About Us
Our Roots
Gunpowder Friends Meeting was established in 1739. The current location has been in use since 1821, replacing a two-story Meeting House built in 1773 on what is now Beaver Dam Road near Oregon Ridge. If you are interested in our history, please see our “History of Gunpowder” booklet by Marshall Sutton.
Our Community Today
We are from all over the Greater Baltimore area, united in finding a rich, welcoming and sustaining spiritual home here. We come from diverse spiritual backgrounds, attracted to a welcoming, inclusive community in a historic, sacred, and peaceful setting.
Gunpowder Friends Meeting is an unprogrammed Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. We worship in silence and without ritual, liturgy, creed, sermon or prepared music. In addition to worship, there are many spiritually enriching, community engaging activities at Gunpowder. Sunday activities include gatherings around Spirit & Nature, Bible Study, Forums with guest speakers on a variety of topics, Coffee Social, Letter Writing on peace & social justice issues and a Richard Rohr Discussion group.
Silent Retreat Day is held on the second Saturday each month and includes a delicious lunch. Additionally, there is a Spiritual Formation program that meets monthly for shared meals and discussion of readings related to spiritual practices.
Gunpowder is a member of Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting, as well as Baltimore Yearly Meeting, a regional Quaker organization that includes meetings in several states. Gunpowder is also connected to the greater Quaker world through its affiliations with Friends General Conference (FGC), the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Friends United Meeting (FUM) and Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC).