Patapsco

Spiritual State of the Meeting Report, 2002

During the past six years, we have been growing closer and deeper as a spiritual community, both inwardly amongst ourselves and outwardly as we connect with other local groups and groups in the wider Quaker community. This year, after weighing the responsibilities and implications of becoming a monthly meeting, we became recognized and embraced as a monthly meeting under the care of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. The Ad Hoc Monthly Meeting committee guided us through the process. They facilitated a question and answer session about the practical matters of becoming a monthly meeting, and led a separate threshing session for spiritual discernment to inform our decision. In August, the Baltimore Yearly Meeting approved our request to be recognized as a monthly meeting. The clerk, Sherri Morgan, led our first business meeting as the new Patapsco Monthly Meeting in August. We welcomed 26 friends as members of our newly formed monthly meeting; 20 of these were transfers from other meetings. We are deeply grateful to Sandy Spring Friends Meeting for encouraging us to start our meeting and for nurturing and supporting us as we have grown.

In September, we celebrated our new meeting status with a potluck lunch and welcome cookies. A reporter and photographer from the Baltimore Sun covered the event. We designed a certificate, displaying our Minute on Becoming a Monthly Meeting, and invited everyone present at the time of our transition to sign the certificate. Meetings for worship have averaged 30-35 people each Sunday. Some meetings are held in silence but many have two or three messages. Messages sometimes build on other messages and people feel they have had a spiritual dialogue in a community. Six attenders requested membership in our meeting and were welcomed as new members in August. The new adult members are Johanna D., Ken Stockbridge, John Farrell and the new associate members are Philip Garrison, Elvin D. and Elena D..

We attract a steady stream of visitors, both from other Quaker meetings and newcomers from our local community. Whenever there are visitors, we invite them to stay for Simple Meal and usually a member of the A&O Committee will identify themselves in case the visitors would like to ask more questions about our faith. Several of our local newcomers have become regular attenders.

Almost every Saturday this year, in good weather and bad, and during periods when some questioned whether it was still a worthwhile activity, the meeting has sponsored a peace vigil to remember the victims of September 11, to encourage non-violent responses and to question the government’s build up for a war against Iraq.

In January, the Peace and Social Justice Committee led a threshing session on the query “Should the Meeting Contribute Financially to other Peace and Social Justice Groups, either Locally, Nationally, or Internationally, and if so, How?” In March the Committee led a threshing session on the Peace Testimony. The Committee has continued to prepare and deliver a meal for men at a local homeless shelter one Sunday a month. They have also sponsored letter-writing campaigns at the rise of meeting to encourage us to write to our political leaders about issues identified by FCNL. Members of our meeting also participated in a peace action, sponsored by Women in Black, on September 11, 2002, in Baltimore to create a peace path that stretched 12 miles, from the Inner Harbor to the Beltway along Charles Street.

The Peace and Social Justice Committee, along with the Advancement and Outreach Committee, presented a screening of the film, “The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It,” along with a discussion of the topic of conscientious objection at Howard County Central Library. Three World War II conscientious objectors were on hand to discuss the film and answer questions. The film is a one-hour documentary on the little-known story of the 40,000 Americans who went against the tide and refused to fight in World War II.

Our Religious Education program for children continues to grow. This year there were 3 classes (4th grade and up, 2nd and 3rd grade, 1st grade and kindergarten) plus the nursery. A Youth Worship Sharing group was formed in April and has been meeting regularly throughout the year in the Reynolds home. It is for youth in the fourth grade and higher grades. They have done Bible Study and worship sharing.

Since September, Joe Morrissey has been leading a Junior Meeting one Sunday a month for fourth graders and up. This Christmas they collected money and donations for a local family.

Three adults and several children (third graders and above) went on a one-night camping trip this May to Patapsco State Park. Two of our children attended and enjoyed Quaker camps this past summer in Virginia. Bob Rhudy hosted the annual end-of-the-school-year RE picnic. We struggled to provide child care during meeting for business, but at year’s end a child care coordinator for meeting for business was found.

Our meeting expressed concerns about the local public school system’s plans to commemorate September 1 l and about alternatives for students who do not wish to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Sherri Morgan and Jean Leslie discussed our concerns with the Howard County Public Schools’ Superintendent in April. In the fall Diane Reynolds and her daughter. Sophie, met again with school staff and members of community groups representing African-Americans and Muslims to voice alternative ways to commemorate September 11.

The Ministry and Oversight and the Advancement and Outreach Committees jointly sponsored a 6-session series Quakerism I01 classes held in February and March. Topics included Quaker history, core values, the testimony of integrity and journaling. The Advancement & Outreach Committee offered a 7-session series of classes on prayer this summer. Sessions focused on different styles of prayer and gave participants an opportunity to practice that prayer style and share their experiences in a worship-sharing format. Guest leaders from meetings in the Washington-Baltimore area led many of the sessions.

The A&O Committee initiated a sit-down simple meal one Sunday a month, beginning in May. Everyone brings a dish and we can more leisurely talk and dine together. We have been experimenting with ways to use our space to best host the meal.

The Ministry and Oversight Committee sponsored our fall retreat on September 28 at Mt. Hebron House: The theme was “Witnessing for Peace.” A representative from each of the three traditional peace churches (Quakers, Brethren and Mennonites) spoke. Susan Rose and Ramona Buck led intergenerational Alternatives to Violence Program (AVP) exercises in the afternoon. Two teen-age students from Sandy Spring Friends School led activities with the children. Some of us ended the day by attending the peace vigil in downtown Columbia.

Four people from our meeting are participating in the BYM’s Spiritual Formation program this year. As part of the program, they attend an opening retreat in September, and a closing retreat in May. In between, they meet twice a month to share their spiritual journeys and disciplines.

The M&O Committee provided guidance to several clearness committees, including one for a member who is facilitating a new web site for Quakers Integrating Spirituality and Sexuality.

We said goodbye to Elizabeth Saria and Nancy Kakoyannis. Elizabeth left for a new job and home in upstate New York. Nancy moved on to graduate school. We hosted a farewell for them with giant cookies and milk. We received a letter of introduction for Dr. David Leeser from Byberry Friends Meeting in Philadelphia. David, his wife Jodi and their two children are attending our meeting while temporarily living in our area.

Notable Minutes, Process and Policies

Interim Meeting Minute on Patapsco’s Request for Monthly Meeting Status

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.

Notable Minutes, Process and Policies

Information on Request for Membership Transfer

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.

Notable Minutes, Process and Policies

Information on Applying for Membership

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.