Affiliated Organizations Events

QPCC members are Quaker (mostly) chaplains, counselling professionals and pastors. Quaker life and counseling practice has always included elements of mindfulness, and we find there is always more to learn. With this in mind, we invite you to come to the next QPCC conference/retreat to be held on April 5 to 8 at Quaker Hill Retreat Center in Richmond, IN. Our conference retreat theme is: Awakening Together: Exploring Mindfulness, Healing Ourselves, Healing the World. Led by Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC, a Friend, international retreat leader, spiritual director, author, accredited leadership coach, and Center for Courage and Renewal facilitator. Registration is open now. Check the QPCC website for more details at www.qpcc.us/. ‘Small groups’ as usual, sharing with new and old friends and we hope to adopt a new strategic plan for QPCC.

Friends Meeting School will host this year’s Student Peace Awards and Conference of Frederick County. The interactive program and awards ceremony will begin at 9:30 and conclude at 12:30. The public is invited; free parking is available on the Friends Meeting School campus in Ijamsville. American Sign Language interpretation will be provided. The awards were started four years ago to recognize high school students for their personal efforts furthering peaceful conflict resolution, respect for all people, and peacemaking; the number of recipients has more than tripled, growing from four to 13. All high schools in the county, both public and private, were invited to submit names for consideration. The awardees were chosen because their actions, activities, and projects exemplify how we can all make the world a better place. The event will start at 9:30 with light refreshments, followed by an interactive program on “Dealing with Conflict.” Then student awardees will share reflections at a panel and will receive a $200 award plus a $100 contribution to the charity of their choice. Please come and participate in a program that honors young people who are making a difference in our community today. For more information contact peace@studentpeaceawards.org.

Program Content: Sharing stories can be a deeply spiritual experience. Our ancestors’ earliest attempts to preserve our history and explain our interactions with nature came through oral storytelling. Each of us carries stories that when told with candor, clarity and feeling can be empowering to both the teller and the listener through reinforcing our common bonds of humanity and shared experience through the sharing of stories. Lisa will guide participants through the creation and sharing of personal stories, by helping them explore the elements and structure of stories, and the power of language to express them. With the forest and pond around the Niles Cabin both bursting with the energy of new life, a fine lunch and fellowship of fellow storytellers, this will be a wonderful way to usher in spring. Feel free to hike the trails following the program or even spend the evening to extend your stay at the Friends Center. A $10 donation is suggested to participate, but any amount (less or more) will be appreciated. Please RSVP to Sheila Bach and when doing so indicate whether you would like to have a home-cooked lunch (for an additional $10).

Join us at 7pm for a one-man performance and discussion of This Evil Thing, the shocking and inspiring story of the "Richmond 16", a group of men who said no to war. Michael Mears - ‘The Fringe-First Award winning master of the one-man show’ – portrays a gallery of characters from conscientious objectors to army generals, from Prime Ministers to world-famous mathematicians. This highly original piece of storytelling uses verbatim testimonies, a multi-layered sound landscape and vivid visual imagery. RSVP on Facebook if you would like to attend. (https://www.facebook.com/events/2000659940197990/)

Come for food, fun, and fellowship and help out with spring maintenance chores: On the list so far:
• Check around cabin for openings which might entice bugs, small critters, or anything else we do not want in the cabin
• Check trees for widow makers and remove them
• Wash Windows - two people, one inside and one outside - you can help spot what the other missed and make faces at each other
• Walk the trails to remove any obstacles which might impede someone's safety when hiking
• Redo the step outside the office
• Check the dome for loose board underneath
• Paint boards under eaves
• Glue screening on porch
• Chain saw needed to cut some downed trees
• Rake leaves around Cabin
Many hands make light work and working beneath a lovely Blue Ridge sky makes it a real joy. Please come and join us in this timeless rite of spring. Please RSVP to Sheila Bachto aid her in determining how many will be having lunch (home-cooked and FREE for participants). See note above for directions.