Meet the Staff
Bruce Birchard
Bruce BirchardBruce Birchard has served Friends General Conference as its General Secretary since the fall of 1992. In addition to his administrative duties in this position, he has spoken and written frequently about his personal spiritual journey, about what makes for a vital Friends' meeting, and about organizational leadership within the Religious Society of Friends.
Bruce started working for the Peace Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 1974 when he began a ten-year stint working for disarmament and peace conversion. He continued doing peace work as the National Coordinator of the Disarmament Program of the American Friends Service Committee from 1984 to 1992.
Bruce joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1967 in Middletown, Connecticut, while he was an undergraduate at Wesleyan University. In Chicago during the late 60s and early 70s, Bruce worked on the National Study of American Indian Education, did alternative service as a teacher in a Head Start program, got involved in the anti-war and draft resistance movements, completed a master's degree in anthropology at the University of Chicago, and transferred his membership to 57th Street Meeting. He moved to Philadelphia in 1975 and is currently a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.
Bruce has published a number of articles in Friends Journal and various peace movement publications. His essay, The Burning One-ness Binding Everything: A Spiritual Journey, was published in 1997 as a Pendle Hill pamphlet. Bruce's newest essay, The Roots and Fruits of a Powerful Peace Testimony, was published by QuakerPress of FGC in the summer of 2004.
In 2004, Bruce moved with his wife, Demie Kurz, to a new home in Tanguy Homesteads, a small community started in the 1940's by a group of idealistic Quakers and others. Their two adult sons, Ethan and Joshua, live in Philadelphia. In the spring of 2004, Bruce did a two-week trek around the East Face of Mt. Everest in Tibet with Ethan and four other friends. They were pleased to see far more yaks than people on the trek. bru...@fgcquaker.org
David Budmen
David Budmen David came on board Friends General Conference December 1993 as publications assistant. He is responsible for the design and composition of Quaker Press of FGC's publications, including, but not limited to, the Advance Program, the bookstore catalog and FGConnections. For two years much of David's time was used to edit, arrange, design and typeset Worship in Song: A Friends Hymnal.
David has worked in the music publishing field since receiving his graduate degree in music from Temple University in 1977. His career in publishing has includes editing, arranging, engraving and design. In addition to his work at FGC, he operates his own business, Willow Graphics. David combines his love of music and history by playing in a music group called the Cumberland Blues, performing music of the nineteenth century and the American Civil War. Together with other musicians he has recorded three albums of popular nineteenth century songs in which he sings, plays the guitar, banjo, piano and bass. His research into early American music has led him, along with a musical colleague, to compile and edit an extensive book on popular songs of the mid-nineteenth-century.
David has two children, a daughter who graduated from college in 2002 and a son in college as of 2004.
David and his wife Debbie are dedicated volunteer crew members of Gazela Philadelphia, Philadelphia's tall ship. dav...@fgcquaker.org
Elaine Craudereuff
Biography coming soon. Email: elai...@fgcquaker.org
Angelina Conti
Angelina ContiI came to Quakerism largely through youth programs of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and have been involved with Young Friends since 1998, first as a high school student and now as an adult chaperone, and am also active with Philadelphia Young Adult Friends (PYAF). I attended my first Gathering in Tacoma, Washington this past summer and I am very excited to be the FGC Publications Intern and to work with the Committee for Ministry on Racism. I was born and raised in the Philadelphia area and attended Haverford College, where I studied anthropology and political science and spent a lot of time facilitating service and protest activism. My other interests include journalism and writing, photography, cheap art ala Bread and Puppet Theater, and sustainable agriculture. ange...@fgcquaker.org
Peter Deitz
Peter DeitzPeter Deitz joined Friends General Conference as part-time Web Manger in January 2007, following a contract to help revamp the QuakerBooks web site. He works with Barbara Bennett Mays and other FGC staff to improve the design and functionality of all FGC web sites including FGCQuaker.org, Fit for Freedom, QuakerYouth, and QuakerBooks. Peter also serves as part-time Web Manager for Friends Journal (since August 2004) . When he’s not working for Quaker organizations, Peter writes a blog called About Micro-Philanthropy and runs a web site called Social Actions. Peter's connection to Quakerism developed as a camper and counselor at Farm & Wilderness in Vermont. Peter lives in Montreal, Quebec. Email: pet...@fgcquaker.org
Lucy Duncan
Lucy DuncanLucy Duncan serves FGC as Associate Secretary for Programs and the Bookstore. She began working at FGC in 1999 and served as bookstore manager or co-manager from then until 2006 when she took on additional duties supervising the conference coordinator, the publications manager, and the publications associate, as well as serving on the newly established Admin Team. She shares management of the bookstore with her husband, Graham Garner, whom she met on an excursion to England for a QUIP - Quakers Uniting in Publications meeting. Lucy used to own and manage her own children's bookstore called The Story Monkey in downtown Omaha. She has been telling stories professionally since 1993 in schools, libraries, and, for 5 years, as part of the storytelling troupe The Five Bright Chicks, a group of five women who told original, personal stories for adults. She has conducted storytelling workshops with Quaker meetings, assisting the members in telling their stories of personal spiritual experience, and has felt blessed to do this work. Lucy lives with Graham and their young and joyful son, Simon, at Friends Southwestern Burial Ground, a seventeen acre Quaker cemetery for which Graham serves as caretaker. Lucy serves QUIP as co-clerk. She is a member, attending with her family, of Goshen Friends Meeting of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. You can learn more about Lucy by reading her e-mail newsletter posted on the QuakerBooks website. Lucy has found working at FGC to have provided a rich and nurturing context within which to deepen her faith. luc...@fgcquaker.org
Eric Evans
Eric EvansEric is Quakerbook’s customer service associate. He came to Quakerism fairly recently. He left the Philadelphia-area Evangelical church he grew up in at eighteen, and later became a member of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Berkeley for the last few years he lived in the Bay Area. After living on the West Coast for a little over a decade, he moved back to Philadelphia in the summer of 2001. He lives in South Philadelphia (“Yo, how you’se doin’?”), with Matt Clark, his partner of 10 years, and their two horrible little dogs. Eric is a deeply committed member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, where he is involved up to his eyeballs.... eri...@fgcquaker.org
Deborah Fisch
Deborah FischDeborah began working for Friends General Conference in the spring of 1998 and currently serves as associate secretary for programs and as coordinator of the Traveling Ministries Program.
Deborah works from her home in Des Moines, Iowa when not on the road or in the Philadelphia office. She is a member of Paullina Monthly Meeting in rural NW Iowa and attends Bear Creek Monthly Meeting when home. Deborah has served on several monthly and yearly meeting committees, as well as the Friends Journal Board of Managers and Scattergood Friends School Committee. She is the current clerk of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative).
Deborah is the mother of two adult children. Her daughter, Rebekah DeWild and her husband Louis, and her son Michael live in Des Moines. debo...@fgcquaker.org
Graham Garner
Graham Garner Graham Garner joined QuakerBooks of FGC in 2003 job sharing as Co Manager with his wife Lucy Duncan.
I usually work Tuesday and Thursday with Lucy working Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and concentrate on consignments and Booktables for Meetings, Yearly Meeting Booktables and Special events as well as ordering stock and searching (or hopefully being told) about new Quaker related books.
I worked for 15 years in the Quaker Bookshop in London for Britain Yearly Meeting and before that have worked in bookshops on and off since I was eleven. Other jobs have included freezing peas, painting electric motors for dentists chairs and tank turrets (before I became a Quaker!) and I am now also Manager of the Friends SW Burial Ground.
With a very lively three year old (as of 2005) I don't seem to get much time for other interests but when I can like to mess around with old bikes, old books and listen to music. I also have a great interest in Utopian Tolstoyan communities of the 1890's after discovering I lived next door to what had been the anarchist "Croydon Brotherhood Church" all my childhood days.
Am a member still of Sutton Preparative meeting in England. grah...@fgcquaker.org
Michael Gibson
Michael Gibson Michael is the Religious Education Coordinator, joining the FGC staff in August of 1999.
A perpetual student, he has an undergraduate degree in music and graduate degrees in teaching English (M.A.) and in religious studies (M. Div.). In his previous "lives" he has been a telephone operator, a musician, a college English/ESL instructor (in Japan and in the US), a lay pastor, and a private tutor, among other things. After exploring Quaker faith and practice from a distance for over 20 years, he joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1997. He lives in Woodbury, New Jersey, with his partner, Charlie, and is a member of Woodbury Meeting.
His hobbies/passions: photography, reading, writing, travel, hiking, learning, teaching, and, of course, music. mich...@fgcquaker.org
Carrie Glasby
Carrie Glasby Carrie Glasby takes great pleasure in serving as Development Manager for Friends General Conference. Since January 2003, she has been helping to raise the money that enables FGC to carry out its many programs. She is continually inspired by the dedication and service of her colleagues and FGC's many committed volunteers.
Carrie is a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. Her journey to Quakerism began on the west coast, where she first joined Eugene (Oregon) Monthly Meeting and then spent a year at the Ben Lomond Quaker Center in California. She is thrilled whenever she sees FGC programs fostering vibrant communities that encompass both coasts (and the vast areas in between).
Carrie makes her home in the Germantown section of Philadelphia with her wife Kathleen, son Timothy, and dog Jack. carr...@fgcquaker.org
Naman Hampton
Naman HamptonNaman Hampton serves as Conference Assistant in helping to plan FGC's annual Gathering of Friends. He comes to Philadelphia by way of Greensboro, North Carolina, where he attended Guilford College with a double major in Peace & Conflict Studies and Religious Studies, and participated in the Quaker Leadership Scholars Program. He also attended Olney Friends School in his hometown of Barnesville, Ohio. His passions include bicycling, gardening, learning to play guitar, creative writing, listening to others, marching with drum corps, and waking up on rooftops to watch the sun rise. nam...@fgcquaker.org
Ellen Helmuth
Ellen Helmuth Ellen serves as Administrative Associate to the General Secretary and Traveling Ministries Coordinator. She joined the staff in 1998 after three decades of work in agriculture, farm marketing, and community development in New Brunswick, Canada. Before that she and her husband served on the faculty of Friends World College. They spent a year in Kenya as part of that program. Ellen loves to read, garden, cook, quilt, knit, and sew. Keith manages the Penn Book Center on the Penn campus in Philadelphia. Keith and Ellen are members of New Brunswick MM, Canadian Yearly Meeting with sojourning membership in Central Philadelphia MM. ell...@fgcquaker.org
Laird Holby
Laird Holby Bookstore clerk. I am happy to be here working among Friends fulfilling Friends needs in Philly. And, although I don't think I'll be here that long, it sure is nice that the Terminal Market is right next door (good food there). I have worked in many bookstores, was a minor performer in the modern dance world of San Francisco, New York City and Philadelphia, taught English in Chengdu and as a subject in a high school in New Jersey, worked as a carpenter, am a CO and member of Medford Monthly Meeting in New Jersey and have two children totally Quaker educated--all aided and abetted by my loving wife Alice Andrews who works at AFSC. lai...@fgcquaker.org
Vanessa Julye
Vanessa JulyeVanessa Julye is Coordinator for the Friends General Conference Committee for Ministry on Racism.
She leads workshops and speaks on issues regarding racism, focusing on its eradication and the healing of racism's wounds. Vanessa has established several organizations to empower people of Color. She worked for a couple of years with the Green Circle Program, a human relations program that helps children and adults understand and appreciate difference. Prior to that she was the Associate Secretary of Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas for many years. Vanessa is the author of The Seed Cracked Open: Growing Beyond Racism (Quaker Press of FGC, 2006. She has written several articles, as well as the Foreword for Margaret Hope Bacon's pamphlet, Sarah Mapps Douglass, Faithful Attender of Quaker Meeting: View from the Back Bench (Quaker Press of FGC, 2003).
Vanessa is a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, where she serves on the meeting's Membership Care Committee and Ad Hoc Committee on Race and Racism. She travels under a concern for addressing Racism in the Religious Society of Friends with a minute to travel in the ministry from her meeting. Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting also provides a support committee that meets with Vanessa on a monthly basis. She has a website for her ministry.
Vanessa lives in South Philadelphia with her husband, Barry Scott. They have three adult children, two daughters and a son, Ellen, Maggie and Kai who all live in Philadelphia.
She enjoys quilting, needlepoint, cross stitch and photography. vane...@fgcquaker.org
Patsy Arnold Martin
Patsy Arnold MartinPatsy Arnold Martin joined FGC staff as Junior Gathering Coordinator in the fall of 2005. She works closely with the Conference Coordinator, Conference Assistant, and Junior Gathering Committee clerks to shape the Junior Gathering program, for infants through those finishing eighth grade.
Patsy lives in Bedford, Virginia with her husband Tony and her niece Natasha Arnold. She is a member of Roanoke (VA) Monthly Meeting and currently serves as Meeting librarian. She has 30 years experience in both public and private education. Her husband Tony teaches in Bedford and is clerk of Ministry and Oversight for Roanoke Meeting. Her daughter Angie teaches Spanish in Roanoke, and son Jacob is a Quaker Leadership Scholar at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. She is active in her local community theatre where she directs, acts (most recently as Charley's Aunt), and serves on the Board of Directors. pat...@fgcquaker.org
Barbara Bennett Mays
Barbara Bennett MaysBarbara Bennett Mays is Publications Manager. Barbara taught writing as ministry as an adjunct faculty and served as writing student advisor at Earlham School of Religion for five years. She was editor of Friends United Press for two terms, 1980-88 and 1998-2005. She has also been director of United Way of Whitewater Valley, a member of the Pendle Hill staff, and development and marketing director for the Richmond, Indiana, Symphony Orchestra.
A graduate of the Indiana University School of Journalism and the Denver Publishing Institute, Barbara began her writing/editing career at The Indianapolis Star, and has been on staff at The Star Press in Muncie, Indiana, and The Palladium-Item, Richmond, Indiana. She has also published in Quaker Life, Quaker Monthly, and The Australian Friend. Her hymns appear in several denominational hymnals and songbooks, including Worship in Song.
Barbara serves on the Friends Journal Board and has served previously on the boards of Quaker Hill Conference Center, Pendle Hill, Renaissance School for the Arts (Richmond), and Muncie Friends School. Barbara is promotion co-clerk of Quakers Uniting in Publications (QUIP). She is a member of Friends Memorial Meeting in Muncie.
Barbara moves from her sedentary editorial work to the ballroom dance floor at least two or three times a week, a delight second only to keeping in touch with her three children: Jim Hollingsworth, a graphic artist in San Francisco; John Hollingsworth, songwriter/musician in Nashville (TN); and Megan Hollingsworth, now completing a master�s degree in environmental science and based in Livingston, Montana. barb...@fgcquaker.org
Ken Miller
Ken Miller Ken Miller is Fiscal and Property Manager for Friends General Conference and Assistant Secretary/Treasurer for Friends Meeting House Fund. He began working at FGC in April 1973 as Conference Coordinator for the Gathering of Friends and after 18 years in this position he moved into an administrative position. He now manages the FGC property, is treasurer of the building's Condo Association, and is the liaison between FGC and the FGC accountant for financial statements, payment of bills, payroll and budgeting. Ken assists in the administration of the Friends Meeting House Fund which provides loans and grants to Monthly Meetings and investments in Friends Meeting House Fund Mortgage Pool Notes.
Ken is a member of Doylestown Meeting (PA). He is married to Gretchen Castle. He enjoys working on his 1700s farmhouse and trying to keep up with his children Hannah and Haley. He loves watching movies and spending vacation time with his family in Chautauqua, NY. k...@fgcquaker.org
Jerimy Pedersen
Jerimy Pedersen I fill the secretary's position in the bookstore. Mostly I order books from, and determine payments for publishers. I've worked in bookstores for years now; I usually enjoy their atmosphere. I feel comfortable around books, and around people who love books.
I live in Center City and attend college part-time. jeri...@fgcquaker.org
Sherry Register
Sherry Register I come to my job at FGC after a work related injury and weight lifting limitations keep me from doing x-rays. After being here almost three years I STILL LOVE my job. The staff are a really great bunch of folks to work with. One of my favorite parts is stand-up. At 9:15 AM or there abouts I ring the bell and all staff gather and share what their day looks like. Sometimes we tell stories and WOW some are real funny.
In my role as administrative secretary I answer the phone, sort incoming mail, make bank deposits, help with mailings for certain committees and archive FGC material. I also act as the liaison between employees and our insurance companies.
I'm recently out of an eleven year relationship and learning to adjust to something very different in my life. I currently live at a Friends burial grounds house with my two cats, outside of Philadelphia but am looking to relocate back in the city.
I'm a relative newcomer to Quakerism (4 years). I was born and raised in Florida. As a young child the religious setting that I experienced was of a fundamentalist nature. As a teenager I rebelled and did not attend any sort of church for about twenty years. After moving to New Jersey in 1991 I became involved with the Universalist Unitarian Society. As a result of another relocation to south Jersey I met some F/friends who were Quakers involved with Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. They told us about their recent trip to India and their work with non-violence. We were so excited that we came to CPMM and haven't left yet.
I love to read and cook and enjoy being outdoors. I'm hoping to travel overseas this year to celebrate a milestone birthday. sher...@fgcquaker.org
Anne Ruckdeschel
Biography coming soon. Email: ann...@fgcquaker.org
Julia Sibley-Jones
Julia Sibley-JonesJulia Sibley-Jones joined FGC's staff as Planned Giving and Major Gifts Manager in January 2007. After six years serving as a representative from Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association to FGC's Central Committee, she is delighted to be serving FGC in this new role.
For thirteen years Julia worked with the South Carolina Christian Action Council, SC's only statewide ecumenical organization. She directed the Council's Advocacy Work Group researching issues, preparing resolutions and stances taken by the collective seventeen denominations, and directing the Council's work on these social justice issues. The issues ranged from promoting sustainable agriculture, creating Unity task forces, and providing equitable education funding, to opposing capital punishment, eliminating video poker, curbing predatory lending practices, and removing the Confederate battle flag from atop the SC State House.
Julia lives in Columbia, South Carolina, with her husband, Mark, and step-daughter, Spencer. She is a member of Columbia Monthly Meeting. Her interests include yoga, reading, hiking, independent films, and (given her increased time in airports) downloaded audiobooks. jul...@fgcquaker.org.
Emily Stewart
Emily StewartEmily Stewart grew up in Hillsborough, North Carolina where she was a member of Durham Friends Meeting, and attended Carolina Friends School for 15 years. In 2004, she received a bachelor's degree in sociology with minors in feminist studies and Spanish from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.
Following college, Emily spent a year at Pendle Hill serving as a Social Action/Social Witness intern for the Peace Center. That summer, she was the program nurturer for the Young Adults Leadership Development program at Pendle Hill. Emily has also enjoyed being a high school counselor at the Gathering for the past four years, and volunteering as a Friendly Adult Presence at the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Workcamps.
Last year Emily served as the interim Youth Ministries coordinator and the interim Gathering Associate for FGC. She is pleased to now be the full-time Youth Ministries Coordinator!
When she is not working, Emily can be found on the soccer field, basketball or volleyball court. Dance, music, art, playing with children, writing poetry and laughing all make her heart sing. She also loves hearing from F/friends near and far, so don't be shy about emailing her at emi...@fgcquaker.org. Quaker youth: Speak Thy Truth!
Traci Hjelt Sullivan
Biography coming soon. Email: tra...@fgcquaker.org
Michael Wajda
Michael Wajda Michael Wajda began as FGC's Development Manager in September 1996. In 2001, he was promoted to Associate Secretary for Development and Interpretation. Michael has overall responsibility for FGC's development program. He also manages major gifts and planned giving for FGC and travels to visit with individual donors and meetings.
Thanks to Michael's skillful help and deep commitment, FGC has just successfully completed a $2,000,000 campaign called Nurturing Quakerism: The Campaign for Friends General Conference. Before coming to FGC, Michael helped lead two other organizations, including Stratford Friends School in Havertown, PA, through successful major fundraising campaigns.
Michael has worked as field staff for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, serving as Coordinator of Salem Quarterly Meeting from 1973 to 1977. He helped establish Central Finger Lakes Monthly Meeting (part of New York Yearly Meeting) in 1987; and from 1998-2002 he served as clerk of the Meeting on Worship and Ministry of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. He is a graduate of the School of the Spirit Spiritual Nurturers program.
Michael is married to Alison Levie and has three children: Lisa Wajda Edwards, who is grown, married, and lives in Greensboro, NC; and Morgan and Dylan Wajda-Levie who are both in college.
Michael has led numerous workshops and retreats, as well as given talks on various Quaker subjects at Friends meetings. Together, with his wife Alison, he has taught Quakerism as part of the Quaker Studies Program in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and traveled in the ministry for Friends General Conference. In April 2001, Michael and Alison gave the 38th Annual J. Bernard Walton Memorial Lecture at Southeastern Yearly Meeting. Shaped by the Light: The Quaker Experience of Worship, Community, and Transformation is now published as a pamphlet and available from QuakerBooks of FGC.
Michael and his family are active members of Goshen Monthly Meeting, located near West Chester, PA. mich...@fgcquaker.org
