Mercurial > hg > rsof

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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>
\ No newline at end of file
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/woodbrooke_thoughts.xml	Sun Jan 13 19:41:24 2019 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+<?xml version='1.0'?>
+<!DOCTYPE doc SYSTEM "file:///D:/lib/xml/doc.dtd" >
+<doc>
+ <head>
+  <title>Reflections on Woodbrooke</title>
+  <author>Henry S. Thompson, Central Edinburgh PM</author>
+  <date>28 October 2002</date>
+ </head>
+ <body>
+  <div>
+   <title>Introduction</title>
+   <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>
+   <title>How Woodbrooke Works</title>
+   <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>
+   <title>Woodbrooke is Still Special</title>
+   <p>In his PhD thesis <emph>A Sociological Analysis of the Theology of
+Quakers</emph>, 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>
+   <title>Friends in Residence</title>
+   <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 <emph>jobs</emph> are prosaic, centering
+around providing basic 'hotel services' outside of weekday business hours.
+But their <emph>role</emph> 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 <emph>there</emph> for.  Contemporary Quakerism is above all about
+what we <emph>do</emph> 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 <emph>be</emph> 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>
+   <title>Conclusion</title>
+   <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 <link href="http://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/">Woodbrooke's web site (<code>http://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/</code>)</link>.  For information about volunteering as a Friend in Residence, <span style="background-color: grey">contact <link href="mailto:rachael@woodbrooke.org.uk">Rachael Milling (<code>rachael@woodbrooke.org.uk</code>)</link>, the FiR coordinator</span>[As of 2019, use <link href="https://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/about/support-us/friends-in-residence/">the FiR contact page</link> for this purpose].</p>
+  </div>
+ </body>
+</doc>