Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

spiritual formation

The Light Within and the Rebirth of Conscience

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A Quaker Wisdom School with Cynthia Bourgeault, Paulette Meier, and Marcelle Martin
(Sunday dinner through Friday lunch.)

Cynthia Bourgeault, along with Marcelle Martin and Paulette Meier, invite you to join them at this Quaker Wisdom School at Pendle Hill, open to Quakers and Wisdom Seekers of all faiths. We will explore how the Light of God within not only illuminates divine reality but shows the ways that individuals and society are living contrary to God’s Way. The Light in our conscience reveals truth to us, then sends us forth to witness to that truth with integrity and inner force.

All guests visiting Pendle Hill are required to provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 or proof of negative results from a PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival on campus (see our statement and FAQ about this policy).

For more information, to register, or to apply for financial aid, visit: https://pendlehill.org/events/the-light-within-and-the-rebirth-of-conscience/

Opening to the Heart of Worship with Christopher Sammond

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A weekend workshop with Christopher Sammond
(Friday at 4:30pm through Sunday at noon.)

This workshop will focus on practical skills that will enhance our ability to enter into deep, transformative worship. We will explore how we prepare for worship, how we center down, how to listen to each other with our whole being – body, mind, and spirit – and how to better open to each other and the Divine during worship. We will create a deep sense of community from which to access our individual and collective wellsprings of the Source. Our work together will be experiential and immediate and draw us into a deeper experience of our rich practice as Friends.

All guests visiting Pendle Hill are required to provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 or proof of negative results from a PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival on campus (see our statement and FAQ about this policy).

For more information, to register, or to apply to financial aid, please visit: https://pendlehill.org/events/opening-to-the-heart-of-worship-2/

Blessing Darkness with Rev. Rhetta Morgan

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A weekend workshop with Rev. Rhetta Morgan

Out of the winter season, participants in this program will explore the darkness together. We will start with a blessing:

We will bless each other.
We will bless what we bring to the adventure.
We will bless our beautiful world,
both the miraculous and catastrophic.

Then we will turn toward how we each define the dark and enter into a journey of reflection, mirroring insights, singing, movement, journaling, and communing in silence to deepen our relationship to the dark. We will then explore themes of the dark as a place of healing and rest, womb that births our vision, our creativity and the home of awe and wonder.

Join us for an adventure into the willowy shadows. Bringing our curiosity and hearts, we will discover, celebrate, and heal together.

For more information, to register, or to apply for financial aid, please visit: https://pendlehill.org/events/blessing-darkness/

The Ideal of Quaker Worship

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Ben Pink Dandelion will be inviting us to reflect with him on “Ideal of Quaker Worship.” Ben Pink Dandelion is Honorary Professor of Quaker Studies and Director, Centre for Postgraduate Quaker Studies at University of Birmingham, UK. His work is in the sociology, history, and theology of Quaker studies and in the wider sociology of religion. He founded the Centre for Postgraduate Quaker Studies in 1999 and now directs its work. He is an honorary professor in the Department of Theology and Religion.

 

Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82517407344?pwd=SUNCai9Id2ZDS1RrZ2tkK3JVRXFsQT09

What the Spiritual Formation program meant to me as a young adult

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Since becoming a Quaker in college (at a non-Quaker school!), I have attended plenty of PYM workshops and events and been either the only young adult or one of a very small handful of young adults. My experiences generally fell on a spectrum with “alienated” on one end and “overwhelmed” at the other. My experience of participating in the Spiritual Formation program fell right in that happy middle section – engaged, included and valued.

Perhaps it is because of the content: deep spiritual listening, finding common threads among our diverse theological perspectives, focusing on central texts, connecting authentically with one another and encouraging one another to live faithfully. Perhaps it was the unique combination of individuals that lead and participated alongside me. Perhaps it was the blend of large group gatherings and small group accountability meetings.

As the youngest person (by a margin of more than a decade) in my small group, I was given the opportunity to return the care and curiosity to older people that so often comes at me from every angle as a younger participant. It was a joy to get to know these older Friends on a spiritual level; Friends not from my own meeting, who didn’t already know me closely. I felt valued, but not pressed upon; included, but not tokenized. When the purpose of a program is to know one another genuinely and grow together spiritually, age matters very little. The Spiritual Formation program also gave me a deep spiritual well to draw from and helped me to grow in my own journey. I continue to be grateful for the learning and nourishment it brought me during a formative time in my own life. It was time well spent.

Pamela Draper (right) is a member of London Grove Friends Meeting and worships with West Philly Friends Meeting

Learn more about the intergenerational Spiritual Formation Program cohort that begins this fall!  The opening retreat is on September 27th.  Register by September 10th.

New Intergenerational Spiritual Formation Program

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An Intergenerational Spiritual Formation Program is specifically designed for Young Adult and other interested Friends.  This 7-month program begins in Sept. 2014 and closes in April 2015.  The elements of Spiritual Formation include retreats, personal spiritual disciplines, readings, and prayerful support.  Participants will meet monthly in spiritual friendship and reading groups. We will be joining each other in worship, practice and witness to the Eternal in our lives.

The opening retreat will be held Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, at Abington Meeting. The mid-year retreat will be held at Chestnut Hill Meeting on Saturday,  Jan. 17, 2015 and the closing retreat at Chestnut Hill on April 18, 2015.

If you have any questions about the program or about registration, please contact Amelia Diamond, aediamond7@gmail.com,  Jane Keller, janeckeller102@gmail.com, Wanda Wyffels, mewkw01@moravian.edu or Wade Wright atw9a8d7e6w@epix.net.

Join us on a new spiritual journey!  Invite a Friend to travel with you!