Little Falls

As in past years, we note the advantages and disadvantages of being a small meeting. Smallness contributes to an enhanced sense of community. The fifteen to twenty members and attenders who meet regularly can’t help but come to know each other reasonably well. One result is that we come together in times of need and crisis. We are aware, however, that our small size challenges us in larger undertakings, and we seek to rise to such challenges by nurturing the courage and imagination of each member of our community and by performing all of our activities, especially making and implementing decisions, in the spirit of love.

We treasure an old, historic meetinghouse, where attendance has grown and diminished repeatedly over the years. We are grateful for our ongoing members, with their many gifts, and for the new people who strengthen our community with new perspectives and energy. We are rich in resources, commitment, enthusiasm, and ideas, and we enjoy irreplaceable quiet support. We are rich, too, in our deep and powerful silent worship, in the meaningful vocal ministry offered by a variety of members of our community, and in the discussions and presentations that we share after worship. In silence, word, and deed, each member of the Little Falls community contributes to deepening and expressing our spiritual life.

We benefit from the strengths of each man and woman in the meeting, and of the young people and children as well. We seek to strengthen intergenerational ties, and to move forward with our young people in this changing world. We want to be open to change and ready to meet it thoughtfully.

Our mission as a Quaker community is to help each other to live our Quaker values in our daily lives and to realize those values in the greater community. We join other searchers who strive to uphold those values and to work for a better life in a better world.

In November, George and Tracey Waite organized a Vietnamese dinner at Little Falls to benefit Operation Smile, a non-profit organization that supports and provides medical services, equipment and treatment for children with facial deformities. A number of members of the medical professional described their experiences working with children in Vietnam and expressed concern about the continuing need for these services that exists in that country.

Little Falls will once again host the summer learning programs that are sponsored by Harford Friends School. Programs will be available for children ages 4 – 14 years. Subjects to be presented include Ornithology for Everyone; Beyond Recycling; A Journey Through the Middle Ages; Creative Theater; Fun with Spanish and more. For additional information visit the HFS web site at http://www.harfordfriends.org.

Emma Remsberg and Hannah Stambaugh attended an event at the Ghana Embassy in Washington, D.C. and had the opportunity to meet Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Kwame Bawuah-Edusei. Drs. John Sampson and Ben Carson spoke about the need for medical relief in Africa. As a result of this experience, the children’s First-Day class is planning a fund-raising project to support this cause.

Friends are saddened by the loss of Judy Harlan who passed away in January. Judy was a vital part of the Meeting community having served in many capacities at Little Falls including First-day teacher and member of numerous committees. She was an active participant and advocate for the work of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee.

Judy drew upon her educational background to host field trips at Belvedere Farm that provided farm experiences for preschool children. Nearly 50,000 students, teachers and parents visited the farm over the course of 14 years. She was instrumental in expanding the farm operation by growing field cut flowers that she sold to individuals, designers and florists for the Baltimore and Washington markets. Judy exemplified the Quaker tenets of simplicity, integrity and respect in all her endeavors. We will miss her presence at Little Falls.

Little Falls Friends celebrated Easter by gathering together for breakfast prior to Meeting for Worship. Our neighbors were invited to join us on this occasion and the children enjoyed an Easter egg hunt.

Several members of our Meeting participated in the “Eyes Wide Open: The Human Cost of the Iraq War” exhibit of boots and shoes honoring the causalities of the Iraq war. The exhibit, sponsored by AFSC, was held at Harford Community College in April.

In March, Lars Stromdahl spent two weeks in San Juan, Argentina with 20 other students from his Spanish class at Friends School. Their weekdays were divided between taking classes in Spanish and performing community service at the “Comedor Infantil de la Parroquia de San Cayetano," an organization that provides meals and kindergarten instruction to poor children. Weekends were spent hiking and horseback riding in the Andes while exploring the environment and culture of Argentina.

During the past year, the Little Falls Committee for Ministry and Nurture sent a questionnaire to all members and attenders. The first question asked: What is most meaningful for you in your contact with Little Falls? The corporate worship experience and the sense of fellowship and community with fellow seekers were the most cited reasons for coming to Little Falls. However, the decline in attendance and diminished participation in meeting activities and responsibilities by members and attenders indicates that we need to examine the responses to the second question: What would make Little Falls more meaningful to you personally?

The need to “Build Community” became apparent and was adopted as the theme for Adult First-Day discussions. A number of Friends have shared their Spiritual Journeys helping us to understand each other better. Some Friends feel that Adult First Day discussions should focus more on looking at Friends beliefs. Several First Days have been devoted to worship sharing with an emphasis on a process that encourages everyone to express an insight, observation or belief. We appreciate the spoken words but stress the importance of listening and quiet reflection. Assuring the balanced sharing of ideas sometimes requires careful reminders from the facilitator. We are working to refine that part of the process.

Although our numbers are small, our few active members make tremendous contributions to the life of the Meeting. These include the leadership of our Clerk, Bobbie Siebens; the dedication to our Children’s First Day Program by Virginia Remsberg; overseeing the smooth operation of our physical plant by Mark Stromdahl and Bill Harlan; an active Peace and Social Concerns Committee under the guidance of Tracey Waite and Judy Harlan. We are grateful to them and to others at Little Falls who participate in Meeting activities. For some, the sharing of talents and energies that contribute to the vitality of the meeting helps fulfill a spiritual need for the individual. We are challenged to assure that the energies of these few are not exhausted.

Some of our members find spiritual growth and inspiration by participating in organizations that are based on Quaker values. These organizations provide a practical expression of our Faith. Members of Little Falls serve on the Board of Broadmead Retirement Community, Friends School of Baltimore, Sheppard Pratt Health Systems and Harford Friends School. Many find that the association with Friends from other Meetings broadens our outlook. Four of our children attend Friends schools. Three of our members live at Broadmead. . Our close relationship with Deer Creek Friends through the Peace and Social Concerns Committee and Harford Friends School has been beneficial to both Meetings. We derive strength from their enthusiasm and our social interaction with them. As one member put it, “They’re a lot of fun!”

We recognize the need to work on making a bigger community at Little Falls both by attracting new members and attenders and encouraging inactive members to participate in the Meeting community. How do we accomplish this? Perhaps it is by stressing that we are each seekers of the Spiritual Light and the Spiritual Light helps each of us as individual seekers.

George Waite and Tracey Stambaugh were married at Little Falls Meeting on 30th day, 9th month, 2006. The next day, Tracey and George traveled to Vietnam for their honeymoon. This was George’s first trip back to Vietnam after serving in the U.S. Army in 1969/70.

Mike Boehm, founder of Madison Quakers, Inc. spoke at Little Falls in January 2006 about his charitable work in Vietnam. Already beginning to plan their trip, Tracey and George were very interested in Mike’s work and eventually decided to request contributions to Madison Quakers instead of wedding gifts. Mike suggested that when they were in Vietnam, they should visit with his Vietnamese contact, Phan Van Do. In all, the wedding resulted in enough funds to be able to purchase two “Compassion Houses” and make a $1,000 gift to the My Lai Primary School.

The Waite’s honeymoon had three parts. First, they visited Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, and Hoi An. In the last part of the trip, they traveled to Nhatrang and Ho Chi Minh City. In the middle of their stay, they met with Phan Van Do and spent two days with him in Quang Ngai Province. They visited the My Lai Memorial as well as the My Lai Peace Park and the My Lai Primary School, the latter which were built with funds donated by Madison Quakers, Inc. Phan Van Do also took them to see the two Compassion Houses purchased with the wedding donations. The homes were given to Agent Orange victims. Do spent an additional day with the Waites in Binh Dinh Province attempting to find the area where George had served. Although that search was not fully successful, George did locate a boy whom he had befriended during the war. This “child” was now 50. Tracey and George spent two days with him, his wife, his two children, and his friends and neighbors.

The Waite’s report that their experiences in Vietnam helped them understand some of the complexities of international charity. They plan to investigate ways of continuing cultural exchanges with the people in Binh Dinh Province as well as possibilities for charitable giving there.

The Clark family, Bill, Maureen, Paul and Eliza, traveled to China this past summer and gave a slide presentation to the Meeting about their trip. While traveling with other families, they were able to visit the area of Eliza’s birthplace, visit schools and places of historical interest – including, of course, the great wall. Eliza, an active 5th grader, recently participated in the 5K race for the Cure for Breast Cancer and is donating 10" of her hair to Locks of Love.

As part of our adult First Day sessions being planned around the theme, “Building the Meeting Community,” several members of the Meeting have shared their spiritual journeys. This has provided an opportunity for us to know each other better and has given us an insight into paths that each person has taken on their journey.

“Stone Soup with a Side of Pickles,” written and performed by the children of our First Day school, was presented as an intergeneration program recently and followed by a delicious luncheon of – you guessed it – stone soup. We all learned that each of us has something that we can give to make things better.

Little Falls Friends Meeting is over 200 years old. During its existence, it has flourished with over 300 members, and it has floundered with three or four regular attenders. Currently on First Days we might expect about 8 to 12 in the Meeting House and 5 to 10 in the School House for First Day School.

Although the number of our members and attenders is small, they exert a great deal of influence in the community and in Quaker institutions in the area. Little Falls Friends serve and play leadership roles on the Boards of Friends School of Baltimore, Broadmead Retirement Community and Sheppard Pratt Hospital. Many have been instrumental in establishing and opening Harford Friends School. They have organized and operated the Harford Friends Summer Learning Program. They have instituted a study group and a Summer Concert Series for the community, and they have provided leadership in the community for peace activities and social services.

The Meeting has been active in updating its history and publishing its second edition in preparation for its hosting of the Friends Historical Association meeting in May. There have been two weddings under the care of the Meeting and a third is scheduled for September. Plans are underway for our hosting of the Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting which focuses on Moses Sheppard and is being held at Sheppard Pratt Hospital.

All this brings us to the spiritual state of the Meeting. In spite of, or perhaps because of; the strong leadership and commitment of individuals and small groups to Quaker values and institutions which promote them, Friends at Little Falls feel that our greatest spiritual need is for a greater sense of community among us. We have pondered the relationships between faith and practice. It is clear that there is strength in our practice, however, while we recognize that the Meeting for Worship is the center of our faith, we are diverse in our interpretations. Nor do we always agree upon the ways that faith translates into institutional practice. Henry Cadbury has noted that “works lead to faith,” but others believe that ‘faith leads to works.”

Our goal is to create ways of bringing strong personalities with deep feelings together in a variety of activities in which all are committed and involved. The following are some of the things we have undertaken:

. A committee called Ministry and Worship was set up to work with the Overseers to strengthen the Meeting and “to respond to the general yearning of individuals for deepening personal spirituality and for Meeting for Worship in which all feel open to sharing in the light.”

Growing out of its findings, was the recognition of the value of projects in which we can work together. Many opportunities have presented themselves this year. We have had several clean-up days in preparation for important events including the hosting of the Friends Historical Society and the weddings and are planning the hosting of Quarterly Meeting at Sheppard Pratt. We helped a family in Forest Hill with a clean up of the property and house.

We see a need to work more closely with our children and those who teach and provide assistance. We welcome the children when they present to the adults in Adult First Day sessions. We have impressive speakers and discussion topics in Adult First Day and plan regular intergenerational programs with the children.

The most universally approved activity is the presentation of the ‘spiritual journey’ that members and attenders give on occasion. The insight which these talks provide brings us closer together and helps us feel deeper appreciation for one another.

Little Falls is working hard to serve the broader community and to strengthen itself within. The spiritual state of the Meeting will grow deeper as we take more time and expend more effort to nurture our relationships with one another and make a deeper commitment to the importance of the Meeting for Worship.

The Friends Historical Association will hold their Annual Spring Outing at Little Falls on Sunday, May 7th. Meeting for Worship will begin at 10:30 a.m. followed by a brief history of Little Falls. Lunch and fellowship will begin at noon. Those attending should bring their own bag lunch. Dessert and beverage will be provided. At 1:45 p.m., Joe Volk, Executive Secretary of Friends Committee on National Legislation will speak. His talk is entitled Public Policy and Change: A Quaker Perspective.

A second edition of Hunter Sutherland’s History of Little Falls Meeting 1738 – 1988 has been printed and is now available through the meeting. An updated addendum and an index have been included to this book, which was first published in 1988 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the meeting.

Friends joined Joseph Darlington Hoopes to celebrate the occasion of his 100th birthday last fall. After graduating from the University of Maryland, Joseph helped operate his family’s Waverly Farm with its herd of Jersey Cows and apple orchards. Following “retirement” he became a volunteer at the Harford County Library where he was recognized for providing 2,500 volunteer hours. In 1994 Joseph wrote, “At 7:30 a.m. each morning, Monday through Friday, I shelve books until 11:30 a.m. I’ve a callus on my left knee from bending down for the bottom shelf…. It’s nice being a Quaker that I won’t ever get a callus on both knees.” Joseph, a birth-right member of Little Falls, is a source of guidance for spiritual growth and his vocal messages provide well-received thoughts for meditation and contemplation.

An active Peace Committee at Little Falls has provided several adult first-day programs with interesting speakers and discussion. Mike Boehm, a Vietnam veteran representing Madison Quakers, Inc., spoke at Little Falls in January about the work that is being done there that includes building a school, providing loans to impoverished women that have been affected by the war, and establishing “Peace Parks.” Mike returned to Vietnam in February and took artwork by the children of our First Day to be exchanged with drawings from Vietnamese children. In March, Dr. Thamer, a public health official in Iraq after the US invasion, spoke to us about life as it is in Iraq now.

The children’s first-day curriculum has included creative lessons in Bible history, world religions and Quakerism. Virginia Remsberg has provided leadership for this program with the assistance of other members of the meeting helping with toddler care.

The meeting community has welcomed Glen and Carla Paisley and their children, Aaron, Xavier, Ezra and Seraphine to Little Falls. The Paisleys attended Sandy Spring before moving to Harford County.

Little Falls will host Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting on June 11th at the Conference Center of Sheppard Pratt Hospital at 6501 North Charles Street. Mental Health: The Legacy of Moses Sheppard is the theme for the program. See Chesapeake Quarterly news.

John and Peter Knies-Love have recently bought a home and are living in the Loire Valley in France. John served as Clerk of the Meeting for several years. Peter became a member of Little Falls in 2005. We miss their physical presence at Meeting but enjoy their participation in meeting events and activities in spirit through frequent emails and phone calls. We look forward to their visits back to Fallston.

Little Falls will host two outdoor summer concerts again this year on the meeting grounds. The first concert will feature “Milkshake” on June 24th and the Satyr Hill Bluegrass Band on July 8th. This marks the eighth year that the meeting has sponsored summer concerts. As an outreach project, these well-received programs have provided an opportunity for the Meeting to promote community building.

Summer Learning Programs for children will again be held at Little Falls and at Deer Creek Meeting under the sponsorship of Harford Friends School. The programs at Little Falls this year include Literature for Little Ones, Rocking with Robots, Myths, Magic and Music, and Art in Nature. New this year is Worms to Wings, an interdisciplinary study of the world of creepy-crawlies, which is geared toward the 6-8 age group. Programs at Deer Creek will include the Underground Railroad and Crafting with Nature.

Spiritual State of the Meeting: Looking Backward, Looking Forward

The Meeting devoted three Adult First Day Education sessions, one in each month January through March, to discussion of the needs, strengths, and dynamics in our small Monthly Meeting. These discussions in themselves proved to be definite pluses in their openness and sincere searching for guidance.

We found that our Meeting has a strong sense of community and a joy in meeting and working together. It was agreed that Meeting for Worship was the central focus for almost all of us and is the reason that we continue to come together. There is a sense of like-mindedness in our seeking, a liveliness of spirit combined with great tolerance. There is also a feeling among many in the Meeting that we could be so much more, that we do not share our innermost thoughts and feelings freely for whatever reason. This led to much serious discussion and a search for answers.

An important step toward creating a deeper spiritual intimacy was to create a separate Ministry & Nurture committee apart from Overseers. One of this committee's first recommendations was coincidentally also arrived at by those at worship one week: to sit in a closer circle to better see and hear and feel one another. This new arrangement generated a new sense of energy and presence, but it seems that old habits are strong and we will have to consciously work at placing our bodies in the way of new flowings of the spirit.

Knowing one another better was recognized as key to risking the sharing of deep thoughts. We occasionally lunch together, which fosters friendship, and our many committee meetings and projects create bonds, but this seems not enough. Folks would like the study group that meets before Meeting to share more of their insights, but the on-going small-group time together in open discussion is not easily transmitted. The whole group must develop this closeness and trust. Perhaps getting together in various ways such as hymn sings and one-day projects such as Rebuilding Together and more sharing of personal spiritual journeys would help. We have tried social gatherings such as Friendly Eights but our limited time is already stretched so thin that these have somehow fallen by the wayside. However, the trust that contact builds is absolutely necessary for the feeling of safety in sharing. If we yearn for more vocal ministry and the sense of a gathered meeting, we must risk more openness in our daily communication.

Even with the present state of things, most of us come to Meeting in anticipation and leave feeling better for our period of worship.

Little Falls Meeting has many strengths that should be acknowledged. It is a real community that comes together easily to solve problems, to celebrate high points and to share sorrows. Our children are a joy and we are incredibly fortunate in having two wonderful parent-teachers to guide their First Day instruction. Volunteers from the Meeting help and we have frequent intergenerational activities.

Our boards and committees operate effectively even though many of us serve on several. One suggestion from our discussions is that we review our organization for the possibility of simplifying our committee structure and that we assess projects more carefully for the level of energy worth spending on them. In the meantime, we hope to continue the many activities that bring our community together as well as the outreach projects that represent our Quaker way of life and thought.

Little Falls Monthly Meeting decided to erect a banner at the front of the property that reads “Sow the Seeds of Peace.” Unfortunately, the 10’x3’ banner was cut down by vandals within the first week. A Letter to the Editor of the local newspaper is planned.

And thanks to member Millie Rahn, the oral history on the Hoopes brothers is complete. Joseph and Herbert Hoopes are longtime members of Little Falls Meeting, and have quite a story to tell. The history will be kept on file in the meeting library.

Once again this summer, Little Falls Meeting put on two free summer concerts at the Meetinghouse. The first one featured the Goode Deal Bluegrass Band with Mike Auldridge. The weather couldn’t have been better, and the ice cream with blueberries at intermission really hit the spot. The second concert in August went on under the threat of Tropical Storm Charley, and was actually moved into the meetinghouse. But the bad weather couldn’t keep more than 120 fans from coming out to hear the music of The Emory Lester set featuring Gary Ferguson. It was definitely a night to remember.

Summer 2004 also saw the successful continuation of the Harford Friends Summer Learning Programs at Little Falls. 56 individual children attended the seven program offerings. Several children enrolled in more than one program, with a total enrollment of 91.

Little Falls Monthly Meeting is not in unity with Friends United Meeting (FUM) with respect to its policy toward gays and lesbians. We recommend that Baltimore Yearly Meeting withdraw all its financial support from FUM while continuing to maintain a dialogue in the hope of change in FUM's policy. We regret the need to take this action and fully expect and urge BYM to continue to maintain a dialogue with FUM in the prayerful hope that a change of policy will occur in the future.

In February, Little Falls felt the loss of longtime and beloved member Elizabeth Hoopes, loving wife to Herbert Hoopes, and mother to Donald and Jim. A memorial service was held at the Meeting House, and there was a private burial at the Little Falls cemetery.

As April nears, our Summer Learning Programs are filling up. We look forward to another successful summer.

July 10 th , 7-9 p.m. The Good Deale Bluegrass Band featuring Mike Auldridge will give a free concert on the front lawn of Little Falls.

August 14 th , 7-9 p.m., Gary Ferguson and Sally Love will perform in a free outdoor bluegrass concert as well. See our web site at http://www.bym-rsf.org/littlefalls/summerconcerts.html for more information on both concerts.

December 2003 at Little Falls was filled with the usual holiday cheer. Once again, Bill and Judy Harlan hosted the annual Christmas in the Barn, featuring caroling and scripture. Our thanks to Mark Young and Darcy Hunt for their efforts in continuing this stirring tradition.

Also in December, the Children's First Day School went caroling at Broadmead. They certainly brightened the day for everyone there.

At the end of the month, the Meeting hosted a Special Meeting for Worship to celebrate the marriage of Amy Babikow and Mel Davila. The couple were married in Florida, but wanted to share their happiness.

The New Year has us putting together our annual Spiritual State of the Meeting. It's something we're still working on, but is also something which is bringing us closer together.

Later in the month, several of our women members attended the annual BYM Women's Retreat.

Spiritual State of the Meeting Report - 2003

We continue as a small but active Meeting, close-knit in our caring and concern. We pull together well in a considerable variety of outreach projects and in enhancing the functionality and attractiveness of our historic Meeting house, schoolhouse and grounds. We find joy in the growth and enthusiasm of the youngsters in our first day school and much appreciate our intergenerational programs and our parent/teachers. We come together in worship and socially with a sense of real fellowship.

Assessment of the spiritual state of our Meeting has been the subject of two Adult First Day discussions, one in January and another in February. Partly due to the work we have done on reconciliation after not finding consensus on establishing a Quaker school two years ago, these discussions seemed unusually open and candid. There seem to be different concepts of what individuals expect from their participation in the Meeting. Corporate worship seems to be central for all. For some, this is a foundation that should translate into works that realize the Spirit moving in the everyday world. For others there is a thirst for sharing that nourishes individual spiritual growth. For most, of course, the combination is the ideal, but the felt need for each person may point one way or the other. A need for deeper spirituality has been expressed by a group wider than the current study group. Given these concerns we are re-establishing a Committee for Ministry and Counsel to address our situation.

Hurricane Isabel felled the two huge oak trees that stood in front of our Meeting house. Now that we are sawing them up, we realize that they have stood there for more than 250 years, since the founding of our Meeting and before the present building. We can learn from them. One growth ring after another - some good years, some bad, but always growing. We hope to grow in the coming year in spirit and in truth.