South Mountain Friends Fellowship

Notes from Meeting with South Mountain Friends Fellowship – Ramona Buck
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Present: 5 attenders
1. What calls me to be part of a Friends community?
- Have been to different places and have seen different religions but people in this worship group are like brothers. Life has been changed by the worship group.
- Knows that some churches won’t let released inmates attend, but Quakers aren’t like that.
- Like the fact that there is no “judging”
- Has his niece and her boyfriend reading up on Quakerism as a result of this Meeting.
- One Friend indicates he saw an ad in the Howard County Times that someone had left at the prison and he contacted Susan Rose to ask if there could be a Quaker meeting at Hagerstown. Has always been a spiritual person and is drawn to the room for worship. The method of worship sharing “calls” him. He went to many worship services of other religious groups but didn’t find a spiritual home until he came here.

2. How can my gifts and leadings be supported by my Meeting?
- Whatever one experiences, either individually or alone can be brought to the Meeting for learning which is very fulfilling. Going to Meeting is kind of like seeking a spiritual high.
- If someone has a leading, then you help because that person is part of the community.
- Flexibility and unprogrammed nature is helpful.
- Meeting helps to guide people in the right way/direction.
- It is helpful to hold people in the light.

3. What am I led to do in the community of Friends beyond my own Meeting?
- Meditate and send good vibes to inmates and the world at large
- The gossip mill is very high at the prison and I am led to try to interrupt the gossip and to decrease it if possible. If it continues, it can actually result in gang violence and/or something being put in people’s files which will affect their futures.
- People are also bored here – and I am led to respond to that.

4 and 5. What is the Yearly Meeting called to do to act out our faith and what can the Yearly Meeting do to help us realize our collective dreams?
- Yearly Meeting is like the community at large – out of sight, out of mind.
- Prison ministry should be mentioned in the Yearly Meeting, and emphasized as important.
- Community members should be educated as to how to visit inmates and what to expect and not to be so scared.