craig Dove is a Quaker chaplain, philosopher, and co-pastor at Farmington Friends. "Tapping into the creative spirit helps me process some of the more difficult spiritual accompaniment work that I do," he says. "I've always thought of myself as an artist, but it was about seventeen years ago that I started taking my participation in the visual arts seriously. I was finishing seminary and finding that my go-to artistic outlets, cartooning and songwriting, weren't helping me express ideas and aspects of myself that I had been examining in my studies. As I moved into chaplaincy work, engaging in painting and mixed media work became an important spiritual discipline for me, leaving me feeling refreshed and energized."

As his toddler twins grow, Craig looks forward to introducing them to the fun and communicative power of making art. "I'm glad to be raising them in such a creative faith community," Craig said. "It will be quite some time before they gain access to the nice acrylic paints, but it won't be long before we can get some big pieces of paper and fingerpaint together. I can't wait to see what they have to say."

Craig is from rural Oregon, and brought paintings of scenes in the Portland, OR area to show. He paints in acrylic on wooden panels, and many of his paintings are large: 2ftx2ft, or longer. He also displayed his kit-built ES335 style 12 string guitar, painted in a 60's pop art style, on which he played a few of his own songs.

A wide range of art was displayed by members of the meeting, including textile arts, woodworking, painting, sculpture, and more. Norm Cole, who taught high school art for 34 years at Victor Central School, brought a selection of his landscape paintings to exhibit. Christine Frayda, a fiber artist working across the spectrum of fabric creation, brought a sweater to exhibit -- hand spun, hand dyed, and hand knit -- and a square that is hand spun, hand dyed, and hand woven on a pin loom. Also in her exhibit were a tatted doily and a crochet doily, both made by Christine and framed by her grandfather decades ago. Cherry Rahn’s offerings included portraits, historical figures, satirical figures, and sculptural pseudo-technology. Louise Smith, owner of Bead and Fiber Fantasy, displayed a wide selection of her bead and textile work.

“I was so impressed by the diversity of the group,” Craig said. “It went way beyond what we’ve described, and it made me feel blessed to be here.”

Two pieces of the showcased beauty were available to take home: warm, hand-tied comforters made by members of the meeting. Many Quakers gather each Tuesday to make comforters, which are then donated to Mennonite Central Committee for distribution to people around the world displaced from their homes by conflict and natural disasters.

“My parents grew up in Ukraine in the early 1900’s,” said Annie Bontrager. “They were part of the community of Mennonites who had been invited by Catherine the Great to settle and farm on open land. After World War 1 and the Bolshevik Revolution, when they were sixteen, a famine resulted from food being taken away to meet Soviet demands. Mennonite Central Committee formed then, in 1919, to send food and assistance to Ukrainian Mennonites. Without assistance from American and Canadian Mennonites, they would have starved.”

“I’m very grateful for MCC,” Bontrager said, “and have always been a supporter of their continuing work.”

In 2013, Bontrager made her first comforter to donate through MCC. She brought it to the Friends Meeting to show, and other Friends found the project compelling and wanted to participate. In 2014, Farmington Friends Meeting members started working together to make more comforters.

Farmington Friends’ comforter project has grown from about twenty comforters per year to over a hundred. Many Friends participate in the project–some by sewing pieces together, some by cutting the batting, some by tying the quilts together, some by donating money or materials, and some through encouragement and prayer. Before sending the comforters to MCC, Friends spread them out in the meetinghouse and pray for the people who will be receiving them. 

The two available comforters were offered via silent auction. All funds raised from both the comforter auction and the bake sale will be used to purchase more supplies for making comforters. The bake sale offered three tables of treats: cheesecakes, brownies, homemade jams, and more. 

"We were thrilled to invite the community to join us for this special event," said co-pastor Julie Rudd. "It was a wonderful opportunity for people to come together, celebrate the beauty of art, enjoy delicious food, and make a positive impact through their generosity. Having experienced all this visual art, I’m really looking forward to our Mostly Music Sunday, June 2nd at 11:00 a.m., when our incredible music program gets to shine."

All are welcome to attend worship at the Friends Meeting; come at 8:30 a.m. to experience traditional Friends' worship in silent waiting, or come at 11:00 a.m. for a programmed service with music and a sermon. Farmington Friends Meeting is a welcoming community that celebrates diversity. The meeting feels called to strive for peace and justice in our world and to work against forms of oppression such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. Friends affirm the power of God’s love and try to live as representations of that love.