Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology (FCRP) and Pendle Hill

Many Quaker organizations have deep roots at Pendle Hill.  Here Walter Brown describes connections between the Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology and Pendle Hill and shares his personal experience.

Do you know about other organizations that have Pendle Hill origins?  Please let us know – we plan to include a list in the special issue of Friends Journal dedicated to Pendle Hill (June/July 2011).  Contact Shirley Dodson at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by January 15.

When my wife Carole and I were asked to join the Planning Committee of the Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology (FCRP), I was not sure what we were getting into.  We had been attending the Conference for a few years and really liked the people we knew on the Planning Committee, but having to meet at least two full weekends a year for planning seemed like a lot to ask.  We heard that the meetings would be at Pendle Hill, a place I knew about but had never visited.

Once we started going, we were hooked and five years later we can say it has been a wonderful experience.  Of course much has to do with the people we have been blessed to have served with.  And Pendle Hill is perfect for a meeting of our small group (18-20 on average).  Not only are the grounds of Pendle Hill inspiring, it is hard to believe that you are in suburban Philadelphia and just minutes from the interstate.  Walking around the campus with its many trees of different types gives one a real chance to center and get connected to nature. 

We’ve often stayed at Brinton House which has a cozy living room where we meet as a whole group; there are other spaces for  subcommittees to meet.  The hostess or host always makes us feel special and very welcome.

The Deep Roots of FCRP and Pendle Hill

There is a synergy at Pendle Hill between our purpose concerning religion and Jungian psychology and what goes on between individuals from FCRP and Pendle Hill staff.  This is witnessed by Pendle Hill staff coming to FCRP’s annual meeting at Annville, PA.  The connection has deep roots since FCRP and Pendle Hill are related to one another from a historical context. Both were started about the same time.  Howard Brinton was part of the group that founded FCRP and was one of the early plenary speakers.  Pendle Hill teacher and author John Yungblut was active in the leadership of FCRP.  In his 1983 Pendle Hill pamphlet Speaking as One Friend to Another: On the Mystical Way Forward, John Yungblut says that FCRP and Pendle Hill both have a special role in leading Quakerism to a new, dynamic, mystical Christianity.

I want to put in a plug for the meals at Pendle Hill, which are simple but tasty, with options for vegetarians and vegans.  The dining rooms are a great place to have rich conversations and relax.  The meeting rooms are large and comfortable.  During breaks I like to walk around the campus and explore the trees and the pond.  There is a studio for doing  art – not my cup of tea but it may be yours.  I do enjoy the bookstore, which is open Saturday afternoon, and I usually buy more books than I should.  I believe Pendle Hill is the perfect place to introduce someone to Quakerism.  Joining the Pendle Hill community in meeting for worship is special.

FCRP Today

For over sixty years FCRP has gathered on Memorial Day weekend to provide a respite for individuals of all spiritual and religious backgrounds who want to delve more deeply into their inner world.  FCRP is one of the oldest conferences in the United States dedicated to individual spiritual exploration with a focus on in-depth psychology, specifically Jungian psychology.  Each year the conference is led by a guest speaker who develops the theme of the Conference in four plenary sessions over the four-day weekend.  In recent years we have widened our approach and invited an eco-psychologist, a group dynamics expert and a religion historian speaking who focused on mysticism in America.

The Conference is a spiritual community that meets annually to seek to discover our own deepest process and nourish it; to seek to uncover the ways in which our new insights can help us return to the everyday world more focused and grounded in our spiritual reality; and to seek to explore the dynamics of Quaker principles in group life and to apply them to our daily living.   In addition to keynote presentations there are small group workshops using body work (movement, dance, yoga), dreams, artwork (clay, paint, collage, masks, and mandalas), music (drumming, voice, and other musical instruments), theme-based discussions, writing, poetry, and more.  The process which unfolds within the small groups is an important part of the FCRP experience.  Small groups are intended as personal growth experience and not as therapy.  Each morning we have a Meeting for Worship and there are always wonderful conversations.

2011 FCRP Conference

The speaker for FCRP’s 2011 Memorial Day weekend conference is Steve Smith, whose theme is Zen Buddhism and Quakerism.  (Steve is also leading workshops at Pendle Hill this February: Eastern Light: Buddhist and Quaker Spirituality and The Joy of Quaker Committees).  Steve is the author of the Pendle Hill Pamphlet A Quaker in the Zendo.  He has led numerous Friends’ retreats and workshops, has written for Friends Bulletin and Friends Journal, and has edited three books by Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen: Love and Work, Nothing Special: Living Zen, and Now Zen.  Steve grew up as a member of Iowa Yearly Meeting and is now a member of Claremont Monthly Meeting in Pacific Yearly Meeting.  He attended Scattergood Friends School, Earlham College, and Harvard University, from which he received an MA and Ph.D. in Philosophy.  He is retired after 35 years of teaching in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California.  Steve began doing Zen meditation in 1981 and leads a weekly Zen meditation group.  Besides bringing Zen Buddhism to Quakers, he is invested in revitalizing Quakerism.

For more information on the Conference and registration (available in early 2011)  please visit the FCRP website at http://fcrp.quaker.org and email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For information on holding your organization’s planning meeting, workshop, or conference at Pendle Hill
visit http://www.pendlehill.org/conferences