For our Meeting’s annual retreat, this year we will be doing the full day Quaker Quest workshop at Hebron House on Saturday, April 9, from 9am – 5pm. Trainers from Friends General Conference (FGC) will facilitate. In accordance with Quaker Quest guidelines, we’d be happy to welcome up to two participants each from other Meetings who may want to learn more about Quaker Quest.

Quaker Quest is a dynamic and transformative inreach and outreach process based on the experience that the Quaker way is a spiritual path for our time that is simple, radical, and contemporary. That process often leads to holding a series of public sessions to share the Quaker way with the broader community. Still, Quaker Quest is much more than the public sessions: it is an experience that the whole meeting shares over many months. While the workshop focuses on Quaker Quest, it explores outreach more broadly and deepens the community in the process. For more information, see https://patapscofriends.com///?p=226.

This past fall, we undertook two activities for the benefit of the Elkridge Food Pantry. On October 31, we had another “Cooking- for-Peace” workshop, which was publicized in the community and included a presentation about the Food Pantry and a class on how to prepare raw vegan foods. Donations collected were given to the pantry. Then, in December, we prepared a home-cooked vegetar- ian meal for 50 that was served by the pantry. The various dishes were prepared in various Friends’ homes and then delivered to the pantry to be served. It was a joint effort that provided a warm sense of unity, purpose and Friendship.