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author Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
date Tue, 14 Jan 2025 15:01:34 +0000
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74 </style><title>Reflections on Woodbrooke</title></head><body style="font-family: DejaVu Sans, Arial; background: rgb(254,250,246)"><div style="text-align: center" class="head"><hr/><h1>Reflections on Woodbrooke</h1><div class="byline">Henry S. Thompson, Central Edinburgh PM</div><div class="byline">28 October 2002</div></div><div class="body"><div><h2>1. Introduction</h2><p>I've just returned from Woodbrooke, where I was fortunate to spend some time as a 'Friend in Residence'. This involved everything from carrying luggage and shifting
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75 furniture, through locking up at night and opening up in the morning, to
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76 welcoming Friends to Meeting for Worship in the morning and Epilogue at the end
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77 of the day, and a lot else besides. I got to know
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78 several of the management team who have been responsible for moving Woodbrooke
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79 into its new form, in which it is not only a center for meetings and courses
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80 for Friends and a home for visiting Quaker scholars, but also a base for outreach, a venue for conferences, a hostel
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81 for students and even a bed-and-breakfast for tourists. Before the memories
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82 fade, I thought I'd try to set down some of my thoughts and experiences.</p></div><div><h2>2. How Woodbrooke Works</h2><p>I last visited Woodbrooke over fifteen years ago, for a long weekend
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83 course. At that time it provided both accommodation and teaching for various
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84 full-time Quaker studies courses, as well as welcoming Friends for weekend
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85 courses and meetings. The teaching and admin staff and the long-term resident
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86 students formed a sort of Quaker intentional community, and carried out a
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87 significant amount of the cooking, serving, laundry etc. The atmosphere as
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88 experienced by a visitor was a cross between a university hall of residence and
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89 a sprawling country house full of an extended family and a miscellany
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90 of guests, with the family dividing its time between trying to make the guests
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91 feel welcome, and getting on with running the house and taking care of business.</p><p>Today a lot has changed. There are no full-time courses, the resident
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92 students are mostly just studying at Birmingham University and there is a full-time
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93 professional administration and facilities staff, providing excellent food and
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94 a clean and well-run environment. The proportion of Quakers among the staff
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95 and long-term residents is lower, and the
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96 atmosphere is much more of a country house hotel in the conference business.</p></div><div><h2>3. Woodbrooke is Still Special</h2><p>In his PhD thesis <i>A Sociological Analysis of the Theology of
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97 Quakers</i>, Ben Pink Dandelion, who is tutor in Postgraduate Quaker
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98 Studies at Woodbrooke today, discusses the narrowing of 'Quaker-time'
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99 from its historical scope of virtually all of Friends' lives, to the few hours
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100 a week Friends spend at the Meeting house today. The special thing about
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101 Woodbrooke, which it shares with Yearly Meeting, is that within its precincts
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102 Quaker-time is once again expanded to fill the whole day. Friends arriving for
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103 the first time often struggle to express the difference they sense, of an
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104 environment in which not only the pace but also the style of what we've come to
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105 accept as 'normal' life do not hold sway. Here it is still just possible, with
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106 good will, to experience a bit of the inspired optimism of 17th century
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107 Friends, that it would in fact be possible to bring in the Kingdom of God there
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108 and then. I at least find it easier to 'be good' at Woodbrooke -- to live a
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109 saner life, without raising my voice or losing my temper, with my focus more on
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110 others and less on myself.</p></div><div><h2>4. Friends in Residence</h2><p>Friends in Residence are a crucial component of the Woodbrooke mix. They
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111 are often the first person a visitor meets, and perhaps the only person other
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112 than those involved in their course or meeting that they may interact with
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113 very much. Friends in Residence's <i>jobs</i> are prosaic, centering
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114 around providing basic 'hotel services' outside of weekday business hours.
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115 But their <i>role</i> is much more fundamental. It is to manifest
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116 Quakerism in action, to be, dare I say it, patterns and examples. Because they
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117 are in residence for weeks or months, they are comfortable and know their way
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118 around, unlike the short-term visitor who usually only gets to that state
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119 just before they leave. This in turn gives them a platform on which to build a
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120 presence which comforts and reassures the visitors, being visibly available for
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121 information or assistance, or just conversation.</p><p>Woodbrooke is not a Preparative Meeting, and Friends in Residence are not
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122 its Elders or its Overseers, although their role resembles those a bit. The
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123 focus is on service, with the accompanying need for humility. The opportunity
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124 is there for worship, reading and study, along with conversation, which may
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125 range from spiritual to intellectual to personal, and conversation in
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126 particular is part of
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127 the overall pattern of service, but none of this is what Friends in Residence
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128 are really <i>there</i> for. Contemporary Quakerism is above all about
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129 what we <i>do</i> as Friends, not what we believe, and the fundamental
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130 job of Friends in Residence, at once very easy and terribly daunting, is to
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131 walk that walk, to visibly <i>be</i> Friends, to do as Friends should do,
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132 quietly, without fuss, but unmistakably. I was challenged, and in the end
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133 uplifted, by my effort to fulfil this role.</p></div><div><h2>5. Conclusion</h2><p>There can be only one conclusion, which I hope is evident by now: Go to
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134 Woodbrooke! Go for a course, go for a visit, go to serve as a Friend in
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
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135 Residence. You will find your understanding of what it means to be a Friend
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Henry S. Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
parents:
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136 deepened, and your ability to witness to our particular vision strengthened.</p><p>Information about Woodbrooke courses can be found at <a href="http://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/">Woodbrooke's web site (<code>http://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/</code>)</a>. For information about volunteering as a Friend in Residence, <span style="background-color: grey">contact <a href="mailto:rachael@woodbrooke.org.uk">Rachael Milling (<code>rachael@woodbrooke.org.uk</code>)</a>, the FiR coordinator</span>[As of 2019, use <a href="https://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/about/support-us/friends-in-residence/">the FiR contact page</a> for this purpose].</p></div></div></body></html>