Silent Retreat Days at Gunpowder Friends Meeting House provide an opportunity to gather in community – in silence – to refresh and renew our spiritual lives and to ground ourselves in peace and stillness away from the rush of daily life.

The Silent Retreat day is largely unstructured. The Meeting House is open at 9 am. We settle in to silence at 9:15 am, then rise to our separate contemplative or active ways, indoors or outdoors, as we are inwardly led. Some take walks in the surrounding countryside, spend time in prayer or meditation, or engage in journaling, drawing, reading, knitting, or checking out the library.

At noon a gentle bell calls us to lunch in the west room. This provides an opportunity for shared silence and, occasionally, a shared reading. We invite first time visitors to be our guests for lunch. We share responsibilities for preparation of lunch and make arrangements prior to the retreat day.

After lunch we return to personal silence. At 2:30 pm we gather again in the west room in silence where there may be a spoken reflection on the day, or not, as we feel led. The retreat ends at 3 pm and we transition out of the silence to a brief time of conversation as we close the Meeting House.