Synopsis
Out of her own rich experience, Fran Taber expands William Penn’s vision for retreats. Her wisdom guides and supports the retreat movement as a significant thread weaving together the ecumenical religious community.
About the Author(s)
Frances Taber grew up in the context of the Conservative Quakerism of Iowa and Ohio Yearly Meetings in the 1930s and 1940s. With her husband, William Taber, she lived and worked among Friends in New England, Indiana and Philadelphia Yearly Meetings, between intervals spent at their home near Barnesville, Ohio, where she played a variety of roles in the life of Olney Friends School.
Fran was at Pendle Hill as a student in 1977-78. In 1981, she joined the Pendle Hill staff as a member of the cooking team. Within a few years, the focus of her nurturing moved from the kitchen to the hermitage. To deepen her understanding of and ability to facilitate retreats, she devoted full time one winter term to study, research and experience solitude. The original version of her Pendle Hill pamphlet was a report of that term, presented during Festival Week at Pendle Hill in March 1985. Fran also completed the two-year Spiritual Guidance Program of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, which led to her being companion on the spiritual journey for others, in or out of retreat. She has served as a core teacher for the School of the Spirit’s program “On Being a Spiritual Nurturer.”
Fran now lives near Barnesville, Ohio, in the home she shared with Bill until his death in 2005. She has two daughters and three grandsons.
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #335
