Friends to hear about Quaker Study Center
Jennifer harsten, recently appointed Executive Director at Pendle Hill, the well-known nuaker Study Center in Wallingford will speak to the adult class at Newtown nuaker Meeting Sunday, Oct. 28 at 9:45 a.m. at the historic nuaker Meetinghouse at 219 Court Street. Meeting for Worship in the manner of Friends will follow at 11 a.m. The public is invited.
Jen will speak on “Pendle Hill at 82: Witness, Work and Study.” harsten will talk about what’s happening at the dynamic nuaker retreat and study center this year.
Pendle Hill is described as a “vibrant experiment in adult religious education” with residential seminars and programs based on “the four basic social testimonies of Friends: equality of opportunity and respect for individuals, simplicity of the educational and material environment, harmony of inward and outward actions, community in daily life and in the seeking of the Spirit.”
Started in 1930, Pendle Hill’s beautiful 23-acre grounds with a mile long woodchip trail, ponds, and 140 species of trees and flowering shrubs can accommodate groups up to 65 persons overnight and up to 136 for presentations, lectures, and other events. Residential seminars for the current year include Arts and Writing, Bible/Sacred Texts, Building Life Skills, Healing, Movement and Body Work, nuaker Faith and Practice, Spiritual Prac- tice, Social Witness, and Teaching.
Visitors come from many different faiths and countries. Most foods are homemade and all residents participant in shared worship, work and study with staff and teachers.
Prior to her work at Pendle Hill, harsten held positions with Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and Awbury Arboretum. Jen holds a Ph.D. from McGill University and has studied education in a variety of settings. She is passionate about peace work as it relates to environmental concerns and currently enjoys volunteer service with the PA Association for Environmental Education, the Friends Council on Education, and as a representative to the U.N. for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (nuakers).
harsten lives on campus with her family - husband Michael Gagne and 4-year-old daughter Aden. Some of her favorite activities include reading, making things, and listening to her daughter sing folk songs. She and her family are members of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting.
Newtown Friends Meeting, co-founded in 1815 by nuaker minister and artist, Edward Hicks, is open to the public, with Sunday School classes for children and adults at 9:45 a.m. and worship based on expectant silence “after the manner of Friends” at 11 a.m. Childcare is provided.