The Quaker testimonies reflect new Cincinnati Friends Meeting member Kathleen Smythe’s time in East Africa as a teacher, graduate student, and researcher. “The gift that experience gave me that I find here is hospitality in the largest sense. The open, quiet space of the sanctuary and the welcoming nature of
Profiles
Stories about new members and attenders, as well as memorials
Remembering Don Schwentker
Donald Milton Schwentker was a birthright Friend, the son of long-time members U. L. “Gus” and Annabelle Schwentker. Don was born in Cincinnati on October 9, 1934, and was received into membership at Cincinnati Friends Meeting just five days later. He passed away on November 10, 2023, at 89 years
Patia Appreciation Day
I am really happy to be able to honor my friend and someone I consider an authentic role model for sticking close to God: Patia Williams. I first met Patia when Lily and Autumn were very young. Jill Gomez, who also had daughters my girls’ ages—we became members together—had been
Charles Wallner Sees the Power of Connecting
Cincinnati Friends Meeting (CFM) new member Charles “Charlie” Wallner has developed a career philosophy that sounds fairly spiritual. As a longtime community organizer, Charles said, “I’m not against a top-down or bottom-up approach to community outreach, but I think you’ve got to have a mesh. No one goes to work
Remembering Todd Van Beck
The death of a loved one is one of the most difficult pains that we endure as humans. When that death is unexpected, as in the case of Todd Van Beck, the pain is even greater. On Tuesday evening May 23, I sat with 13 others in the library at