How Independent Quakerism Got Started In Colorado
(from a Western Quaker Reader)
There were "independent" Friends in Colorado as early as 1920s, but little is known about them. All we have is the following enthusiastic testimony by William Allen of Denver, Colorado, written for Friends Bulletin in 1930:
Independent Meetings are of great value to Friends who desire to maintain a simple, near apostolic, form of worship. Those who come to them can discover a rich, spiritual baptism and a holy, spiritual communion….Independent Meetings are generally composed of Friends, and their neighbors, who are isolated from larger groups of Friends. Being new, they naturally have little dead wood to carry. The constituency of such meetings [is] mostly made up of individuals whose contacts with the world have tended to give them broader sympathies than if they lived and worshiped in more sectarian environments. Under these circumstances their members should possess a winning message for every creed, tongue, and race…
By the 1940s, the only Quaker presence in Colorado were Friends’ Churches. When Barney and Dorothy Aldrich moved West after his CPS experience, they found that there was no unprogrammed Quaker Meeting in Denver. The independent Meetings that had flourished there in the 1930s had evidently faded away. Barney and Dorothy decided to try out the Friends Church. On that same Sunday two other Quaker couples, the Papases and Tatums, also attended. The three couples had known each other from their work with AFSC in Chicago or from William Penn College in Iowa and had not known that they had all moved to the Denver area. They decided to start an unprogrammed Friends Meeting and never returned to the Friends Church. Mountain View continued as a worship group and was recognized as a Meeting in 1956 by Friends World Committee for Consultation. Boulder Meeting started after Mountain View but was recognized earlier. It began in 1950 when Sadie Walton, who had also been involved in the AFSC in Chicago and had been in touch with Friends in Denver, put an ad in the newspaper announcing a Quaker Meeting for Worship to meet at her and Harold’s home. The Cowgill sisters, Agnes Smith, and Binnie and John Avery were among the first to respond. Boulder became a Friends Meeting in 1954.
Julie Roten, clerk of Colorado Springs Meeting, obtained the following oral history from one of her Meetings’s founding members, Carlton Gamer:
Carlton was a member of the 15th Street Meeting in New York before moving to Colorado Springs in 1953. When he arrived, the only established Quaker presence was the First Friend's Church, a programmed meeting. Carlton and a fellow professor at Colorado College, Glenn Gray, started an unprogrammed Meeting in Colorado Springs in 1954. The Meeting came under the care of Mountain View Meeting as a Worship Group in February of 1985. Colorado Springs became a Monthly Meeting in its own right in March of 1987.
Colorado Springs never owned a Meeting House. Over the years, Meeting was held at the YWCA, on the Colorado College campus in the Student Union and the Hamlin House, in various attendees' homes, and, for a very long time, in Charlotte Gazak's house. After Charlotte's house, Meeting was held in the waiting room of a dental office, then in space rented from a community college. Meeting is currently held in the parlor of a refurbished Victorian house belonging to El Paso County's Family Visitation Center.
Colorado Springs is a small, but mighty, Monthly Meeting. Membership grows steadily. We currently have eighteen members. Two new members await approval from Business Meeting, and another attender's letter of application will be presented to the Meeting tomorrow.
Our Meeting regularly holds pot lucks for fellowship, Quaker discussion, or to honor special occasions. The Meeting is well represented at Colorado Regional and the Quaker Women's Gatherings. We meet regularly for 'Soup and Sharing' which is a sharing of soup and bread and in individual homes followed by Worship Sharing on a topic of strong interest to the Meeting.
The 1950s
In October 1950 Sadie Walton put an ad in the paper announcing a Quaker Meeting for Worship to meet at her and Harold's home. The Cowgill sisters, Agnes Smith, Binnie and John Avery were among the first to respond, By 1953 there was a fledgling monthly Meeting for Business and it was meeting at the University Women's Club as guests of regular attender Margaret Fritz. The budget for the year was $100 and there was no First Day school. On October 3, 1954 an installation meeting was held and we became a "proper" monthly meeting with 22 members and attendees (including the Averys, Tlirons and Waltons). The first official Clerk was Gladys Lindes, followed in 1955 by Wolf Thron. Committees included Ministry and Counsel, Peace and Service, Social, Adult Religious Education, First Day School, Family Camp and Publicity. The first set of queries for Boulder Meeting were written and adopted. In 1956 several other families joined and a First Day School was started in collaboration with the Unitarians. In 1957 an adult discussion group was started and there was a sewing group for AFSC service projects. In 1959 the bill permitting Friends' marriages became law. During the 1950s meeting and First Day school moved several times, first to different homes and then to rented spaces. At the end of the decade the Meeting had 24 members over 16 years old, 17 members under 16, and 15 attendees.
The 1960s
Early in 1960 after long and careful deliberation (and trepidation, considering the size and resources of the group) the Meeting for Business decided to buy the lot owned by Donald and Eloise Smith (later Ristad) on Upland Avenue and build a meeting house. A building committee was appointed with Jack Kraushaar as convener. Charles Haertling was hired as architect. Ms fee was so low that his service clearly was a personal contribution to the Meeting. The original footprint consisted of two pods, the meeting room (about half the size of the present one) and the First Day school room (some eastern Friends where rather put out by the unconventional shape of the building). A 10-year loan of $10,500 was obtained, and about 2000 hours of volunteer labor was put in by the Kraushaars, Throns, Waltons, Averys, Gottliebs, NEcheners, Traibushes, Bakers, Smiths and a few others.
In 1963 the Meeting incorporated as a non-profit organization. The five trustees who signed the document were Sarah (Binnie) Avery, Jack Kraushaar, Sidney Ostrow, Wolfgang Thron and Harold Walton. There were 39 members over 16 and 51 children in First Day school (they sometimes met down the street at the Smith house). In 1964 a community outreach fund was established as a resource for witnessing concern for human needs. In 1965 we "adopted" the Carter family from Merigold, Mississippi. Their seven children integrated an all-white school and thus the parents had a difficult time getting employment. We continued their support until all children finished college in 1982. All during the early years there was concern about survival as a Meeting, There was a lot of turnover, people coming and leaving, and the core group was not very large. At times the number of children and Meeting house maintenance seemed overwhelming.
In 1966 the Gottliebs moved to Carbondale and the Gottlieb lectures were established in appreciation of their contributions. In 1967 Iris and John Green started the Upland school in the current fellowship room (this school continued until June 1988). In the late 60s there was much concern with the Vietnam war, draft counseling (had ad in Camera offefing information), and the treatment of "hippies." The meeting was expanding and the building became very crowded. There was much soul searching about the financial feasibility and moral rightness of spending money on expanding it. But at the end of the decade a special Meeting for Business agreed to expand the Meeting house.
The 1970s
During the summer of 1970 the meeting room was expanded by moving the northeast wall back, and a new wing, which became occupied by New Horizons school, was added. The addition cost $22,000. The money was loaned by meeting members and the building committee was headed by Arthur Bell. Our regular budget that year was $14, 100.
In the early 70s Meeting was concerned with draft counseling and the support of conscientious objectors as well as of the United Farmworkers. It helped organize a communication center on the Hill in response to anti-Vietnam War riots, gave a substantial donation to help the People's Clinic buy a building, and continued support of the Carter family. In 1974 there were so many members and attendees that we started the extended families to enhance community life. One of the original extended families survives to this date and many others have been started (while some have disappeared). We also affiliated with Intermountain Yearly Meeting that year.
In 1976 we had 107 members and held a 25th anniversary celebration. The annual Fall Gatherings at the Powelsons' cabin started. We sponsored the Santos family, a Chilean refugee family (Esteban was a political prisoner) to come and settle in Boulder (they still live in Boulder and their two older girls have graduated from college). In the late 70s Meeting was concerned with the Chilean situation and worked with Amnesty International; it also took part in demonstrations against nuclear arms, organizing walking and car caravans to Rocky Flats. We collected fabrics for a sewing project at the Pine Ridge Reservation and supported, with I 0% of our budget, the purchase of emergency housing (which later became Echo House, where we continue to be responsible for one apartment). The budget these years was $14,000 - 16,000 and there was concern that at least half of it be always for outreach. The process to revise the 1955 queries started in 1978.
The 1980s
In 1980 and 81 there were discussions on the quality of ministry, the new queries, and membership of children. Draft counseling continued; a letter was written to the Ayatollah Khomeny appealing for "love and respect of life"; the marches to Rocky Flats continued, and there was growing concern about American military aid to El Salvador and the returning of refugees. There was also concern about the overcrowding of the meeting room and possible annexation to the city. We held progressive dinners (with each course at a different home) and dinner discussion groups. In 1981 there were four weddings under the care of the Meeting!
In 1982, trying to respond to the many peace concerns, the Meeting made a commitment to support a Friend in peace work. Friends pledged extra contributions to this end, increasing our budget $37,000. Mary Hey became our Peace Secretary and served in that capacity until December 1987. These were years of intense involvement with issues of peace and justice. In November 1983 we started the peace vigil on the mail, every Friday at noon. It continued until June 1988. Several Friends were deeply involved with the Soviet Sister City Project as well as the Jalapa Sister City project and the building of the school there. We also held-peace potiucks, discussions groups and program hours about peace themes. A Central American Concerns Group was formed: it raised money to bond out from the INS a Salvadoran refugee, contributed to the support of a refugee family in Denver, had numerous letter writing campaigns about the situation in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. We procured a videocamera to send to Nicaragua with Witness for Peace (it was used to good effect for three years and Brian Underhill made a video that was widely circulated). As the deportation of refugees escalated, after serious soul-searching the Meeting agreed to offer the Meeting house as sanctuary and support financially (in case of arrest) and spiritually Friends who were led to participate in the underground railroad. Eventually, the Meeting helped get papers and supported a family from El Salvador. The family lived with the Medruds for an extended period of time. This conuwttee also started the support of Annunciation House (a border refuge) in El Paso and tried to organize nation-wide Quaker support for those working at the border.
In 1984 the Meeting borrowed $20,000 to replace the roof In 1986 we had 168 members and awareness of the lack of adequate space for First Day school and overcrowding in the meeting room prompted Friends to establish a Long Range Planning Committee to consider our alternatives (thus, the present Meeting house is the fruition of a 13-year process). In 1987 we lost our presiding clerk, Sadie Walton, to cancer. The same year the first Quaker Studies group started, using Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's 26-week curriculum. This was followed by several other groups, some of them continuing to meet for many years.
In 1988, after the Peace Secretary position was laid down, a Youth and Peace facilitator position was funded and filled by Raji Thron, working especially with the Senior Young Friends who were hoping for a trip to the Soviet Union and a visit to Boulder's sister city, Dushanbe (while the trip did not materialize, the Senior Young Friends group became especially active and strongly bonded). In 1989 several threshing sessions were held regarding our building options and temporary classrooms were built in the fellowship room. The Meeting also got more actively involved in the Right Sharing of World Resources. We became especially spiritually united this year by the grief of the loss of Susan Boulding, Anne White and Maia Frantz within weeks from each other.
The 1990s
In 1990 we started offering "Quakerism 101" classes (3-6 sessions of the basics). The IMYNVAFSC Joint Service Projects started and have since grown both in number and participation. The Youth & Peace coordinator position was transfon-ned into a Religious Education coordinator for all of First Day school. The Gulf situation deteriorated and silent vigils were resumed in November (held on Sunday afternoons). In January 1991, once again after deep soul-searching, the Meeting approved a minute offering sanctuary to 'military who refused to serve in the Gulf War. Jim H. was accepted in sanctuary and a sanctuary committee was very active until his situation resolved. In February 1991 the regular 8:30 Meeting for Worship started. The marriage minute, adopting "a single standard for all committed relationships that are under our care" was approved. We moumed the death of Ann Thron.
In December 1992 the Long Range Planning committee was authorized to seek architectural help, exploring major building renovation. In June 1993 we started to interview architects. In 1993 we held a threshing session and wrote a minute on Colorado's Amendment 2. We also started a Bible study group that met twice a month for two years, started "joys and soffows" and started twiceyearly potluck discussions, sponsored by Ministry & Counsel. Over the years, there were discussions on Jesus, on "leading your worshipful.life outside of Meeting" and on "conflict and the Quaker process," among others. 1993 was again a year of several deaths: Betsy Moen, Kenneth Boulding and Adam Ristad,
In 1994 the mid-week Meeting for Worship at United Ministries started, as well as the Tuesday night silent meditation. A threshing session on vocal ministry was held, a new Quaker Studies curriculum was started, another Quakerism 101 was offered, and participation in Meeting for Worship ranged between 65 and 100. There were also intense explorations 'of how to'use/improve the Meeting house and a one-day workshop on "Constructive conflict for building community." In December the selection of architects was approved. In 1995 a threshing session was held on First Day school needs, and several more on values, needs and money regarding the building. The Meeting joined the neighborhood suit brought because of water contamination. In December, after many lengthy business meetings, it was approved to go ahead with a design phase for the building renovation with a cost cap of $500,000.
In January 1996 we began the first Sunday program hour series on spiritual journeys that are still on-going. On third Sundays more outreach-type program hours continued. A set of three all-day workshops on racism and diversity were sponsored by the Peace and Social Justice Committee. There was a monthly support group for people who suffered loss. A potluck discussion explored starting our own Right Sharing project (which we now have at Pine Ridge Reservation). The First Day school was strong and active with about 38 children (plus 12 in the nursery). In November the design phase for the renovation was completed and the cost estimate was $638,000. After considerable shock and discussion Business Meeting approved to go ahead.
In 1997 Peace & Social Justice sponsored a potluck to discuss the Peace Testimony and sponsored a weekend-workshop on Alternative to Violence training. Ministry & Counsel updated the Meeting's marriage procedures. Our regular budget was $46,000. In January 1998 after a fond farewell to the "old" building, we moved to Crestview School. After approving another cost increase (to $750,000), going through annexation, and many other hurdles, the building renovation proceeded on track, thanks to the able help of Hy Brown. While in Crestview, we maintained our spiritual life with many deeply gathered Meetings for Worships, program hours, and study groups. We also continued, with many dedicated helpers, to have a strong First Day school and kept up our varied outreach activities (mittens & milk for North Korea, infant kits for Iraq, letter writing campaigns, Right Sharing project at Pine Ridge, cooking at the shelter, maintaining Echo House apartment, Adopt-a-Family, collecting for victims of the hurricane in Central America, and so on).
It is May 1999 and we thankfully celebrate the return to our "home" and the incredible generosity of so many F(f)riends who gave large contributions of money and time, so that we can move into the Meeting house debt-free!
"Following One’s Leadings" The Legacy of Western Quakerism
by Anthony Manousos
Today I am here to share with you the historical and spiritual legacy of Western Friends. A legacy is a gift, something given freely to us by our predecessors. However, sometimes a legacy isn’t always what we want or expect. There’s a story about a rich man who wrote the following will:
"To my wife Lucretia, I leave our mansion and our stock portfolio…To my son George, I leave my record collection and my private plane … To my faithful cook Hannah, I leave my Catalina Island estate…. To my nephew Arnold, who always argued that health is more important than wealth, I leave my sweat socks and jogging shoes."
Sweat socks and jogging shoes may not be the kind of legacy we’d prefer if we had our druthers, but figuratively speaking, that’s pretty much what our Quaker ancestors have left us. They haven’t left us magnificent churches, beautiful music, or—I’m sorry to say—large financial endowments. But they have left us the shoes that they walked in—somewhat scuffed, but still serviceable—and they have shown us how to walk in a way that’s faithful to Truth and good for our spiritual health.
One of the most important legacies that our Quaker ancestors have left us is the practice of "living from the Center," or "following one’s leadings." These phrases have become almost cliches among Friends, so I’d like to explain what these terms mean to me.
When we make decisions, we are often led or influenced by factors outside of ourselves. When we are young, we are apt to be influenced by our parents, or by our peers. As we grow older, we start to consider what neighbors might think. As young job seekers, we sometimes make decisions based upon "what would look good on our resume." As professionals, we are apt to be swayed by the opinions of colleagues or by the prestige of institutions. In matters of religion, many people are guided by external authorities, such as the Bible or a minister or priest. In political life, most people tend to be followers of a political party, candidate, or ideology.
It is rare to find anyone who thinks for him or herself independent of all these external forces. It is even rarer to find someone who ignores these factors and focuses on one overriding question: "What is it that the deepest wisdom within me calls for me to do?"
Asking that question, and living out the answer to that question, has been the hallmark of authentic Quakerism.
Of course, it isn’t easy always to follow the leadings of one’s deepest wisdom, nor is it easy to "live from the center" rather than respond to external influences.
Since becoming a Friend fifteen years ago, I have tried to follow the leadings of the Spirit, as I best I could. Sometimes I have followed somewhat blindly, as happened when I went to Philadelphia back in 1984 and found myself involved in Soviet-American reconciliation work. This experience is described in a Pendle Hill pamphlet I wrote called "Spiritual Linkage with Russians: the Story of a Leading." Sometimes, when we are led by the Spirit, we end up doing things we would never have imagined we could have accomplished, and we realize with humility that it is not we, but a Higher Power, that is working through us.
The project that I am working on now, A Western Quaker Reader, started off as a leading, or at least a nudging, of the Spirit. Five years ago, when I was waiting to be interviewed for the job of Friends Bulletin editor, I was reading the spiritual autobiography by Josephine Duveneck called Life on Two Levels (1978)—a work that is, or deserves to be, a Quaker classic. (Slide 1-2)
Josephine was a descendent of the Whitneys, a wealthy East Coast family. In the 1920s she moved west with her husband Frank where they purchased a large property called Hidden Villa Ranch near Palo Alto. This beautiful estate became a meeting place for Quakers as well as a site for interracial work camps, environmental study groups, and Quaker events for over fifty years. This slide shows her reading stories to a very mixed group of kids. (Slide 3)
A deeply spiritual seeker, Josephine was involved in a myriad of good causes involving young people and racial/ethnic reconciliation work. Cesar Chavez (whom she hired for his first job as an organizer) paid her this glowing tribute: "So few men or women ever have had the opportunity to know the satisfaction that comes from giving one’s life totally in the service of the poor and dispossessed. Josephine Duveneck was one of these unique servants."
When I was asked what I would do if I were editor, what popped into my head were the words: "I’d like to do features on some of Western Quakerism’s spiritual pioneers, like Josephine Duveneck." To my amazement, only half of Friends Bulletin interview team had heard of her!
When I became editor of Friends Bulletin, I realized that one of my missions would be to explore and preserve the historical legacy of Western Friends. This seemed fitting since I would be serving during two historic moments: the new millennium and Friends Bulletin’s 70th anniversary.
After some "seasoning," the Board of Friends Bulletin agreed to let me do a commemorative book celebrating 70 years of Friends Bulletin and its role in the development of Western independent Quakerism.
Writing an historical study in less than a year and a half would be an act of hubris, even for a trained historian (which I am not), so I decided to use a more modest approach—similar to that of Jessamyn West in her Quaker Reader. We named our commemorative book A Western Quaker Reader, and included first-person accounts by Western unprogrammed Friends—articles, excerpts from books (many long out of print), as well as original memoirs and interviews. (Slide 3) Sometimes you can tell a book by its cover: the photos here shows all three aspects of Quaker work—our outreach to Native Americans on the top, our witness against violence in the middle, and at the bottom, the spiritual basis of all our work—Meeting for worship. This Meetinghouse is the oldest unprogrammed in the West—does anyone know where it is, and who started it? Here’s the ultimate trivia question: who is the woman in the polka dot dress?
Little did I realize when I embarked upon this project what a spiritual adventure this would prove to be. I had the opportunity to meet and listen to the elders of our three Yearly Meetings—people who’ve committed their lives to peace and justice and the way of Friends—and I was deeply inspired by their examples. As I delved into the historical archives, I could at times sense the presence of those friends who’ve gone before hovering over me like a "cloud of witnesses." (Fortunately, this was for the most part a Friendly, not a storm cloud!) I also felt the spiritual support of numerous Friends from each YM who read the manuscript and made suggestions. The final selection committee consisted of a representative from each YM: Nancy Andreasen (Pacific YM), Rose Lewis (North Pacific YM), and Vickie Adrich (Intermountain YM), whose parents were the founders of Mt. View Meeting. I also received considerable help from Gilbert White of Boulder Meeting. (Slide 4). In case you’re wondering, this picture was taken at Whittier College, named after the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier who is presiding above us, another Friendly presence I have come to appreciate.
As many you know, we in the West are known as independent Friends. (Slide 5) If you look at this tree, you’ll see a highly simplified versions of the divisions that took place among American Quakers throughout the 19th century.. These splits generally arose between those who laid primary stress on the primacy or authority of the Spirit and the Inner Light, and those who emphasized the Bible and salvation through the historic Christ. Various names were given to these factions—Hicksites, Orthodox, Gurneyites, Wilburites, Conservatives. Eventually, three main branches evolved: Friends United Meeting (who are generally mainstream Christian pastoral Meeting centered largely in the midwest), Friends General Conference (who tend to be liberal Universalist Friends on the east coast), and Evangelical Friends (most of whom live out here in the West and are very conservative theologically). If you look way on the left, you’ll see a branch that isn’t connected to anything else. That’s us. We are independent Friends.
The reason that we are independent has a great deal to do with the fact that we are spiritual descendants of Joel and Hannah Bean (Slide 6.) Joel Bean, a pioneer in the literal as well as spiritual sense, migrated from the East to Iowa in 1853; and Hannah Shipley, whom he married, came soon after. Joel was a internationally known Friend who as made clerk of Iowa YM just before it split into those who supported the more traditional form of worship and those who were more evangelical.
The main body of the Yearly Meeting was evangelical. These Friends had been influenced by the highly emotional evangelical revival movement that swept across the United States. For them, the traditional Quaker mode of worship seemed outdated and dull. Sitting in silence, waiting upon God, did not meet their needs. Evangelical Friends wanted a religion that was Bible- and Christ-centered. They wanted religious doctrines that were clearly spelled out and clearly Christian. To insure that this happened, they hired pastors, some of whom were not Quakers, to conduct revivals and "win souls for Christ."
Even though Joel was a Christian and agreed with many of things that the evangelicals were teaching, he didn’t approve of their methods. He felt that the evangelical approach made people dependent on a pastor and upon external authorities like the Bible. He was concerned that evangelicalism would lead people away from the "Inward Christ" and the spirit of the Gospels.
Joel tried to reconcile the opposing factions of Iowa Friends, but finding this impossible, he and Hannah moved to San Jose, California, and formed a worship group which met without a pastor. They asked for recognition as a monthly meeting by Honey Creek Quarterly Meeting, but were refused. In 1885 they built a meetinghouse and in 1889 became incorporated as the College Park Association of Friends, independent of any quarterly or yearly meeting. Finally, in 1891, Iowa YM withdrew its recognition of Joel as a recorded minister. This precipitated a huge international scandal among Friends, because the Beans were well travelled and well known among Friends from London to Hawaii. In 1898, the entire Bean family, along with other San Jose Friends, was removed from membership by New Providence MM. This removal stirred international controversy among Friends.
As a result of this rejection, the Beans founded an independent organization called the College Park Association (CPA). CPA became the Pacific Coast Association of Friends in 1931, which led to the formation of Pacific YM in 1947. Joel Bean’s granddaughter, Anna Cox Brinton, played a crucial role in these developments. According to the Quaker historian David Le Shana "Pacific YM…continues in the heritage of Joel Bean’s reaction against the ‘new measures’ and ‘new techniques’ of revivalism."
Pacific YM’s growth was more than just a reaction against revivalism, however. It owed its vitality to a unique blend of mysticism and activism, which had a strong appeal to seekers dissatisfied with conventional religion. Rufus Jones and his disciple Howard Brinton helped to foster the growth of "independent Quakerism," a movement that sprang up in the 1920s and led to the formation of Pacific YM.
Jones saw that the traditional language of Quaker theology—not to mention, the fragmentation among different Quaker splinter groups—was not speaking to the heart of what modern men and women needed in their spiritual lives. Attempts to unite Friends around an external faith statement—like the Richmond Declaration—had not worked. What was needed, according to Jones, was a radical approach to spirituality based upon direct experience of Truth:
The light within is no abstract phrase. It is an experience of God revealed within the soul of man. What is needed at the present time is a renewal on a grand scale of this first-hand, living experience and a vital interpretation of it in the terms of thought which are live and current in the world today." (The Later Period of Quakerism, 994).
This approach was enormously appealing as well as liberating and led to the formations of dozens of Quaker meetings that sprang up more or less spontaneously. By the 1930s there were over 30 independent Meetings in the US, seven of which were in the West. William Allen of Denver, Colorado, published the following letter about independent Quakerism in Friends Bulletin in 1930:
Independent Meetings are of great value to Friends who desire to maintain a simple, near apostolic, form of worship. Those who come to them can discover a rich, spiritual baptism and a holy, spiritual communion….Independent Meetings are generally composed of Friends, and their neighbors, who are isolated from larger groups of Friends. Being new, they naturally have little dead wood to carry. The constituency of such meetings [is] mostly made up of individuals whose contacts with the world have tended to give them broader sympathies than if they lived and worshiped in more sectarian environments. Under these circumstances their members should possess a winning message for every creed, tongue, and race…
Religious movements need more than a "winning message" and enthusiasm, however. They also need leaders and a structure. Anna and Howard Brinton, two remarkable "bicoastal" Friends, played a major role in the revitalization of Western independent Quakerism during the late 1920s. (Show slide 7-8) Theirs was a marriage of East and West. Raised in San Jose, Anna earned her Ph.D. in classics from Stanford University and taught at Mills College in California. Howard was from a well established Eastern Quaker family and taught at Earlham and Guilford Colleges. They met in an AFSC relief project in Germany in 1920. After their marriage, they moved to California and taught at Mills College for several years before moving back East to become directors of Pendle Hill in Wallingford, PA. While at Mills, they helped to start Friends Bulletin and also the Pacific Coast Association of Friends, which included Friends from the entire "Pacific slope" (Washington, Oregon, California, and even Colorado).
Howard also provided the theological underpinnings for Western Quakers through his Pendle Hill pamphlets and his seminal work, Friends for 300 Years. The Brintons attended Pacific YM faithfully each year until their deaths. As Henry Cadbury noted, "[The Brintons] served as foster parents of Pacific YM, which was organized in their home and strengthened by them even after they removed across the continent."
Relatively few in numbers, and scattered over vast geographical distances, Western Friends have been extraordinarily active in a wide range of causes. Especially significant were their efforts in ministering to the needs of Japanese-Americans interred in detention camps during WWII as well as their outreach to Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and the Doukhobors (a Russian sect notable for removing their clothing as an act of protest). They have also started several schools (Pacific Ackworth, Pacific Oaks, John Woolman, Portland Friends, and Wellspring), a retreat center (Quaker Center at Ben Lomond), two lobbying groups (FCL of California and Washington state), and a retirement community (Friends House of Santa Rosa).
This is the outward work of Friends, our social activism. What is less obvious is the inner work, the centering down and "group mysticism" involved in the Quaker way of life.
Elise Boulding describes Western Friends well when she calls us "activist mystics, turning up everywhere, always being inventive, impatient with institutional structures."
What I’d like to share with you in the next half hour is a series of slides showing highlights of our history as a faith community committed to following the leadings of the Spirit. I’d like to speak informally, as the Spirit leads, and let you respond and ask questions and make comments as we go along. I’d also like to encourage you to explore your Meeting and personal history. The question I’d like for you to consider is: "How do you know that the Spirit has been at work in your life, and in the life of your Meeting? At what point, have you or your Meeting felt a leading of the Spirit?