Synopsis
“I am going to speak about ‘traveling in’ and about my own personal journey. I haven’t done that on any other occasion in quite so full a way as I’m going to do here this morning.” So begins the treasure of this essay in Douglas’s own words.
About the Author(s)
Douglas Van Steere (1901-1995) participated in the founding of Pendle Hill in 1929-30 and continued his involvement with Pendle Hill until the 1980s. At different times he served as director and full-time teacher. He is credited with proposing the idea of the Pendle Hill Pamphlet series. With his wife, Dorothy Steere , he organized many retreats at Pendle Hill.
Douglas Steere taught at Haverford College between 1928 and 1964. In addition to teaching, he chaired the philosophy department and spent many semesters traveling both in the ministry and within the academy. This travel benefited the work of Friends, whether he was serving with the Friends World Committee for Consultation or the American Friends Service Committee, or teaching as a visiting professor at Union Seminary. Douglas Steere attended the Second Vatican Council, corresponded regularly with Thomas Merton, and kept in contact with many significant religious thinkers of his day.
Following the Second World War, Douglas Steere raised a relief unit that labored in Finland, for which he received the decoration of Knight first class in the order of the White Rose of Finland. In addition to his global work, he also worked with his wife to reopen Radnor Meeting as a United Friends Meeting, that is to say, a meeting unhampered by the theological divisions that affected Philadelphia Friends between 1828 and 1955.
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #324
