File 2145 - Materials from Pendle Hill Summer Institute

1.0 cm of textual records

File consists of materials related to Pendle Hill, predominantly to the Summer Institute, a 5-week retreat run between June 28 and early August 1982 where Nouwen taught. There are also materials from the 1970s but they were most likely gathered by Nouwen for use during this event.
There are 36 handwritten pages by Nouwen which appear to be preparation notes for various lectures he gave at the institute. There is also a 6-page typed document by John Mogabgab titled "Pendle Hill Conversations Meeting 4 (October 27, 1977) Summary Notes".
Material that relates directly to the 1982 retreat includes correspondence from Pendle Hill dated May 17, 1982 to the 43 participants in the retreat regarding housing arrangements, health insurance, typewriting and cooperative housekeeping chores. There is also a typed list of all the participants and their addresses. As well, there is a eight page group of typed notes titled "Some Notes for a Five Weeks [sic] Reflection on the Gospel of Luke" as well as sheet music and a Curriculum Vitae of a lay reader from Sydney, Australia. There is also a photocopy of a long-distance phone bill containing a letter from one of Nouwen's suite mates regarding an overpayment. Nouwen's long-distance calls are noted.
File also includes three pamphlets from Pendle Hill, namely Parker Palmer's "Meeting for Learning" and "A Place called Community" and Douglas V. Steere's "On Speaking out of the Silence", as well as some ephemera.
Also contained in this file is a program schedule for a commemoration conference on Thomas Merton, hosted by Columbia University between November 27 and December 10, 1978. It appears that Nouwen cancelled some of his plans for this conference to visit Pendle Hill. See Weekly Calendars 1978.
File also contains an introduction package for the institute consisting of a welcome letter by Parker Palmer and brief staff biographies.

Title based on contents of the file.
This file has been dated to reflect the dominance of material from 1982.

Pendle Hill is a Quaker Centre for study and contemplation and is located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. Parker J. Palmer was Dean of Studies at Pendle Hill during the 1970s and formed a close collaborative relationship with Nouwen. Palmer often guest-lectured many of Nouwen's courses at Yale Divinity School. Nouwen spent considerable amounts of time at Pendle Hill from 1976 - 1982, attending and teaching at the Center's summer institutes. There is evidence that Nouwen and Mogabgab spent many afternoons at Pendle Hill in the late 1970s discussing spiritual issues with Parker Palmer. Nouwen did not appear to regard his teaching at Pendle Hill as an extension of his function as a university professor. The bulk of materials were filed as Calendar files, and Nouwen did not have his lecture notes or handouts for the Summer Institute bound as he did his university courses. However, the insights Nouwen gained through his experiences and collaborations at Pendle Hill had a significant influence over his course content at both Yale Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School, specifically Ministry and Spirituality, Compassion, Thomas Merton, and Education and Community.

Revised by T Wong, 7 December 2021