Category Archives: News

Patapsco

Spiritual State of the Meeting Report – 2010

Patapsco Friends Meeting
Spiritual State of the Meeting Report
For the Year 2010

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore. (Psalm 121)

How does the Spirit prosper among us?

In the words of the Psalmist, Patapsco Friends Meeting experienced much “going out and coming in” throughout the year 2010. Rather than being diminished by this ebb and flow, the Spirit of our Meeting seems to have grown healthier because of these tidal riches. Several of our members have “gone out” to participate in the wider Quaker community. Two Friends traveled to Mombasa, Kenya with travel minutes from Patapsco Meeting tucked away in their luggage. They took part in the Triennial of the United Society of Friends Women International and brought back vivid tales of their deeply moving experiences there. Continue reading Spiritual State of the Meeting Report – 2010 →

Interchange, News

Interchange – Winter 2011

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.

Interchange, News

Interchange – Fall 2010

These last months have been busy! Hosting Interim Meeting in March tested our stamina and organizational skills. Under the expert guidance of our “detail-oriented” event coordinator, Douglas Perkins, rooms for committees were arranged, Business Meeting went off without a hitch, and we served lunch to 100 Friends! A baked potato bar, chili and apples were the main event for our healthy lunch, and abundant cakes and brownies made for decadent desserts.

We hosted Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting on September 12, again putting our organizational skills to the test. Our events planner Doug Perkins again came in handy. The afternoon interest session, designed by our Mental Health Ministry, focused on Quakerism and mental health. Historically, Friends have been in the forefront of reforming prisons and mental health hospitals. The need is still great. Where do we stand now?

Continue reading Interchange – Fall 2010 →

South Mountain

Spiritual State of the Meeting – South Mountain 2009

On February 1, 2009, South Mountain Friends Fellowship, in Maryland Correctional Institution, Hagerstown, celebrated its fifth year of meeting as a worship group. South Mountain Friends Fellowship began as a conversation between two inmates, Richard and Joe, about their experiences with Quakers at Patuxent Institution. In the spring of 2003, Richard contacted Patapsco Friends to request that a meeting be started at MCI-H. Susan Rose, member of Ministry and Oversight, took the request to her heart and it became her leading to bring Friends together at MCI-H each week in silent worship. Silent worship began in the prison in 2005, with two Patapsco Friends traveling to Hagerstown each Saturday morning. Susan Rose was often one of the two.

Susan Rose’s passing on April 1, 2009, led to a heartfelt sadness in our Fellowship. She will be missed for her constant support and love, wisdom of her years and depth of spirit. Our grief led us to write remembrances of her which became a summer 2009 issue of Patapsco Meeting’s journal, “Quaker Heron.”

A lengthy lock-down in July canceled several weeks of meetings. Lock-downs and other prison events continue to occasionally prevent our Saturday morning meetings. We continue to meet each Saturday morning at 9:30, meeting with one Patapsco Friend each week. One member of Herndon Meeting has also attended South Mountain Friends on occasion. Our Meetings begin with silent worship, then “rounds,” when each attender gives a short report on personal and prison events in the past week. A discussion of a topic of interest follows. In the fall, we began to read the 1988 Baltimore Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice as our curriculum.

South Mountain Friends Fellowship looks to a future of weekly meetings, and welcomes others in Baltimore Yearly Meeting to join us.