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Unsponsored Walk: The Story of John Woolman

An assembly from the Culham St Gabriel archive

Suitable for Whole School (Sec)

Aims

To consider the importance of sticking to our principles.

Preparation and materials

  • You will need a leader and three readers, one of whom will be the voice of John Woolman. The assembly will need practice before it is performed.

Assembly

Leader: Everybody in this room has beliefs.

Reader 1: Whether you are religious or spiritual or atheists . . .

Reader 2: . . . you still have beliefs . . .

Leader: . . . about how to treat other people . . .

Reader 1: . . . or about caring for the planet . . .

Reader 2: . . . or about life after death . . .

Leader: . . . or about life before death!

Reader 1: Everybody has beliefs.

Reader 2: The question is - what are we willing to do to put our beliefs into practice?

Pause for thought.

Leader: Let’s go back in time. The year is 1772. An American Quaker, John Woolman, arrives in London after a sea crossing that has lasted 39 days. He is 51 years old.

Reader 1: Woolman has a belief . . .

John Woolman: There is something of God in everybody.’

Reader 1: . . . so he cares for the Native Americans, while other people are robbing and cheating them.

Reader 2: He has a belief . . .

John Woolman: There is something of God in everybody.’

Reader 2: . . . so he opposes slavery, long before most people can see anything wrong with it.

Leader: He has a belief . . .

John Woolman: There is something of God in everybody.’

Leader: . . . so he believes in what we now call fair trade, long before the phrase is invented, because he thinks workers should get a fair wage for their hard work.

Reader 1: When his own business is successful, he makes so much money that the money starts to take over his life and his mind. He gets rid of the business and begins to make a simple living working as a tailor and looking after an orchard.

Reader 2: And all because John Woolman has a belief, that there is something of God in everybody.

Leader: Remember where we are? The year is 1772. This American Quaker, John Woolman, arrives in London after a 39-day sea crossing. He is 51 years old.

Reader 1: He is upset because British food is very expensive and wages are very low, so many families are living mainly on bread and water.

Reader 2: He is upset because many stagecoaches travel up to 100 miles in 24 hours, and he discovers that horses are frequently killed by hard driving while others go blind because of neglect by their owners. Some of the post-boys who ride on top of the stagecoaches to help with luggage and post actually die of cold on long stages in the winter.

Leader: John Woolman has a belief . . .

John Woolman: There is something of God in everybody.’

Leader: He believes that animals are God’s creatures, too, and he decides that he cannot, on principle, rent a horse or take a stagecoach for the 300-mile journey to York, so . . .

Reader 2: . . . he walks from London to York.

Reader 1: He what?

Reader 2: He walks all the way from London to York.

Leader: All because he has a belief . . .

John Woolman: There is something of God in everybody.’

Reader 1: At first, the Quakers of York do not welcome the dirty traveller in his untidy clothes who arrives in their Meeting and sits quietly.

Reader 2: But they soon pay attention when he speaks . . .

Leader: . . . and his influence is a major part in leading the Quakers of Britain to decide actively to oppose slave trading.

Pause for thought.

Reader 1: John Woolman works with the poor people of York and, perhaps as a result, catches smallpox.

Reader 2: He dies in York on 7 October 1772. He lived by his beliefs and now his beliefs live on.

Time for reflection

Ask the students to think about John Woolman’s story and to think about the beliefs and principles that they regard as important.

Ask the students to consider the following questions.

- Do we always seek to help others?
- Do good values shape the way we live?
- Would we ignore our values if it made our lives easier?

Prayer
Dear God,
We thank you for people like John Woolman who live their lives to help others.
We thank you for people who are willing to suffer hardship to support those in need.
Please help us to have good principles and values.
Please help us to stand up for what is good and right.
Amen.

Publication date: April 2017   (Vol.19 No.4)    Published by SPCK, London, UK.
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