Category Archives: Events

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Memorial Meeting for Martin Lennig, 1999

The minute below is from 8/1/1999.  Martin died on June 27, 1999.  Martin had served on our Nominating Committee in 1998 and was a founding member of our Meeting.

A memorial service for Martin Lennig was held in good order at Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting on July 10. Over 100 persons attended the hour and a half service. Several PPM Friends attended and assisted in the preparations.

Our Spiritual State of the Meeting Report for 1999 included the following text:

Later in the year, one of our founding members, Martin Lennig, died June 27, 1999.. His optimistic outlook, friendly manner, and familiar presence at Meeting for Worship are greatly missed.

Memorial Meeting for Harry Brown, 1999

A memorial service for Harry Brown was held in good order at Hebron House on May 30, 1999.  He passed away on May 12.  Approximately 45 to 50 persons attended.

John Buck, clerk of the Meeting, offered the following introductory remarks:

Good afternoon. I am John Buck, clerk of the Patapsco Friends Meeting. I welcome you to this Meeting for Worship in celebration of the life of Harry Brown. Harry participated in the life of our Meeting for the past two and a half years. His family, therefore, asked that this Memorial Service be conducted in the manner of Friends. Because Friends, or Quakers, as we are sometimes called, believe that there is that of God in each person, in this Meeting for Worship you are a minister to all the others attending. We all give and receive ministry from each other.

As in all Meetings for Worship, we will sit together in silence, and anyone who wishes to speak may do so. Although in our regular Sunday worship, no theme is predetermined prior to the Meeting; in a memorial service or worship celebration such as this one, we are focusing on the person and life of Harry Brown. We will first settle into the silence and then, if you feel moved to do so, you may rise to speak, or may speak, sitting down. You may, for example, speak about Harry, as you knew him, especially in appreciation of his life. Or, you might choose to speak more generally about loss or anotss or another topic that seems relevant to this particular gathering. After each person’s contribution, there should be some silence. Silence gives each of us time to assimilate what has been said, and helps us speak from a deeper, more spiritual part of ourselves than we may be able to access in regular conversation. Generally, individuals do not speak more than once in a Meeting for Worship, nor do they agree or disagree with others, as they might in conversation. Instead, they tend to speak out of a prayerful waiting.

As clerk, I will conclude the Meeting by shaking hands with a person sitting near me. Then, by custom, everyone will shake hands with persons sitting near them and the Meeting is over.

At the rise of Meeting, we invite you to have refreshments in the room next door and to enjoy some of the pictures that the family has put together.