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| Quick Links |
About The William Penn House
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| Upcoming Events |
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Potlucks - All potlucks start at 6:30, with presentations at 7:30.
Sunday, March 15 - Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology. Walter Brown, member of Langley Hill Monthly Meeting and a practicing psychologist, will give an overview of this conference. Sunday, April 5 - Peterson Toscano will be performing "Transfigurations". This is a continuation of an afternoon workshop "A New Conversation about Sexual Orientation and Identity".
Sunday, April 19 - The greening of WPH and Washington. WPH staff and Rebecca Stack from the DC Department of Environment will talk about programs and actions to help clean the environment.
Sunday, May 3 - Reflections on service with Quakers in Zimbabwe. Steve Brooks will share his experiences Hlekwini Friends Rural Servie in southern Zimbabwe.
DON'T FORGET:
Saturday, April 25, 2009 -Pedaling for Peace. 10, 26 and 40 mile rides. |
| Projector needed
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In addition to monetary donations, we are increasingly finding ourselves in need for a projector so that we can tell others about our programs and bring our own programs up to the 21st Century. If anyone knows of a projector that can be used with modern technology (i.e. laptops), please help connect us.
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| Yoga at William Penn House |
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All people are invited to join us for Yoga every Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 7:45. Elizabeth Goodman, a certified yoga instructor, leads this class. Cost is $15 per class ($12 for public interest workers, WPH guest, students and seniors. A portion of this supports WPH work. Bring yoga mat and any props such as blanket, strap or block. |
Visiting DC? Go Green
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We encourage people to take advantage of our agreement with Bike the Sites to provide affordable bike rentals - the best way to get around town. |
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Opportunities...
After we emerge from the financial crisis we are currently in, how would you like the world to be different? Times of crisis are, after all, the best opportunities to make drastic changes. (NYTimes columnist Bob Herbert puts some of this in perspective in a recent column). All of us are confronted with looking at ourselves, our neighbors, and our community to re-evaluate what is most important in our lives. Many of us will learn that what we thought we needed we can actually do without, and that we can try to meet others needs before pursuing our own wants.
Simplicity, one of the basic beliefs of Quakerism, could perhaps be an important part of the new world that emerges. When community comes together and engages in a creative process to find ways to live simply in the world, we may find a world that is more hopeful than we had previously thought. The challenge, however, is to dig deep within ourselves to look for kindness and opportunities to bring peace through change.
In all that we do at William Penn House, we promote simplicity as a vehicle for effective change. The world is complex, for sure, but we all have the opportunity to bring greater simplicity to the world. We invite you to join us in one of our many programs, or support others in being able to join us, as we promote a more peaceful and just world.
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...To Make a Difference
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One of the best ways to bring about positive change through adversity is to engage with positive energy. In the next few months, we have many programs to do just that. Please join us, or contact us if you have any questions. A New Conversation about Sexual Orientation and Identity - Sunday, April 5. From 3 to 6PM, we will have an a workshop that combines reflection, sharing and group conversations about what needs to be reconciled to bring healing to our community and society around sexual diversity. Among the participants will be people from the GLBT community from different faith and non-faith traditions. After a potluck dinner, performance artist Peterson Toscano will be performing " Transfigurations", his interpretation of transgendered figures in the Bible. ( Please note: to offset the costs of these events, we will be accepting free-will donations).
Pedaling for Peace - Saturday, April 25, 2009. 10, 26 and 40 mile ride options are available. Cost: $30/rider ($40 after March 31).
AGLI/AVP Presentation - Monday, April 27, 2009, 7PM. Getry Agizah, a Kenyan woman and member of Kakamega Friends Meeting, will be at WPH talking about the latest works of the Africa Great Lakes Initiative.
Appreciative Inquiry - Monday, May 11 to Wednesday, May 13. A training for people interested in learning how AI can be an effective framework for community and organizational change. AI has been widely used to bring peace to school environments and building bridges for change in society. The core practice of AI is "Inquiry" - to ask - and AI can be a very useful tool for staying open to seeking when answers start to box us in. Marge Schiller, Founder and President of The Positive Change Core, and fellow member Joyce Lemke will be leading this exciting and energizing workshop. Cost: $175/person. Quaker
Worker Retreat - May 13-15. This retreat is for all people who dedicate a part of
their lives to Quakerism either through working for a Quaker
organization or committee work. We are coordinating this annual
retreat, held at Kirkridge Retreat Center in eastern Pennsylvania.
Cost is $270/person, includes lodging and meals. HIV-Prevention Workshop - May 24-27. This program is for college students who want to promote HIV-prevention and become leaders in HIV-education. This workshop will touch on local and international aspects of HIV. Contact Brad (301-257-5348 or brad@williampennhouse.org) for more information. This program is jointly planned with The Mosaic Initiative. Family Eco-Workcamp - June 29-July
5. This is our second Eco-Workcamp, a week of
activities to learn about the environmental challenges and
opportunities we have in the world. Cost: High
School Friends Workcamp - July 5-11. As the name indicates, this workcamp is for
high school Friends to spend a week in DC making a difference and
making friends with Quakers of different traditions. Looking
way ahead, the US Department of Energy is having its 4th Bi-ennial Solar Decathlon. From October 9-18, solar houses designed by universities
from around the world will be on display and open to the public on
the Capital Mall. We encourage people interested in seeing this amazing
display of technological hope for the future to make reservations early. |
Thank you, Patricia!
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A final thank you to Patricia Newkirk for her time and incredible service here at William Penn House. Because of her, we are a much warmer, more comfortable place to travelers, visitors, and program participants. She has raised the consciousness in all of us to be good stewards in the world. We wish Patricia all the best in her new ventures in Seattle, and know that her presence will continue to reverberate here in all that we do. | |
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It is a pleasure, an honor and a charge we take seriously to be a presence for Quakerism in this powerful, exciting and troubled city. In the true tradition of Quakerism, we know that our ability to provide the opportunity to bear witness to what is and what can be in our world and to make a difference through all of our programs is exciting. We hope you will join us along the journey
Sincerely,
Byron, Brad, Greg, Faith, Ben, Kelli, and Lynette
William Penn House |
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