I2002-26 Patapsco Meeting: The Presiding Clerk read this letter from Diane D. Kesler, Clerk of Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting:

Sixth Month 12, 2002
Marjorie Scott, Clerk
Broadmead N-8
13801 York Road
Cockeysville, MD 21030

Re: Patapsco Preparative Meeting Request

Dear Marjorie Scott.

In worshiping Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting on the Sixth Month 9,2002, heard and wholeheartedly approved the request of Patapsco Preparative Meeting to become a Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Sandy Spring Meeting united with Patapsco Meeting‘s request and approved the enclosed minute. Enclosed are the minute of request and the minute of approval.

It is the wish of Patapsco to join and be affiliated with both Baltimore Yearly Meeting and Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting. Please consider this request on the agenda of Interim Meeting, so that possible action could be taken at Yearly Meeting this summer. For over six years, Friends from Patapsco Meeting have added spiritual grounding to the strength of Chesapeake Quarterly, so it is with great love that this minuted approval is sent on to you.

Ken Stockbridge, of Patapsco Preparative Meeting, will be in attendance at Interim Meeting and will be prepared to read and speak to Interim Meeting if way opens.

In loving gratitude,

Diane D. Kesler, Clerk Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting

Cc: Elizabeth F. Meyer, Clerk; Sherri Morgan, Clerk; Kenneth Stockbridge

Michael Boardman, Recording Clerk

The Presiding Clerk also read Patapsco Preparative Meeting‘s Minute:

Approved – 4/28/2002

Patapsco Friends Meeting hereby requests to be recognized and embraced as a Monthly Meeting under the care of Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting and Baltimore Yearly Meeting

A number of Friends were led from the inception of the Howard County Worship Group to form a lasting Quaker presence in this community. In 11th month 1996, we first met as a worship group under the care of Sandy Spring Friends Meeting. In 1st month 1999, we became a Preparative Meeting under Sandy Spring= s care.

Patapsco Friends have gathered weekly for worship, first day school, and fellowship and monthly for the conduct of business for 5 1/2 years. The meeting has attracted seekers from within and without the Quaker community, offering a sacred space for spiritual sharing, loving labor among the gathered, and moral guidance and direction for our youth. The meeting has forged alliances with local community organizations and has reached out to participate in the wider Quaker fellowship. We have developed a deeply shared sense of identity as a spiritual community. Love, unity, and mutual nurture abide among us. We give thanks for our Quaker community that has taken root and thrived in Howard County.

After a period of reflection, discussion, and spiritual discernment, we have recognized that we have been effectively functioning as an independent Meeting. We have considered the responsibilities and implications of becoming a Monthly Meeting, and we feel clear that we are prepared to embrace them.

We are deeply grateful to Sandy Spring Friends Meeting for encouraging us to start our Meeting and for nurturing and supporting us as we grew and developed. We feel we are now ready to release Sandy Spring from this responsibility and to join the community of Quaker fellowship as an independent Monthly Meeting.

With divine assistance, we look forward to stepping into the Light of our new openings.

We RECOMMENDED to our upcoming Annual Session that Patapsco Monthly Meeting be established under Baltimore Yearly Meeting and Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting.

June 2002

Dear Friends,

If you are currently a member of Sandy Spring Friends Meeting or any other meeting and if you consider yourself part of the Patapsco Friends Meeting community, then you may want to consider transferring your membership to Patapsco upon its becoming a full Monthly Meeting.  This note and the form provided (for any meeting) should assist you in that process.

If you would like for that transfer to become effective at the first business meeting of Patapsco as a Monthly Meeting, which is now expected this August, then we urge you to submit your request to your current Monthly Meeting as soon as possible.  Below is information on the timetable for members of Sandy Spring meeting; the timing is very tight.  If you are a member of any other Meeting, the arrangements and the timing of the meetings may be different but almost certainly is just as tight.  Please let Ken Stockbridge know if you would like any assistance with other Meetings.

For members of Sandy Spring who wish to transfer, your request first needs to be submitted to the Sandy Spring oversight committee for its approval.  The committee will then forward your request to the full business meeting, which can then approve it the same day.   No problems are expected in this routine process except that there is only one meeting of the Sandy Spring oversight committee on June 16th and one Sandy Spring business meeting on July 21st before we expect Baltimore Yearly Meeting will welcome Patapsco as a Monthly Meeting in early August.   Therefore, to be among the first official members of Patapsco Monthly Meeting, the Sandy Spring oversight committee needs to receive your request in time for their June 16th meeting.

It is acceptable to email your request to the Sandy Spring oversight committee through Jonathon Glass and Anne Hirshfield.  You may also send it (or deliver it) to Anne so that it is received by 6/15.  Please also notify Ken Stockbridge of your intentions so we can check to ensure that all requests are considered.

If you are not yet a member of any Meeting, please look for the information package on membership on the hall table or contact Ken for a copy.

Please feel free to contact Ken with any other comments or requests.

To submit your request, you can use the attached form if you like.

June 2002

Dear Friends,

In our recent threshing session on becoming a monthly meeting, several friends expressed the thought that doing so would simply recognize a reality that already exists. Becoming a member works much the same way. As Patapsco Friends Meeting moves toward becoming a monthly meeting, now may be the time for you to consider membership.

Membership in Patapsco Friends Meeting and the Religious Society of Friends does not imply any responsibilities or privileges that go beyond simply being an active part of our community. Rather, if you are not already a member of any Meeting and if you share in the love, unity, and mutual nurture of our community, then applying for membership would simply recognize a reality that already exists, and we encourage you to do so. While the process can be quite routine, it is also an opportunity to deepen your understanding of what it means to be a Quaker as well as your own level of commitment to it.

The process of Patapsco becoming a monthly meeting is moving forward. On June 2, Sandy Spring Friends Meeting approved a minute to support our request to be recognized as a monthly meeting. Next, it goes to Quarterly Meeting, then to the interim meeting of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, and finally to the annual sessions of the yearly meeting in early August. At that time, we hope and expect to officially become a monthly meeting. As a monthly meeting, Patapsco will be able to recognize memberships in the Religious Society of Friends.

If you would like to apply for membership and would like to be accepted as a member at the first business meeting of Patapsco as a monthly meeting, then we urge you to apply as soon as possible. The timing is very tight. Attached is an excerpt from the Baltimore Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice about membership. Please take a look at it. But in a nutshell, here is how the process would work in the simplest cases.

First, you would write a letter addressed to Sherri Morgan as clerk of our meeting expressing your desire to become a member. It can be very simple, but it is helpful to explain why you feel drawn to the Religious Society of Friends.

Second, Sherri would forward your letter to Ministry and Oversight, which would consider your request and arrange for a clearness committee to discuss your request with you.

Third, Ministry and Oversight would then forward your request to the full business meeting, which would lay over the request for a second reading at the next business meeting, at which it would generally be approved. If your request can have its first reading at business meeting on July 28th, then your second reading and acceptance into membership could occur at Patapsco’s first business meeting as a monthly meeting on August 25th. Therefore, to meet this schedule, Ministry and Oversight needs to receive your request as soon as possible.

Applying for membership is not a mere formality. Rather, it recognizes a spiritual reality that we hope already exists for you. As a meeting, we aspire to have a loving community in which we share a mutual commitment to supporting each other on our spiritual journeys. We hope you share in that commitment.