QUAKERS IN NORTH CUMBRIA
Penrith Preparative Meeting is in the care of Carlisle and Holm Monthly Meeting, which, together with Pardshaw Monthly Meeting, comprises the Cumberland General Meeting. Penrith Meeting takes its place in the religious life of the Penrith area, through Churches Together in Penrith and it joins gladly with other Christian bodies in ecumenical activities, while seeking to be at one with all people of good will. The meeting house is made available to numerous local groups and organisations, including non-religious bodies, that seek to benefit the community and with whose aims and activities the meeting is in sympathy.
The Meeting for Worship is followed by tea or coffee. This can be an occasion for informal chat or for browsing in the meeting's comprehensive library of books and literature on a wide range of Quaker and related subjects. On the first Sunday of each month a Meeting for Worship for business matters is held at midday.
During the year we arrange a programme of 'Fellowship Events'. These occasions are valued as an important part of the 'life of the meeting' and help members to get to know each other both spiritually and socially. They usually take the form of talks or presentations by members of the meeting or guests on subjects which may be topical, of general interest or more specifically Quaker or devotional in nature. These are usually held in the evenings in the meeting house. During the summer outings are arranged and shared picnic lunches enjoyed in the gardens of individual Friends.
Although formally a constituent meeting of Carlisle and Holm Monthly Meeting, Penrith Meeting House is maintained by a separate charity called the Strickland Monthly Meeting Property Trust. The name of the trust recalls a time when Penrith and a number of other meetings in the nearby districts of the Eden and Lowther Valleys comprised a separate monthly meeting. Over time most of these meetings have been closed, although some former meeting houses still survive as private dwellings. Endowments and bequests involving property and land became assigned for the benefit of Friends in Penrith in the form of a trust under the jurisdiction of the Charity Commisioners. A board of managing trustees, comprising nominated members of Penrith Meeting, is responsible for dealing with the upkeep of the fabric of the meeting house and related matters, separately from the business of the preparative and monthly meetings. The property trustees conduct their business in the manner of Friends, ensuring that this is in accordance with the wishes of all the members of the meeting.
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This page compiled by J E. Bagness .Revised May 17th, 2002