Ministry & Pastoral Care

Contact: ministry-pastoralcare@annapolisfriends.org

 

For information about specific programs, check out Ministry & Pastoral Care Initiatives.

The purpose of the Ministry & Pastoral Care committee is to promote the spiritual and social well-being of Annapolis Friends Meeting and its members.

Adult Religious Education

  • Coordinating Adult Religious Education activities and providing orientation for members, attenders, and interested persons to Quaker faith and practice.

Ministry Oversight

  • Nurturing the spiritual well-being of Meetings for Worship.
  • Organizing members to greet worshipers and break worship.
  • Counseling and supporting those who are led to speak from the silence, giving encouragement and advice to inexperienced speakers and eldering individuals in a positive manner.
  • Considering requests for travel minutes, leadings, embraced ministries.
  • Preparing an annual Spiritual State of the Meeting report.

Fellowship/Building Community

  • Encouraging visiting and fellowship within the Meeting.
  • Organizing Friendly 8s dinners.
  • Facilitating spiritual formation and friendship.
  • Arranging for special worship/fellowship gatherings on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas eve.

Care for Friends in Need

  • Providing assistance to those who are ill, absent, troubled or in material need;
  • Organizing and facilitating Memorial Meetings; recommending Memorial Garden policies and arranging for ground stones and plaques with families; and
  • Guiding applications for AFM’s Emergency Fund for Suffering.

Clearness Committees

  • Establishing clearness committees for membership, marriage and personal decisions regarding life transitions.

Administrative Functions

  • Recording committee meeting minutes and decisions, including clearness committee membership, approved embraced ministries, supported travel minutes, and AFM memorial services;
  • Coordinating with Meeting Recorder to notify BYM of new members, deaths, committee clerk changes;
  • Checking in with Friends and notifying Directory Coordinator of changes; and
  • Budget & Fund Oversight
    • Emergency/Suffering Fund
    • Embraced Ministry Fund
    • Memorial Garden & Services (in conjunction with Meetinghouse & Land)

As needed, Ministry & Pastoral Care supports:

Working Group:  Welcome Light (Wednesday meditation)

Liaisons with:

Baltimore Yearly Meeting (BYM) & The Interchange
Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting(CQM)
Dayspring Silent Retreat
Deconstructing Racism
Friends United Meeting (FUM)
Friends General Conference (FGC)
Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC)
West River Quaker Burial Ground
Quaker history and heritage