We are delighted to welcome Windy Cooler to Annual Sessions again this summer to present her workshop, “Holding Our Families in the Light: A Candid Assessment of Quaker Pastoral Care for Families.” Windy’s workshop will be on Friday, July 26 at 3:00pm in the Family Neighborhood Lounge of Hausdoerffer Hall.
Archives for June 2019
Part 1: Quaker History Revealed at Haverford
This is part one of a four-part story written by Haverford resident, Nancy Warren. A bit of historical research uncovers the role a Buck Lane house played as a Quaker boarding hostel serving WWII refugees.
PART I
By Nancy S. Warren
I discovered a 150 year old American Elm at Haverford College yesterday. It is just outside Woodside Cottage, the original schoolhouse constructed in 1833 when the college was founded. I’ve lived in this neighborhood for over 30 years and have walked the College arboretum hundreds of times. Still I had never seen that tree before. Dutch Elm disease has taken its toll on most of them. That quiet survivor must hold many a secret.
One of those long lost secrets surfaced recently. It is the story from of a long disbanded community that lived and worked in our house at 824 Buck Lane, a stone’s throw away from the college, from 1940-1942. The group was made up of political refugees who found their way to this address, then a hostel for asylum seekers. 824 Buck lane is more than a house. It’s a history of how good community works.
The lost history came to light when a friend searched the internet for directions to the house. Up sprang a letter from Christopher Isherwood to E.M. Forster dated January 11, 1942, its return address: 824 Buck Lane, Haverford, Pennsylvania. Isherwood’s writings reveal a story of heroes and heroines that is at once astounding and provocative and sadly pertinent and hopeful.
Isherwood (1904-1986) was best known for the stories he wrote in the 1930’s that were the basis for the play and movie “I am a Camera” and the musical “Cabaret.” A British novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer and diarist who studied Hinduism in India, he was a pacifist also credited with legitimizing homosexuality. The detailed and colorful writing of his diaries elaborated on the letter and allowed us to know more about what happened in this Haverford community. Importantly, the diaries reveal a refreshingly generous flow of ideas between socially-minded citizens of different nations.
In 1938 Isherwood sailed to China to research the Chinese-Japanese War (1937-1945) for his book Journey to War. It turned out to be a life-altering journey for him. Sailing home to England via America, on board The Empress of Asia , Isherwood met Rufus Jones– a Haverford College professor. Jones was a Harvard scholar and Quaker who helped found the Haverford Emergency Unit (HEU) in response to the refugee crisis in Europe. The HEU, later became part of the American Friends Service Committee, was a World War I era college program that provided non-military support for the growing refugee crisis in Europe. It is clear that Jones and his work there provided a critical link to Isherwood and the immigrants on Buck Lane. Jones, like Isherwood, had visited Gandhi at his Ashram in India. One can imagine the two conscientious objectors bonding over a common interest in Hinduism. The two disembarked to go separate ways, only to reunite in joint efforts in Haverford that would profoundly impact generations and nations.
As early as 1931, Philadelphia Quakers began focusing the Quaker Center in Berlin on support for victims of the Nazi regime. The center’s reputation had been bolstered by a post WW I program, that eventually fed 1,200,000 children a day during a time when many Germans were starving. This legacy of goodwill made it plausible that a productive meeting with the Gestapo might be possible, even if extremely unlikely. Jones and two other Quakers set sail to Germany in the frigid winter of 1938. Jones, nearly 76 years old, and his colleagues hoped to get permission from the Nazi government to continue to “promote life and human welfare and to relieve suffering,” as Quakers had in WWI.
After the difficult journey and several weeks of waiting, Jones and his colleagues were finally allowed to present a letter to Himmler’s immediate subordinate. The carefully written document reviewed the Refugee Service Committees’ apolitical and non-judgmental role in WW l and closed with a request to be allowed to sustain these efforts.
Remarkably the Gestapo granted permission for the Quakers to investigate the suffering of Jews and allowed commissioners to keep channels open for ongoing problem solving. Jones and his colleagues returned to Philadelphia by ship. They brought with them a group of Jewish refugees, some of whom ended up here, at 824 Buck Lane. The Quakers’ journey was revealed in a story in the Chestnut Hill Local in December 2011 entitled A Hill Quaker– one of ‘Three Wise Men’— saved lives in Germany; an article based on Rufus Jones’ autobiographical account, Our Day in the German Gestapo, published in July 1947, which is available on line.
Nearly all of the refugees who lived at 824 Buck Lane came from academic backgrounds and had been involved in the Democratic Socialist Party outlawed by the Nazi regime. Another person besides Jones who was key to who ended up in the house on Buck Lane was a German born Jewish academic, Hertha Kraus. Kraus had fled Germany in the 30’s.
Learn more about Herta Kraus next Wednesday, July 3, when we post PART II
Nancy S. Warren, LMSW
May 2019
Winden Rowe, LPC Joins Friends Counseling Service
Winden Rowe, MS, NCC, LPC maintains a private practice in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania where she works with individuals, couples, families, and organizations. Her education, clinical experience, and passionate interest center around the study of and work in the field of stress and trauma. Ms Rowe’s approach to securing sustained improvement and recovery for clients dealing with the effects of stress and trauma, centers around linking the biological, psychological, and social implications of traumatic stress and the identified challenge. In addition to counseling, Winden lectures, teaches, and consults in the field. Ms. Rowe has been a guest on a variety of media broadcasts including National Public Radio ‘Morning Edition’, ‘Radio Times’ and lectures at Jefferson University in the Community and Trauma Counseling Graduate Program. She works with children, teens, and adults. And loves her work.
Anyone in need of information about the Friends Counseling Service or in need of a referral please call
Ken Brick, LCSW, Program Coordinator in his Wilmington DE Office 302-655-8101
Magnificent New Spaces to Enjoy This Year at Annual Sessions
Each year the planning process for Annual Sessions begins in earnest when a team of PYM staff and volunteers arrive at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) near Trenton for a site visit. Over the four-hour visit, we map the sessions fun that Program and Religious Life (PRL) and Sessions Coordinating Committee (SCC) have planned for July 24-28 onto the many spaces we’ve negotiated access to.
Our visit this year was filled with stops at new-to-PYM spaces; we are so excited about that we’ve named them: Haus Home, the ‘open air worship space,’ the ‘Healing Center,’ the Film Screening Space, the Community Pool, and the atrium.
We’ve been supported in our work by TCNJ’s ambitious campus master plan improvements, and their conference support team is making sure that we benefit from the infrastructure overhauls TCNJ completed—for example much better internet connectivity in Brower Student Center. We’ve also negotiated dining and housing modifications that will better center our community in spaces they love.
Here are the highlights:
- DINING PRIVACY – All community lunches and dinners will be privately held in our own PYM space-the spacious and airy Brower Student Center.
- POOL – We have booked TCNJ’s full-sized pool for our community each Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 2-4 PM. That means adult Friends will be able to exercise or swim for relaxation at no extra cost.
- LIBRARY NEAR PLENARY – We moved the library set-up so that it’s more public – into the atrium next to our plenary space.
- HEALING SPACE – By moving the Library we could devote the old library space to a Center for the Healing Arts. Friends will have yoga, massage, meditation, and many other health-centered opportunities at a spot that will draw talented Friends with an interest in wellness.
- FAMILY SPACES at the Hausdoerfer Hall (which we’re shortening to “Haus Home” as the family home-base) will better facilitate outdoor and indoor gathering opportunities for resident families with children in the K-5 Children’s Sessions group. An afternoon in the family neighborhood looks like families enjoying the sunny yard together with water play and Legos, conversation and stories — just steps away from easy dorm-room downtime. Between 2:45-4:15, there will be the option for parents to sign children in with staff for more structured play time in the family neighborhood space, so that adults in the family can attend workshops or other opportunities.
- SOCIAL SCIENCES ATRIUM – a recently renovated sunshine-filled indoor space with chairs for lounging and reading anchors this new-to-PYM workshop accommodation space.
- OUTDOOR WORSHIP – Need we say more? There are new gardens and grounds we plan to make use of.
If all these aren’t reason enough to join Sessions – here is one more: Annual Sessions benefits the whole Quaker community by articulating Quaker practices and sharing tools and ideas. It’s also a time when we convene to support you! Come for the worship, workshops, networking, and business, & stay for the Quaker fellowship.
And…yes…the golf carts, tents, and programming we all love will be there, too.
Support Families with Young Children at Annual Sessions
Do you carry a concern for the needs of parents with young children?
Do you yearn for more support for families to be in Quaker spaces?
Are you led to support families with young children attending Sessions?
Register to stay in the Family Neighborhood!
Volunteer to help set-up and support this space for Families!
The Family Neighborhood is a residential and social area at Annual Sessions designed to help meet the particular needs of families with children. Children at Annual Sessions participate in morning and evening program in the Fry group (child care for infants to age 4) and the K-5 Fox and Fisher groups. This year, the Family Neighborhood will be housed in a new space, Hausdoerffer Hall, which we’re affectionately calling, “Haus Home.” The first-floor lounge will be “home base” for Families at Sessions. The dormitory includes suites of rooms on the first floor that sleep up to six, with a bathroom and small kitchen in the suite. The first floor also has free laundry.
Through a mixture of structured opportunities and informal connection, the Family Neighborhood creates a warm space for caregivers and their families to form peer circles and establish mutually supportive relationships. There will be a Family Picnic and Meetup on the patio and backyard of “Haus Home” on Friday evening, July 26, for Families and Youth Program participants. Throughout Sessions, the Family Neighborhood lounge will be a place to meet, relax, play, and connect with friends. Afternoons at Sessions this year are designed to be more open — with options in community (workshops, worship sharing) and also relaxation and self-care (naps!). During the afternoon time, children and families will find art supplies, books, a bin of Legos in the lounge — and water play outside — for creative play and a space to “chill out” together with adult supervision.
When my children were small (they are now in MSF and Young Friends), we started the Family Neighborhood to support one another and be in community at Sessions. (It’s also a great example of sharing among Friends — the idea is adapted from what New England YM does at their Sessions.) Families could leave notes for each other and plan to meet for meals. Parents could share kid watching and be able to attend a workshop (or take a nap!). We would put our kids to bed at night and spend time talking, laughing, gathering in a wider Quaker family community than many of us experience in our local meetings. Those friendships are still a core of my experience in PYM.
We are seeking Friends who are led to help make the Family Neighborhood a safe, welcoming & nurturing space. If you are interested in contributing to our community at Annual Sessions in this way, please contact me! mwennerbradley@pym.org and 215-241-7171
Melinda Wenner Bradley, Youth Religious Life Coordinator
General Secretary Report to Councils
Mid-May to Mid-June 2019
Business and Finances:
- Completed the FY 2020 Draft Budget for Finance Committee, which will recommend to Admin Council that it be shared with the monthly and quarterly meetings. A final Proposed Budget, adjusted for any new information, will be completed in early July for approval at Annual Sessions.
- Stewarded two bequests from Friends who are no longer with us. One of these is directed to the new Legacy Fund.
Program and Ministry:
- Annual Sessions registration is live! Register and find out details at www.pym.org/annual-sessions.
- We’re coming into the home stretch before our Quakers Got Talent fundraiser on June 17th. This month we nailed down a diverse roster of performers for the show; supported the YAF QGT pre-party with the support of a donor to cover partial costs; mailed publicity to monthly meetings, and all Quaker schools (some placed ads), met our goal in advertising in the program and secured the gift of a pair of earrings (value $3000) for our Quakers got Talent auction.
- The dates for PYM Programs are set for September 2019 through July 2020. There are around 40 programs that range from camping sleepovers for families to skill building on property issues to gatherings for monthly meeting clerks. See the PYM calendar for upcoming events
- We laid the groundwork for the first effort to bring together PYM Friends who represent us to other Quaker organizations so they can know each other, PYM can hear what they are working on and they can hear PYM’s priorities.
- The first Quaker Institute was held at Pendle Hill, which PYM program staff helped frame and facilitate in collaboration with Pendle Hill. The PYM Youth Religious Life Coordinator facilitated the workshop titled “Recognizing the Gifts of Young People in Community and Worship”. PYM communications collaborated to promote awareness of the Quaker Institute with a news story plus regular inclusion in our PYM weekly email featuring news and events.
- The Youth Religious Life Coordinator trained with Interfaith Philadelphia to become a facilitator of “Civil Conversations” for youth. https://www.interfaithphiladelphia.org/facilitator-trainings
- Several staff met with David Johnson, author of A Quaker Prayer Life, to talk about the movement of spirit amongst young adult friends in the world. David is travelling in North America for 4 months.
Communications and Technology:
- The June issue of “Tote Bag” – an electronic newsletter resource on religious education was published.
- Designed materials for the Quakers Got Talent event including a poster, ad book advertising campaign, and program.
- Designed and mailed compelling tri-fold publicity for Annual Sessions.
- Our new database provided all the data it is meant to provide for the spring fundraising campaign – this is the first time we’ve relied 100% on that resource.
- We developed a plan for managing the data held in our communications tool, Constant Contact, as we shift to reliance on one database, Salesforce.
- We laid the groundwork for a new communications tool that synchs with Salesforce and successfully tested it with two emails to the group of people who are identified in Salesforce as Bridge Contacts.
- Repaired new web defect that made it impossible to submit news or events to our website.
Staff and Administration:
- PYM’s Young Adult Engagement and Sessions Coordinator has enrolled in school and will vacate the Session Coordinator role effective 8/2/2019. She will remain with PYM as the Young Adult Engagement Coordinator in a part-time capacity.
- The position “Transitional Meeting Engagement and Data Coordinator” expires at the end of the summer. This position was created as a temporary way to explore what kind of staff support we need in the new Advancement & Communications department. This change together with the vacancy in the Sessions Coordinator position, also happening at the end of the summer, created space for implementing some new positions. Two positions are in the works. One is a full-time position to coordinate events (including Sessions) and resources. This will allow the sessions support to be part of a full-time position and also allows us staff capacity to curate resources from monthly and quarterly meetings to make them available across the yearly meeting and to keep our website current with resources for addressing racism and racial justice and events and trainings on anti-racism that PYM Friends could attend. The other position is a part-time, benefits-eligible position to deepen the bench on our communications and fundraising activities.
- Staffing plans are in use for vacant youth program positions, drawing mostly from a reserve of program staff. A temporary sessions assistant has been hired for Annual sessions and recruitment is ongoing for a Middle School Friends Assistant and Children and Families Assistant.
- We talked with three different consultants about helping us to manage recruitment for open positions. We sought an organization that could reliably use approaches that would help us with increasing the amount of diversity in our candidate pools. As a result, we are looking forward to working with AFSC’s HR department again.
Inclusion and Anti-Racism:
- The National Council of Churches hosted a semi-annual Jewish-Christian Dialogue at Mother Bethel AME Church on anti-Semitism and racism. The General Secretary was invited to speak on the experience of a faith community in engaging in anti-racism work.
- The General Secretary and the Director of HR and Inclusion continued conversations with Prototype Entities about training and other opportunities for staff and/or the wider community.
- Staff meetings are held every other month; in June our meeting was five hours long and focused mostly on the inclusion and anti-racism work we’re doing. In particular we:
- Heard from the Operations Team (Senior Staff) about their experience with holding space for reflecting on racism and other oppression we observe or experience in Quaker community.
- Considered if we want to hold that same kind of space for all staff and if so what would it take to do it in a way that is generative and expanding.
- Considered what kind of training we want
- Learned about Diversity Statements and began a process of writing one for ourselves
- Reviewed all of the other conversations and steps we’ve taken in this direction and then identified what we have the most energy for going forward.
Visits to Quaker Meetings and Organizations:
- Many staff visited The College of New Jersey on June 11to prepare for Annual Sessions
- Melinda Wenner Bradley, Youth Religious Life Coordinator, visited Medford Meeting June 9.
- Meg Rose, Young Adult Engagement and Sessions Coordinator, and Zachary Dutton, Associate Secretary for Program & Religious Life, attended Sunday of Continuing Revolution with Young Adult Friends at Pendle Hill.
- Grace Cooke, Associate Secretary for Advancement & Relationship, visited Quakertown Meeting
- Christie Duncan-Tessmer, General Secretary, attended the board meeting and the finance committee meeting of Friends Fiduciary and the board meeting of Friends Center
- Christie met with the heads of other Quaker organizations for a half day meeting focused on courage and on relationship
Welcoming Eric Berdis as Artist in Residence
[Read more…] about Welcoming Eric Berdis as Artist in Residence
Annual Sessions 2019 Schedule
There are a few changes to our schedule this year. Sessions Coordinating Committee (SCC) found there to be a significant ask from attenders for more spaciousness in the schedule. You will find that afternoons are more open, and instead of back to back programming, Friends will choose one way they want to engage with each other that afternoon; it could be worship sharing one day, and a workshop the next. You will also see that each afternoon has space for threshing, which SCC felt was a great resource to the community last sessions and created spaciousness for listening on topics that weren’t complete in sessions. You will probably notice more changes as you look at the day-to-day (like a Saturday sleep in!), these are all intentional efforts to center love and trust and care for ourselves and each other during Annual Sessions. Keep checking in, there will be more details as we get closer. We hope you will come for a day, or two, or the whole week!
Friends Counseling Service Welcomes It’s Second New Therapist this Spring!
Friends Counseling Service is happy to announce that Danielle Havelin, LCSW has joined it’s group. Danielle maintains a psychotherapy practice in the Havertown area and her biography is posted below.
Danielle is a seasoned clinician and administrator with over 17 years experience in the field working with diverse populations in a variety of community mental health and school-based settings. She enjoys collaborating with people throughout the life span and believes all people walk in the door with the inner wisdom and strengths to overcome their life challenges. Danielle incorporates mindfulness strategies along with other therapeutic modalities to help clients manage a variety of emotions, strengthen their relationships with others and bring balance and peace to every day life.
PYM members, attenders or affiliates with questions about the Friends Counseling Service and what it offers may contact Ken Brick, LCSW, the Program Coordinator at 302-655-8101.
Sacramento: Travels with Josh
Hello my name is Joshua Ponter. I am a member of Haddonfield Monthly Meeting in South Jersey’s Philadelphia area. I have embarked on a year-long mission to travel around the country collecting stories about the founding of different meetings and looking at the way we practice Quakerism today. I will be blogging about my travels on the PYM website. Find my latest entry below. Please email me at JPonter1@gmail.com if there is anyone from your meeting who would like to sit down with me and speak to some of your history — or if you would like more information on me or my project . Thank you! [Read more…] about Sacramento: Travels with Josh