Vision
The Friends Center 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.
Space for Groups
The Friends Center will make its facilities available to compatible groups needing meeting space for small conferences. The Friends Center will gratefully receive donations toward its expenses in such cases.
Personal Spiritual Retreats
Take time out from the busyness of your life to accept Jesus’ invitation to come aside and rest awhile. Friends have known since our beginning that times of retirement from outward activity nourish the soul and allow us to sink deeper into an awareness of God’s work in our lives. In solitude, one can experience with William Penn that “True silence is… to the spirit, what sleep is to the body: nourishment and refreshment.”
A weekend, a day, or several days in a personal retreat offers time for the refreshment of both body and spirit. It provides an opportunity to take our lives into the silence before God and to listen more deeply to Christ, the Inward Teacher. Time at the Friends Center opens the way for God’s transforming work within us.
The Friends Center, when not otherwise scheduled, may be used for personal retreats. Persons who would like consultation during their time of retreat may arrange to talk with a Friend experienced in spiritual guidance. Frances Taber, a graduate of Shalem Institute’s Spiritual Guidance Program who also developed a personal retreat program at Pendle Hill, is available as her schedule permits.
A retreatant may enjoy the use of the Friends Center alone, or possibly with another retreatant in residence. Each person will have a private bedroom with a comfortable chair and a writing table. The bath is shared; an additional two half-baths are available. A living room and a library of Quaker and other spiritual books are at the disposal of the retreatant. A patio and swing give an opportunity for sitting outdoors. The retreatant may bring food to prepare in the Friends Center’s fully-equipped kitchen. Two grocery stores are within walking distance. The cost for a personal retreat is $35 per day or $200 for a full week.