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     </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
furniture, through locking up at night and opening up in the morning, to
welcoming Friends to Meeting for Worship in the morning and Epilogue at the end
of the day, and a lot else besides.  I got to know
several of the management team who have been responsible for moving Woodbrooke
into its new form, in which it is not only a center for meetings and courses
for Friends and a home for visiting Quaker scholars, but also a base for outreach, a venue for conferences, a hostel
for students and even a bed-and-breakfast for tourists.  Before the memories
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
course.  At that time it provided both accommodation and teaching for various
full-time Quaker studies courses, as well as welcoming Friends for weekend
courses and meetings.  The teaching and admin staff and the long-term resident
students formed a sort of Quaker intentional community, and carried out a
significant amount of the cooking, serving, laundry etc.  The atmosphere as
experienced by a visitor was a cross between a university hall of residence and
a sprawling country house full of an extended family and a miscellany
of guests, with the family dividing its time between trying to make the guests
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
students are mostly just studying at Birmingham University and there is a full-time
professional administration and facilities staff, providing excellent food and
a clean and well-run environment.  The proportion of Quakers among the staff
and long-term residents is lower, and the
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
Quakers</i>, Ben Pink Dandelion, who is tutor in Postgraduate Quaker
Studies at Woodbrooke today, discusses the narrowing of 'Quaker-time'
from its historical scope of virtually all of Friends' lives, to the few hours
a week Friends spend at the Meeting house today.  The special thing about
Woodbrooke, which it shares with Yearly Meeting, is that within its precincts
Quaker-time is once again expanded to fill the whole day.  Friends arriving for
the first time often struggle to express the difference they sense, of an
environment in which not only the pace but also the style of what we've come to
accept as 'normal' life do not hold sway.  Here it is still just possible, with
good will, to experience a bit of the inspired optimism of 17th century
Friends, that it would in fact be possible to bring in the Kingdom of God there
and then.  I at least find it easier to 'be good' at Woodbrooke -- to live a
saner life, without raising my voice or losing my temper, with my focus more on
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
are often the first person a visitor meets, and perhaps the only person other
than those involved in their course or meeting that they may interact with
very much.  Friends in Residence's <i>jobs</i> are prosaic, centering
around providing basic 'hotel services' outside of weekday business hours.
But their <i>role</i> is much more fundamental.  It is to manifest
Quakerism in action, to be, dare I say it, patterns and examples.  Because they
are in residence for weeks or months, they are comfortable and know their way
around, unlike the short-term visitor who usually only gets to that state
just before they leave.  This in turn gives them a platform on which to build a
presence which comforts and reassures the visitors, being visibly available for
information or assistance, or just conversation.</p><p>Woodbrooke is not a Preparative Meeting, and Friends in Residence are not
its Elders or its Overseers, although their role resembles those a bit.  The
focus is on service, with the accompanying need for humility.  The opportunity
is there for worship, reading and study, along with conversation, which may
range from spiritual to intellectual to personal, and conversation in
particular is part of
the overall pattern of service, but none of this is what Friends in Residence
are really <i>there</i> for.  Contemporary Quakerism is above all about
what we <i>do</i> as Friends, not what we believe, and the fundamental
job of Friends in Residence, at once very easy and terribly daunting, is to
walk that walk, to visibly <i>be</i> Friends, to do as Friends should do,
quietly, without fuss, but unmistakably.  I was challenged, and in the end
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
Woodbrooke!  Go for a course, go for a visit, go to serve as a Friend in
Residence.  You will find your understanding of what it means to be a Friend
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>
author	Henry S Thompson <ht@inf.ed.ac.uk>
date	Tue, 14 Jan 2025 15:02:12 +0000
parents	39e5269bc7ed
children