Water of Life Retreat: a refreshing dip into practices for spiritual renewal. This in-person weekend retreat is facilitated by Shulamith Clearbridge. It will be held at Powell House, a Quaker retreat and conference center in Old Chatham, New York: https://www.powellhouse.org Our time will include Quaker and other time-tested ways to deepen our spiritual lives. There will be times of prayer, of learning, of healing, and of silence. The daily rhythm also includes times of solitude for individual reflection, work (if any participant welcomes it), and rest. In creating a retreat environment, Shulamith builds an atmosphere of stillness, spaciousness, acceptance, prayer, healing, and love. Registration is through the Powell House website.
Retreat
Loving, Listening, Learning, Discerning: A Couple Enrichment Retreat
An in-person weekend program with experienced Couple Enrichment Leaders Mike and Marsha Green, Kirsten Brink, and Andrew Dembski
As a couple in a committed relationship, you and your partner face many decisions on a daily basis. They can range from the everyday (who’s picking up the kids from school?) to big life questions (what sort of community do we want to build around us?); from questions with quantifiable answers (how much money shall we spend on a car?) to philosophical questions (what does hospitality look like for us?). Each decision has its own context: Is this urgent? Who will it affect most? What information do I have or need? To top it off, we bring with us into our relationships how we witnessed decision-making in our families of origin. So making decisions can get complicated!
We invite you to a weekend to explore with other couples our patterns of decision-making in a spirit of experiment and curiosity. We will explore how decision-making can affirm our strengths, how conflict is an opportunity to deepen intimacy, and how we can uphold integrity, equality, and peace-making when we consider the questions before us. Bring with you at least one question that you and your beloved are currently sitting with – be it profound or mundane – so that we can learn together and, God willing, experience where Spirit takes us.
Friends Couple Enrichment (FCE), founded by Quakers over 50 years ago, is a proactive ministry to release the full potential of relationships both for the benefit of the couple and also for a world begging for examples of honest, loving, joy-filled relationships. This ministry is open to all couples, regardless of length of time together, marital status, gender identity, age, race, or faith. Indeed, our retreats are enhanced by our diversity. At the heart of any FCE event is an introduction to Witnessed Couple Dialogue, a spiritual practice of deep listening. This retreat will include lots of time for couples to dialogue in the loving witness of others as well as in private. Be assured that you will not be asked to share or participate in activities beyond your level of comfort.
Still unsure whether this is for you? Then visit FCE’s website, watch its QuakerSpeak video, and even better, come to a 90-minute online Taster scheduled for Sunday, February 26, 2023, at 8pm Eastern Time (US & Canada). At the Taster, you will meet the facilitating leader couples, hear more about FCE and this retreat, and have time to ask questions. Register for the Taster here.
New Year’s: Open Heart, Peaceful Mind
An in-person retreat for rest and reflection with Valerie Brown.
For more than 15 years, hundreds of people have welcomed the New Year at Pendle Hill with the gift of this retreat designed to rest, reflect, renew, and restore. At these times of high stress and high anxiety, we need now, more than ever, to exhale deeply and feel fully nourished through resilience-building, heart-opening, and peace-making practices. We can’t do this alone. We need a caring and supportive community and space and time to be nurtured and supported.
This retreat includes periods of silence, reflection, group discussion, creative arts, walks in nature, deep relaxation, and mindful movement. Savor guided meditation and extended periods of silence to deepen discernment about how to live your best self as you close the year and enter the New Year.
You will learn how to:
- Choose bravely when conditions are uncertain and ambiguous.
- Reflect on what matters most with soul-amplifying questions.
- Align your values with your work for a greater sense of purpose and meaning.
- Cultivate body intelligence and body awareness.
- Show yourself real kindness through self-compassion.
Surrounded by a supportive and caring community, you will restore balance and calm, and feel uplifted toward the best version of you. Return home with tools to create greater peace and hope in your life.
This year’s retreat is based on Valerie’s latest book, Hope Leans Forward: Braving Your Way toward Awakening, Simplicity, and Peace (Broadleaf 2022).
Illuminate Summer Speaker Series 2022
An online collaboration between Barclay Press and Pendle Hill
Jun 13, 27, Jul 11, 25, and Aug 8, 22, 2022
2nd and 4th Mondays, June through August, from 7:30pm – 9:00pm Eastern Time (US & Canada) via Zoom.
This quarter’s Illuminate introduces us to the life, teachings, and actions of Jesus in this unique gospel, the most theological of the four gospels in the Bible. “Friendly Perspectives” accompany each week’s lesson, showing Jesus’s encounters with a variety of people, and prompting us to consider what it means to be a Friend of Jesus in this time.
For more information, to register, or to apply for financial assistance, visit:
https://pendlehill.org/events/illuminate-summer-speaker-series-2022/
Art, Activism, and Spirituality
An Online Workshop with Peterson Toscano
This interactive online program explores the intersection between art, activism, and spirituality that we experience as individuals and community. We will explore questions of how and when art and activism conflict with each other, and more importantly how they can complement each other, especially in a spiritual context. Participants’ questions and interests determine the content of the workshop as it evolves, providing a safe and nurturing space where anyone can share their own story, art, insights, and understandings.
For more information, to register, or to apply for financial aid, visit:
https://pendlehill.org/events/art-activism-and-spirituality/
Art, Activism, and Spirituality
An Online Workshop with Peterson Toscano
This interactive online program explores the intersection between art, activism, and spirituality that we experience as individuals and community. We will explore questions of how and when art and activism conflict with each other, and more importantly how they can complement each other, especially in a spiritual context. Participants’ questions and interests determine the content of the workshop as it evolves, providing a safe and nurturing space where anyone can share their own story, art, insights, and understandings.
For more information, to register, or to apply for financial aid, visit:
https://pendlehill.org/events/art-activism-and-spirituality/
Upper Susquehanna’s Crystal Lake News
With more than a little trepidation, the planning group for Upper Susquehanna Quarter’s Fall Retreat and Meeting with Attention to Business, decided that Crystal Lake 2021 was a GO for last September!
Knowing that in a COVID-leery environment we might attract far fewer participants, planners decided to focus on a home-grown event. One that was less reliant on well-known presenters (who might draw well, but would also cost us a lot in presenter fees) and leaning more toward things we could do ourselves. An event that would be inclusive as possible of all ages of attendees, and that would aim to bring the Upper Susquehanna Quarter (USQ) community together after a prolonged period of self- enforced isolation. [Read more…] about Upper Susquehanna’s Crystal Lake News
YAF At-Home Spring Retreat 2020: In Light Together, Apart Week 5
This series titled, “In Light Together, Apart” shares artwork of the attenders from the Young Adult Friend (YAF) retreat on May 15-16, 2020. The idea behind the retreat was to collaboratively create something that speaks to where young adult friends were at that time. The themes that emerged were: time, place, people, loss, change, searching, and reflection. The stories and art shared in this series reflect the feelings and opinions of the people who made them. YAF’s have been hosting weekly YAF worship services, and this week it will be on Sunday the 28th.
This week we feature art by Jen Schrandt of Haddonfield Monthly Meeting and Meg Rose of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. Meg also serves PYM as our YAF Coordinator. This week’s story comes from Naomi Madaras.
[Read more…] about YAF At-Home Spring Retreat 2020: In Light Together, Apart Week 5
YAF At-Home Spring Retreat 2020: In Light Together, Apart Week 4
This series titled, “In Light Together, Apart” shares artwork of the attenders from the Young Adult Friend (YAF) retreat on May 15-16, 2020. The idea behind the retreat was to collaboratively create something that speaks to where young adult friends were at that time. The themes that emerged were: time, place, people, loss, change, searching, and reflection. The stories and art shared in this series reflect the feelings and opinions of the people who made them.
[Read more…] about YAF At-Home Spring Retreat 2020: In Light Together, Apart Week 4
YAF At-Home Spring Retreat 2020: In Light Together, Apart Week 3
This series titled, “In Light Together, Apart” shares artwork of the attenders from the Young Adult Friend (YAF) retreat on May 15-16, 2020. The idea behind the retreat was to collaboratively create something that speaks to where young adult friends were at that time. The themes that emerged were: time, place, people, loss, change, searching, and reflection.
[Read more…] about YAF At-Home Spring Retreat 2020: In Light Together, Apart Week 3