Des Moines Valley Friends - Quakers

06/24/2026

Check out this traveling exhibit from AAMI at the Forest Avenue Library!!
Suspended: Systemic Oppression in our Schools

06/04/2026

This month marks 57 years since the Stonewall uprising in 1969, when a police raid of a gay bar in Greenwich Village incited a riot and days of protests, one of the catalysts for the gay liberation movement in the United States. And Quakers were there.

Quakers came out to the streets to give first aid to injured protesters. Then the next year, when gay rights leaders were organizing the first Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade to commemorate the Stonewall uprising, they asked Quakers to teach parade marshalls about nonviolent civil disobedience. Quakers were the first and only religious group to march in that first gay pride parade, and they have done so ever since.

Quakers are not a monolith, and to this day some are not LGBTQ affirming. But many Friends were and continue to be proud allies and members of the q***r community.

05/12/2026

Billie Wade has contributed to the Quakerspeak project by Friends Journal. "We Still Don't Talk About Black People."

QuakerSpeak is a weekly video series. New video every other FRIDAY! SUPPORT QuakerSpeak! https://quakerspeak.com/donate/SUBSCRIBE for a new video every oth...

03/05/2026

Please share!

Residents have a chance to clear up their outstanding non-violent warrants through the first clinic of its kind in Polk County.

02/14/2026

We hope you'll join us at the Art Center for Social Saturday: Love It or Leave It, Saturday, February 14 from 11 am - 2 pm.

❤ Activities include:
11:15 – 11:30 am | Storytime
11 – 11:30 am | Love it or Leave it Gallery Talk
1 - 2 pm | Guided Art Tour
1:30 pm l Artist Conversation in Levitt Auditorium
Drop in (11 am - 2 pm): Art School demonstrations and a photography portrait activity, interactive Hearts for Art in the galleries, treats in the café, and more!

🖤 Find the full schedule for the day on our website: https://desmoinesartcenter.org/event/social-saturday-love-it-or-leave-it/

Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

01/29/2026

Scattergood
Friends School alum Sophie Watso and other Indigenous activists who have been part of the response to federal immigration agents in Minneapolis are featured in this article from the NY Times.

The crackdown on unauthorized immigrants is resonating deeply among the Dakota and other tribes, as residents confront what they call a federal occupation of their land.

01/14/2026

JPlease join the American Friends Service Committee and Des Moines Valley Friends Meeting to bear witness and show resistance to the authoritarian actions in our country.

On Saturday January 17 at 11 am CT, we will gather at the corner of 42nd and Grand Avenue in Des Moines. In case of inclement weather, we will gather inside the Meeting House.

Our hope is that our presence will give hope to all who see us – to show that we can choose resistance - and remind everyone of our moral obligations to one another.

Join us!

# Love as Action: Resisting Authoritarianism # # Bearing Witness, Building Hope # # # Quaker public witness has stood in opposition to cruel and authoritarian actions in our country before. It is time for us to show this love in action again. Please join the American Friends Service Committee and Des M...

01/12/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/183iqNsbwC/

FREE COMMUNITY SUPPER ON TUESDAYS AT GRACE METHODIST
Did you know that GraceDesMoines church, 3700 Cottage Grove avenue, hosts a free community supper on Tuesday evenings? All are welcome. 5 pm to 7 pm.

+ There is also a free drop-in medical clinic at the church from 5 pm to 7 pm.

And, if you linger, you can often listen to a rehearsal of the Des Moines Community Orchestra. That starts at 6:30 pm.

+ Oh, and if you have a few extra minutes, check out the Henry Wallace/George Washington Carver historic marker at 38th street and Cottage Grove.

01/08/2026

12/19/2025

“I expect in a nation where open disagreement is encouraged, there are some who disagree with us. But I would expect that they would not use violence in answer.” Mary Autenrieth

Our rights to practice religion, talk about the president or curse the Hawkeyes are protected in America, writes Randy Evans.