Nurturing Faithfulness
A short course with Marcelle Martin
Apr 15-19, 2018
This course offers an opportunity to open more fully to God. We will learn practices for sensing the movement of the Spirit, clarifying discernment, responding with faith, and encouraging faithful action. We will engage in the Faithfulness Group process, a practice which can provide ongoing support for a Spirit-led life. The rhythm of our days will include silence, prayer, time in nature, small groups, study of short Quaker texts, inspiring stories of early and contemporary Quakers, and sharing from the heart. There will be extended time for worship together and the opportunity to bless each other’s next steps in faithfulness.
Leader: Marcelle Martin, a member of Swarthmore Friends Meeting (PA), is the author of Our Life is Love: the Quaker Spiritual Journey. She leads workshops at retreat centers and Quaker meetings across the country. Currently she is the core teacher for the 9-month Nurturing Worship, Faith & Faithfulness program at Woolman Hill. She was the resident Quaker Studies teacher at Pendle Hill for four years and has written two Pendle Hill pamphlets, Invitation to a Deeper Communion (PHP #366) and Holding One Another in the Light (PHP #382). Visit her website at awholeheart.com.
$780/private room; $700/shared room; $420/commuter.
Call Us for More Information! 610-566-4507, ext. 137
If you are seeking financial assistance to participate in this program, please click on the link for our Financial Assistance Application form. Do NOT register online.
Travel directions to Pendle Hill. FAQs about Short-Term Education Programs (please read before calling). Click to view the flyer.
Encouraging Spiritual Growth and Gifts
A weekend held at Friends Center in Barnesville, Ohio
facilitated by Susan Smith and Marcelle Martin
March 16 – 18, 2018
Elders serve to encourage and guide meetings and their members as God’s Truth is being born again in our hearts and lives.Yearly Meeting has maintained its living tradition of recognizing and naming the gifts and functions of elders in a Quaker community.
This weekend is for people who are exploring their gifts, as well as for people whose gifts for eldering are acknowledged in their meetings. We will consider the several roles of elders: encouraging individuals’ spiritual growth and gifts, supporting a prophetic vocal ministry, attending to and naming the movement of the Holy Spirit in the community, spiritual discernment, and prayer. Our weekend will include worship, teaching, experiential exercises, and reflection.
Jack and Susan Smith live among farmers in rural Virginia. Susan has served as an elder in OYM for many years. She has written about eldering, including in Traditional Quaker Christianity, and has offered other workshops on that topic. Susan is a member of Rockingham Monthly Meeting.
Marcelle Martin, a member of Swarthmore Meeting (PYM),is the author of Our Life is Love: The Quaker Spiritual Journey. She served for four years as resident Quaker Studies teacher at Pendle Hill and travels in the ministry with a concern for nurturing the spiritual life of individuals and meetings.
Weekend events at Friends Center begin with supper at 6:00 PM on Friday and end with a noon meal on Sunday. Cost for a regular weekend event is $170 per person, double occupancy. Scholarship aid is usually available. Please register at least two weeks prior to the start date.
For more information go to the website of Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative)
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A collaboration between Woolman Hill Retreat Center,
New England Yearly Meeting of Friends and Marcelle Martin
August 31, 2017 to May 6, 2018
NWFF is a multi-generational faith and leadership program designed to help Friends explore ways to meet God more deeply, hone methods of discernment, reach for fuller faithfulness, and ultimately bring these gifts and strengthened abilities home to their local meetings and beyond. The program is structured to set in place support, encouragement, and accountability. It includes three weekend residencies from August 2017-May 2018 at Woolman Hill, as well as a short mid-course retreat organized by regional groups. Between residencies, participants will engage in online learning and discussion, and connect once a month with local (or virtual) Faithfulness Groups, as well as with a care committee based in their local meeting. The class members will become a community of practice so as to support each other in providing and receiving spiritual nurture to and from local meetings in lasting ways.
Purpose
Our Quaker tradition is a path that, when lived deeply and faithfully, can have a tremendous transforming and healing effect on the world. Our hope is to seed deeper worship and faith through this program, as well as greater spiritual vitality and more radical faithfulness in our local meetings. The program is designed to help educate, equip, and support ministers, elders, leaders, and Quaker pastors, and all those who hold a concern for deeper spiritual grounding and courageous faithfulness. Participants will be given specific guidance, practice, and support in deeply sharing their Quaker faith and faithful witness, first in their own meetings/churches, and then in the larger world. Participants will undertake projects and ministry to bring new spiritual deepening, religious education, and other opportunities to their meetings and to other groups. In this program we are also concerned to interrupt domination because of race and class in our Quaker processes.
Details of the Program
The Nurturing Worship, Faith, and Faithfulness (NWFF) program includes a total of nine overnights—four at the first residency, three at a mid-course weekend, and two at the closing weekend, plus a short mid-course retreat organized by regional groups. In addition to practices that help open the heart to the power of God, the program will also teach skills in discernment, methods to offer and find spiritual support, and ways to ground one’s faithfulness, ministry or witness in one’s home meeting. Participants will form local Faithfulness Groups that foster spiritual openness and accountability, and which support Friends over time in meeting God more intimately in worship, in daily life, and in service or witness. Faithfulness Groups of four to six people agree to come together for a two hour meeting once a month for mutual help in faithfully discerning and follow divine guidance. These local groups can include some Friends who do not enroll in the program. The members will discern together and carry out teaching and ministry to help deepen the worship and faith of their local meetings as well as to support meeting members and one another to grow in courageous faithfulness. Each participant in NWFF will also form a care committee which includes at least two members of their home meeting. This committee will meet with them periodically to discuss their learning in NWFF and help them find ways to share it with their meeting.
After acceptance into the NWFF program, both before and between residencies, participants will read assigned texts and watch short videos, then discuss them online. Participants will connect with each other in online webinars about once a month. They will form local Faithfulness Groups based on the guidelines and introductory materials provided by the program, participating monthly in such a group for the rest of the program. Each participant will connect with one of the NWFF elders/mentors who will accompany them throughout the program.
The teaching team for NWFF will include Marcelle Martin as the core teacher. Marcelle was the resident Quaker Studies teacher at Pendle Hill for four years and has traveled widely among Friends to lead classes, workshops, and retreats related to the Quaker spiritual life. Requests for a program like this rose organically after Marcelle was invited to travel in the ministry in New England in October 2016, to share about her book, Our Life is Love: The Quaker Spiritual Journey. Three elder/ mentors will serve on the teaching team, including LVM (La Verne) Shelton, Janet Hough, and Anne Pomeroy. At least one guest teacher will be present at each residency, adding richness with their particular perspective and expertise. Noah Merrill will be present at the third residency.
A series of intentional invitations to engagement and activity for the home meetings will increase the likelihood that the meeting will embrace the participant’s journey as part of their own venture in the Light. This parallel path for the local meeting will begin with the application process and will encourage careful discernment requesting a letter of affirmation witnessing to the applicant’s Living journey in the Light. This could come from the local meeting or other Friends. Nurturing Worship, Faith and Faithfulness has been developed collaboratively by Woolman Hill, NEYM staff, and Marcelle Martin. The full proposal has been reviewed by ten additional NEYM Friends, including the Yearly Meeting Presiding Clerk, and the Clerk and other members of NEYM’s Ministry & Counsel. From them, a Circle of Support has been formed to assist with undergirding prayers, lifting up names of possible participants, spreading the word, and ongoing support.
Our Hopes
To have the greatest positive impact for New England, we need to have a strong, diverse, and fairly large class. We especially hope to include young adult Friends, Friends of color, and Quaker pastors. We believe this will make for a richer and more diverse program. To make the program accessible to all who would benefit from the program and contribute to the overall experience, there is a sliding scale fee. We also hope we can find sufficient scholarship assistance for those who cannot afford even the more modest fee. Those in need of financial support will be encouraged to seek some partnership in funding from their meetings and other bodies.
The program is designed for 24 to 28 participants. Through May 31, priority will be given to members of NEYM for early applications. Afterward, it will be open equally to Friends from other Yearly Meetings. We believe this Nurturing Worship, Faith, and Faithfulness program will benefit not only the actual participants, but a much wider circle of Friends.
Dates of Residencies at Woolman Hill
August 31 – September 4, 2017 (Thursday through Monday)
December 7 – 10, 2017 (Thursday through Sunday)
May 4 – 6, 2018 (Friday through Sunday)
Actual cost: $1,900 per participant. There is a sliding scale fee, with the average cost being $1530. In addition, we hope significant scholarship assistance will be available.
The class is now full and the course has begun! For news, see the website of New England Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)
The 2019-2020 Nurturing Faithfulness course is now accepting applications. For more information, visit the website of Woolman Hill Retreat Center.
* * * 12-week Online Course with Marcelle * * *
Exploring the Quaker Way
Winter 2017
Link to a brief sound recording about Quakerism as a radical faith.
This course, taught by Marcelle Martin and assisted by Steve Chase, runs from January 9 through April 5. “Exploring the Quaker Way” is for seekers, attenders, and members of Friends meetings who want to: 1) deepen their understanding of the “unprogrammed” Quaker tradition; 2) better understand the spiritual journey common among early and current Friends; 3) reflect on their own spiritual journeys within this simple, radical, and contemporary spiritual path; and 4) become more familiar with key elements of fostering vibrant and caring Quaker communities. It is designed for people who want to explore these themes through personal reflection, focused study, and deep dialog within a lively learning community gently guided by seasoned Quaker teachers and guest presenters.
Summer Five-Day Workshop
A Journey to Wholeness in God
Friends General Conference Gathering, July 2017, Niagara, New York
This workshop will provide a worshipful setting in which to become more receptive to how God is calling us, individually and collectively, to faithfulness and wholeness. We will discuss ten elements of the transformative Quaker spiritual journey, as experienced by both early and contemporary Quakers. We will also pay attention to the movement of the Spirit in our own journey, especially to what is seeking to come to greater fullness in ourselves and our communities.
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Our Life is Love: the Quaker Spiritual Journey
Pendle Hill Retreat Center Wallingford, PA
Apr 8-10, 2016
From the beginning of Quakerism, the spiritual journey taken by Friends has been transformational both those who undertake it and for the world around them. In this weekend retreat we’ll explore the basic elements of that journey, as experienced by the first Friends and by Quakers in our time. We will also support one another in our own next steps toward more fully incarnating and expressing divine love and truth. Our time together will include presentations, discussion of brief passages by early Friends, sharing elements of our journeys, worship, and listening for God’s call to us now.
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December 27, 2015-January 1, 2016, (Sunday-Friday)
Ben Lomond Quaker Center, Ben Lomond, CA
In the Life and Power of God: on the Spiritual Journey with Early Friends
At the beginning of Quakerism, great power moved through the faithful lives and witness of ordinary people who responded to God’s transforming call. This course will provide the opportunity to examine ten elements of the spiritual journey experienced by early Friends and to reflect on our own experiences today:
*Longing *Seeking *Turning Within *Openings *The Refiner’s Fire *Being Gathered into Community *Leadings of the Spirit *Living in the Cross *Living in Divine Love and Power *Perfection (in one’s measure)
Are we, too, called to give ourselves and our lives whole-heartedly for God’s purposes? What can early Friends teach us about how to do this? How can we help one another follow the call in our day with faith and boldness?
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Transformation & The New Birth
Powell House Conference and Retreat Center
Old Chatham, New York 12136
January 22-24, 2016
The Quaker spiritual journey involves a radical inward and outward transformation that early Friends called The New Birth. During this weekend we will consider three elements of spiritual rebirth: Openings, the Refiner’s Fire, and Community. We will discuss short passages written by the first Quakers, and share our own experiences of transformation. We’ll also explore how to most fully cooperate with the changes God is bringing about, and we’ll support one another in shifting from being conformed to society and out of touch with our true nature, to being filled with the Spirit and whole-heartedly responsive to divine promptings.
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A weekend retreat on Faithfulness, Nov 13-15, 2015
facilitated by Marcelle Martin
Held at Friends Center of Ohio Yearly Meeting
What does faithfulness require? During this weekend we’ll consider the testimony of the first Quakers, who learned to live in the cross and abide in God’s love and power as they sought to be faithful. We’ll look at selected short passages describing their experiences, to learn from them how better to surrender to the work of Christ within and through us. In addition, we will support one another in hearing more clearly what faithfulness requires in our current lives and situations. In pairs and small groups we’ll encourage one another to respond more fully and courageously to God’s leadings.
Marcelle Martin is a member of Chestnut Hill Meeting in Philadelphia. She currently lives in Chester, PA. Her forthcoming book, Our Life is Love: the Quaker Spiritual Journey is forthcoming from Inner Light Books. For four years she was the resident Quaker Studies teacher at Pendle Hill, and she was a core teacher in the School of the Spirit’s Way of Ministry program. She has led retreats at Friends’ meetings across the country and is the author of two Pendle Hill pamphlets, including Invitation to a Deeper Communion.
Ken and Katharine Jacobsen are serving as elders for this weekend.
Friends Center of Ohio Yearly Meeting is a Retreat and Conference Center for the Exploration of Christian Unprogrammed Quakerism and its Meaning Today, Adjacent to Stillwater Meetinghouse near Barnesville, Ohio.
For more information, go to: Friends Center Weekend Retreats 2015-2016
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May 11-15th, 2014, (Sunday through Thursday)
Pendle Hill Retreat Center, Wallingford, PA.
In the Life and Power of God: on the Spiritual Journey with Early Friends.
At the beginning of Quakerism, great power moved through the faithful lives and witness of ordinary people who responded to God’s transforming call. This course will provide the opportunity to examine ten elements of the spiritual journey experienced by early Friends and to reflect on our own experiences today:
*Longing *Seeking *Turning Within *Openings *The Refiner’s Fire *Being Gathered into Community *Leadings of the Spirit *Living in the Cross *Living in Divine Love and Power *Perfection (in one’s measure)
Are we, too, called to give ourselves and our lives whole-heartedly for God’s purposes? What can early Friends teach us about how to do this? How can we help one another follow the call in our day with faith and boldness?
$570/shared room; $685/private room; $415/commuter
Marcelle Martin served as a Quaker studies teacher and spiritual nurturer at Pendle Hill. A graduate of the Shalem Institute Program on Spiritual Guidance and School of the Spirit’s program on Contemplative Living and Prayer, Marcelle works with monthly meetings to deepen their spiritual practices. She has written two Pendle Hill pamphlets, Holding One Another in the Light (PHP #382) and Invitation to a Deeper Communion (PHP #366) and is completing a manuscript on the ten elements of the spiritual journey of early Friends. Marcelle is a member of Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting (PA).
For more information and to register click here.
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REMEMBERING LOVE: W I S D O M
O F T H E T E N D E R H E A RT
SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 2017
12:45 pm – 2:45 pm
MARCELLE MARTIN AND .O
WILL SHARE THOUGHTS & EXPERIENCES
FROM EARLY FRIENDS AND TODAY
ABOUT LOVE AT THE HEART
OF EVERYTHING.
FRIENDS CENTER
RUFUS JONES ROOM
1515 RACE STREET
PHILADELPHIA, PA
ALL ARE WELCOME
no charge
SPONSORED BY THE ADULT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION COMMITTEE
OF CENTRAL PHILADEPHIA FRIENDS MEETING
CHILDCARE IS AVAILABLE IF YOU REQUEST IT. EMAIL THE OFFICE AT CPMM@AFSC.ORG BY MARCH 15
You’re Invited!
Come hear Marcelle Martin
in a Workshop based on her book, Our Life is Love
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Location: Montclair Friends Meetinghouse
289 Park Street (at the corner of Gordonhurse)
Montclair, New Jersey 07043
Our Life is Love describes the transformational spiritual journey of the first Quakers. Many Friends today use different language, but are still called to make the same journey. Quakers in the seventeenth century and today provide examples of people and communities living in the midst of the world whose spiritual journey is suitable not only for Quakers, but for all Christians, and for seekers wanting to better understand our spiritual experience.
The Our Life is Love workshop is being presented by Montclair Friends – Quakers. There is no charge for the workshop. You may register at the door on the day of the workshop.
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FRIENDS CENTER OF OHIO YEARLY MEETING
Learning from the Spiritual Journey of Early Friends
Facilitated by Marcelle Martin
November 8-10, 2013
Barnesville, Ohio
Those who became the first Quakers changed from being people conformed to their society and out of touch with God, to people filled with the Spirit and whole-heartedly responsive to divine promptings. During this weekend workshop we will look at passages from the writings of early Friends that reveal the spiritual transformation process they collectively experienced as they allowed Christ to be active within and among them. We will consider ten elements of their spiritual rebirth: Longing, Seeking, Turning Within, Openings, the Refiner’s Fire, Being Gathered into Community, Leadings of the Spirit, Living in the Cross, Living in Divine Love and Power, and Perfection (in One’s Measure). There will be opportunities to share with one another our own experiences of God’s transforming work in us, and together we will listen for how Christ is guiding us today.
Marcelle Martin is a member of Chestnut Hill Meeting in Philadelphia. She currently lives in Richmond, IN, where she is finishing two books, one telling the story of the beginning of Quakerism and the other about essential elements of the Quaker spiritual journey. For four years she was the resident Quaker Studies teacher at Pendle Hill and has led retreats at Quaker meetings across the country. She is the author of two Pendle Hill pamphlets, including Invitation to a Deeper Communion.
Ken and Katharine Jacobson, members of Stillwater Meeting, have led retreats on Quaker faith and practice and sacred community at Friends Center, at Pendle Hill, and at their home in Wisconsin. Ken currently teaches theology and social and personal transformation at Chicago Theological Seminary. They will serve as elders for this weekend.
Friends Center of Ohio Yearly Meeting is a retreat and conference center for exploring Christian unprogrammed Quakerism and its meaning today. Rooted in Ohio Yearly Meeting and its tradition of hospitality for spiritual seekers, Friends Center is a place where we can explore, articulate and share a faith that is both unprogrammed and Christian. While this faith draws on the experiences and writings of earlier Friends, we seek to express it in ways that are appropriate to the language and conditions of our own time. Our intention is to learn together from the living presence of Jesus Christ, whom we experience teaching us directly from within, through the Scriptures, and through one another.
Each weekend at Friends Center begins with supper at 6:00 PM on Friday and ends with a noon meal on Sunday. Cost for each workshop is $170 per person, double occupancy. Scholarship aid is usually available. The registration deadline for this weekend is October 25th, 2013.
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November 7-9, 2014, at Friends Center, Barnesville, Ohio
Transformation & The New Birth
Facilitated by Marcelle Martin
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During this weekend we will seek to understand the spiritual transformation that occurs when Friends allow the Light of Christ to be active within and among us. Like early Friends, we can be changed from being conformed to society and out of touch with God to being filled with the Spirit and responsive to divine promptings. In particular we will consider elements of spiritual rebirth: Openings, the Refiner’s Fire, and being Gathered into Community. We will read and discuss some passages from the writings of early Friends and share our own experiences of the way God is changing us, thereby helping one another better embrace transformation in our lives and in our time. We will listen for how we are guided today.
Marcelle Martin is a member of Chestnut Hill Meeting in Philadelphia. She currently lives in Richmond, IN, where she is finishing two books, one telling the story of the beginning of Quakerism and the other about essential elements of the Quaker spiritual journey. For four years she was the resident Quaker Studies teacher at Pendle Hill and has led retreats at Quaker meetings across the country. She is the author of two Pendle Hill pamphlets, including Invitation to a Deeper Communion.
Ken and Katharine Jacobson, members of Stillwater Meeting, have led retreats on Quaker faith and practice and sacred community at Friends Center, at Pendle Hill, and at their home in Wisconsin. Ken currently teaches theology and social and personal transformation at Chicago Theological Seminary. They will serve as elders for this weekend.
Friends Center of Ohio Yearly Meeting is a retreat and conference center for exploring Christian unprogrammed Quakerism and its meaning today. Rooted in Ohio Yearly Meeting and its tradition of hospitality for spiritual seekers, Friends Center is a place where we can explore, articulate and share a faith that is both unprogrammed and Christian. While this faith draws on the experiences and writings of earlier Friends, we seek to express it in ways that are appropriate to the language and conditions of our own time. Our intention is to learn together from the living presence of Jesus Christ, whom we experience teaching us directly from within, through the Scriptures, and through one another.
Each weekend at Friends Center begins with supper at 6:00 PM on Friday and ends with a noon meal on Sunday. The cost of the weekend is $170. Some scholarship aid is available.
Friends Center of Ohio Yearly Meeting
- Sunrise at Olney, the site of Friends Center in Barnesville, Ohio
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For more information, contact Marcelle by leaving a Repy below.
