Pendle Hill Young Adult Leadership Program
By Erin Abbott-Haines
Pendle Hill changed my life completely. That may sound like an exaggeration or overstatement, but it truly is not. Before going to Pendle Hill (PH), I was lost in my life. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, where I should live – in fact, I didn’t really even know who I was. Living at PH for six months transformed my life in a time when I needed it most.
Being a west coast Quaker, I didn’t have many experiences with Quaker communities growing up outside of NeeKauNis (always the best 10 days of my summer). I knew little about Quakers – but enough to know that I was one and wanted to live my life by Quaker ideals. When I moved to PH, I began a time of learning about the history of Quakers, the different branches of Quakerism, Quaker beliefs and practices … And it inspired me. It inspired me to dig deeper and live more truthfully into who I was meant to be.
I did one semester as a student and then did the YALD program. When I left, I had a plan: I was going to attend Earlham School of Religion, get a Masters of Divinity and live in Richmond, Indiana. Not only that, I had a sense of my true self and worth that I had been missing for years. And possibly most transformative of all, I had a sense of being connected to the Divine in my life and being Led by something larger than me.
Suffice to say, Pendle Hill changed my life forever. And I am so grateful for that change.