Main content

Sandra Lee Cronk Papers

Notifications

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Sandra Lee Cronk (1942-2000) was a Quaker author who co-founded School of the Spirit, a ministry of prayer and learning under the auspices of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

Cronk was born in 1942 and was a member of Princeton (NJ.) Monthly Meeting. She graduated from Western Reserve University and received her graduate degree in History of Religions at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. Her dissertation, Gelassenheit: The Rites of the Redemptive Process in Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites, was completed in 1977 and was published as an article in The Mennonite Quarterly Review as “Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites: Loving Community Based on the Power of Powerlessness” in 1980. Sandra Cronk also wrote Peace Be With You: A Study of the Spiritual Basis of the Friends Peace Testimony (1984?), Dark Night Journey: Inward Re-patterning Toward a Life Centered in God, and Gospel Order: A Quaker Understanding of Faithful Church Community, the latter two published by Pendle Hill in 1991.

She taught Christian Spirituality and Quaker Studies at Pendle Hill, the Quaker center of study and contemplation in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. She also spent time at Woodbrooke, the Friends’ study center in Birmingham, England.

Sandra Cronk and Kathryn Damiano, another teacher at Pendle Hill, co-founded the School of the Spirit in 1989. In 1991 they were joined by Frances Taber who was a core teacher for the first offering of the program, “On Being A Spiritual Nurturer.” Carole Treadway and Michael Green later became part of the program. After Sandra’s death in April of 2000, the School of the Spirit Ministry, formerly sponsored by the Meeting on Worship and Ministry of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, became a Working Group under that body’s Worship and Care Standing Committee.

The papers of Sandra Lee Cronk include manuscripts of her published and unpublished writings, some correspondence relating to writing and teaching, and files of material assembled in the process of her courses at Pendle Hill. Of particular interest are the minutes and related papers of the Abortion Study Group of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. The papers also include correspondence with Margaret J. Benefiel and Kathryn A. Damiano about their dissertations.

Divided into three series:

  1. 1. Lectures, Classes and Seminars;
  2. 2. Writings;
  3. 3. Miscellaneous Correspondence.

Gift of Cindy Nowina (sister of Sandra Cronk), FHL 2003.004

Gift of Marty Grundy (biographer of Sandra Cronk), 2009.004

Collection was delivered to Friends Historical Library by Carole Treadway who did some arrangement of the materials. Secondary reference materials, note cards, and college course notebooks were removed from the collection by FHL staff.

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Finding Aid Date
2014
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.

Collection Inventory

Archival Resource Key. Quaker Faith and Practice Win. ’80 #1, 1980 & n.d.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Quaker Faith and Practice Fall ’80 #2, 1980 & n.d.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Abortion Study Group: Minutes, 1981-82.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Abortion Study Group: Correspondence and drafts, 1981-82, 1990.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Quaker Study Program (QSP): Church History, 1982-86.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Quaker Study Program (QSP): Quakerism, 1982-86.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Spiritual Guidance and Spiritual Direction in the Society of Friends, 1983.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Christian Thought: Course Outline and Readings, 1985.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. The Mystical Dimension, 1986.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Down-Side Up Kingdom class, 1986 & n.d.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Spiritual Nurturer Class materials, 1988-91.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Called to the Ministry of Caregiving and Oversight (Pendle Hill), 1992-93.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Course.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. 1997.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Contemp. Living.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. 9 day.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Spiritual Direction for Organizations: Toward Articulating a Model (College Theology Society), 1995.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Plan for a Workshop on Clearness Committees, 1995 & n.d.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Prayer and Worship, 1997.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Discernment, n.d.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Quaker Worship Class, n.d.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Spiritual Nurture Ministry Among Friends, n.d.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Scope and Contents

Includes corrected drafts, notes, and related correspondence

Archival Resource Key. Gelassenheit: The Rites of the Redemptive Process in Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites, 1977.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Dissertation: typescript

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Gelassenheit: The Rites of the Redemptive Process in Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonite Communities (Mennonite Quarterly Review, Jan. 1981), 1980-81.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Handbook of the Dark Night Journey, ca. 1986-87.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. "Finding a Usable Past", 1989.
Box 3
Scope and Contents

Published in Festival Quarterly

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Gospel Order: A Quaker Understanding of Faithful Church Community, ca. 1988-ca. 1993 & n.d.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Dark Night Journey: Inward Re-patterning Toward a Life Centered in God, ca. 1990.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Book review of Dark Night Journey, 1992.
Box 3
Scope and Contents

Printed in Weavings

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. "Spiritual Ministry Among Friends", 1993.
Box 3
Scope and Contents

An article by Sandra Cronk in 1993 Conference Report

Physical Description

1 folder

Scope and Contents

Includes typescripts, notes, and related correspondence

Archival Resource Key. Satyagraha, 1965.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Mordecai: Kaplan’s Doctrine of God, 1966.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. An Analysis of Ancient Mesopotamian Religion Using Robert Bellah’s Theory of Religious Evolution, 1966.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. A Comparison Between the Beliefs of Mithraism and Christianity, 1966.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. The Early Development of Islamic Law, 1967.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Collingwood vs. Renier, 1967.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Shinran and the Development of Shin Buddhism, 1968.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Mas Weber’s Understanding of the Anabaptist Ethic; The Relationship between the Anabaptists and the Economic Order, 1968-69.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Feuerbach’s Analysis of Religion, 1969.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. The Era of Schisms in the Society of Friends in America, 1825-1855, 1969.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. An Interpretation of Blessing Way Ceremony Sand Paintings, 1969.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. The Nature of Bhakti as Revealed in the Sacred Literature of the Chaitanya Movement, 1969.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Tammuz Reconsidered, 1969.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Who Are the Anabaptists, 1970.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. An Approach to the Old Order Mennonites and Amish: An Oral Statement in Preparation for the H.R. Field Exams, 1973.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Response to Arthur Roberts’ paper, “Kingdom of Light”, 1980.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. The Religious Structure of Early Kharijite Communities, n.d.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Islamic Law in the Modern World with Turkey as a Case Study, n.d.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. The Problem of Authority in Christian Thought, 1274-1563, n.d.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. The Black Muslims, n.d.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. The Role of Spiritual Nurturers (Chapter 8), n.d.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Inside Quaker Silence, n.d.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Work in Anabaptist/Mennonite Thought and Experience, n.d.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Notes on Quakers and Quakerism, n.d.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Sandra Cronk's application to teach at Pendle Hill, 1978.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Budget, statement of faith, cover letter, course outline

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Pages of Woodbrooke logbook, 1988.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Comments on Sandra Cronk's class, "Downside-Up Kingdom"

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence with Margaret Benefiel about her dissertation, 1989 & n.d.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Pendle Hill Correspondence and related materials, 1987-92 & n.d.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence with Kathryn Damiano on Shaker Spirituality, 1987-88.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence from Sandra Cronk to Ronald T. Pinheiro, 1989-1994.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Prefaced by Ron Pinheiro's letter to Marty Grundy (2003)

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Letter to Kathryn Damiano, 1991.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

No author identification

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous correspondence, 1991-97.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Collection from William P. Taber Jr. to Marty Grundy, 1978,1989,2000.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

"Materials for book on Sandra Cronk's journal and writing", letter to Cronk from Art and Mary Guisen, letter of recommendation from Parker Palmer, Job offer letter from Pendel Hill (Parker Palmer), letter from Edwin and Anna Espenshade, letter from acquaintances to Cronk family after Sandra's death, letters to Sandra from Allison Randall, Roger Dreisbach-Williams, Ann Miller, Memorials for Sonnie

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondences, 1991,2000-2004.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

From Sandra Cronk to Vinie B., From Roger/Liesel Dreisbach-Williams to the School of Spirit about Sonnie's death, From Gerald and Stephanie Stover to Cronk's family, From Cindy Nowina to Marty Grundy

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence from Sandra Cronk to John, 1993.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence from Heidi Blocher, 1996-1997.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Collection by Heidi Blocher, 1997, n.d.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Collage, "The 'Night' in the Psalms", "On Contemplative Life", "The First Protest Against Slavery" pamphlet

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Memorial minute, 2001.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence to Marty Grundy from Heidi Blocher, 2001-2006.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Collections from Eastern Orthodox writings, notes from workshop in 2001, booklet of meditations – in one envelope sent to Grundy from Blocher in 2011

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence to Marty Grundy from Sheila Keane, 2003.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Overview of class on "The Quaker Basics distance learning course", notes from classes taught by Sandra Cronk in 1987-1988

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence from the School of Spirit, 2003-2007.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Booklet about Co-op of Friends of Jesus in Wichita, Kansas by Heidi Blocher, 2004.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Forwarded to Marty Grundy by Brian in 2005, includes "Crossing Borders" by Heidi Blocher in Stillwater Meeting Newsletter

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence to Linda Chidsey from Slining Haynes, 2006.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

About Vicki Cooley's death

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence from Barbara Mays to Marty Grundy, 2007.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Comments on Sonnie's journal and writings

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Notes from retreat and Correspondence between Cynthia Nowina, Kenneth Grundy, Linda Chidsey, and Ellen Michaud, 2009, n.d.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

"Crucifixion", "My Situation", correspondence about editing and publishing Sandra Cronk's journal

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Pamphlets for School of Spirit, 1991-2011.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. "A ministry of Prayer and Learning", n.d.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Letter asking for spiritual and financial support

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Permissions to publishing Sandra Cronk's talks, n.d.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. "Elements of nurture as shown in Sandra Cronk's letters to me", n.d.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Outline of 21 letters from Sandra Cronk, no author identification

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. "In memory of Sandra Cronk", n.d.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

By Marilyn Alfonso

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Photo from K to Mary Grundy, n.d.
Box 5
Scope and Contents

Three women in floral dresses

Physical Description

1 folder

Print, Suggest