The Warden’s report on the theory and practice of running Kennedy House, 1967

The Aims of Kennedy House

1 to help young people to discover what is important in the secular world

2 to show them the Cathedral at work and how the Cathedral is trying to live in and make life better
in this secular world
3 to broaden the areas of their thinking and in particular not to take cities were granted.
4 to help them see society and not just individuals as the objects of their concern.
5 that they should enjoy themselves.

And for Christians -

6 that the ministry of the Cathedral may be a sign of hope for them and that their faith and concern
both deepened and widened.

The assumptions lying behind the way Kennedy House is run

1 people were only become responsible if they are given responsibility. Therefore no Kennedy
House rules, though some leaders want their own. Groups are asked to use their common sense. (For
younger groups, what common sense means is spelt out).

2 Kennedy House exists for the groups and not vice versa. Therefore mealtimes and programmes
must be flexible. The leaders who come with groups remain in charge, deciding when groups are to be in
by, to go to bed, etc. Most leaders take our advice, e.g. don't get a group going to bed too early the first
night as they will very often talk till 1 or 3 a.m. anyway.

3 washing-up is easier in other people's houses. So a limited amount of the domestic work is done bt
the groups that come - laying tables, helping get breakfast and washing-up. If they ask where brooms are
kept we tell them but we don't ask them.

4 the most important talking goes on between 12 and 2 in the morning. The individual lights over
the beds allow people to go to bed at different times, and we try to persuade leaders to permit this.

5 that the secular world is a proper area of concern for both Christian and non-Christians. What is
important to men is important to God. The secular world is important in its own right. Ordinary every-
day language is normally the right language to use. If we can't put our religious thoughts into secular
language, we are probably saying nothing - just making religious noises.

6 Kennedy House is not here to give people answers but to help them ask some of the right questions
and to help them begin to discover answers or ways forward for themselves.

7 the most important learning is through the skin. Integrating the domestic and training sides of the
work of the house means that the Warden and Assistant Wardens can belong organically to groups from
the moment they arrive and by belonging can get things over to them. The washing up sink turns out to be
one of the most important places of dialogue.

8 there should be plenty of food, which should not be institutional in character. The twin dangers of
spending too much or spending too little on food must be avoided.

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In the year 1967, 83 groups plus 7 Service and Study fortnights used Kennedy House for a total of 251
nights (average 5 nights a week) making a total of 8, 228 bednights (up 10% on the March ’66 – March
’67 figures).

22 groups came for 24 hours, 45 for two days, 5 for three days, 5 for four days, and 6 for longer periods
(average 8 days), cancellations 11 (one fifth of all weekends). The booking fee is now raised to £10 (£5
for small groups).

The make-up of the groups was from abroad - 10, National (e.g. N.A.Y.C.) - 18, Area (e.g. Diocese) - 8,
Locality (e.g. Youth Club) - 19, State Schools - 6, Public Schools - 6, Other Colleges (e.g. of Technology,
Education) - 16. 231 came on Service and Study.

The Assistant Wardens have been Jan Ainsley (England) to Easter 1967; Anne Lea (U.S.A.) and Susie
Krug (West Berlin) till Autumn; Mary Dean (Australia) to Christmas, and at present Sally Hines (U.S.A.)
and Gerda Diener (Switzerland).

end of side 1 of the original report.

Selected written comments from groups received subsequently.

The boys and I haven't been the same since Coventry. Parish Group from Wales

Thank you so much for making our stay at John F. Kennedy House so memorable and happy. It was very
good of you to give us so much of your time. This is a pleasant place to live in, but is somewhat out on a
limb. Consequently, it is not easy to involve young people in some of the big things going on in the
church. The talk and slides on Saturday night were exactly right for us. Thank you. Parish Group

I’m writing to say again thank you both very much indeed for making our weekend in Coventry such an
enjoyable one - I know I for one did not want to leave so soon! There is such a great deal to see and do,
and it is pretty well impossible to do any of it thoroughly in just a weekend, but even so, the whole was
really super. What impresses me most have the Cathedral as I saw it is its perpetual sense of
“outwardness”, and its real place in the life of the city and beyond. Diocesan Youth Group

I am writing on behalf of all of us to thank you for arranging such a marvellous conference for us. We all
learned a tremendous amount about subjects we had never before taken seriously and, I think, must have
spent one of the most worthwhile weekends of our lives in Coventry. Girls Public School

I can't thank you enough for making our visit the highly successful event that it obviously has been.
Already two housemasters have expressed their approval and so I don't think we need have such
apprehensions in the future about the acceptability of the expedition to the Establishment. Public School
Master

We are just writing to thank you all very much for a most interesting and beneficial course. We were very
sorry to leave. Police Cadets

I really don't know how to thank you enough for such a fabulous weekend - I honestly can't remember a
more fabulous, interesting, altogether breathtaking weekend as this last one. Both J. and I are still in a
complete dream about it. N.A.Y.C. Weekend.

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I would like to thank you and all your helpers for your very kind hospitality to us all in John F. Kennedy
House. I think I can speak for all my groups when saying is that we enjoyed our Coventry Seminars very
much and hope to come again next year. College of Technology

Just a hasty note to say thank you for your care, kindness and hospitality to us at John F. Kennedy House.
All but two of the students had nothing but praise for almost the entire weekend. I fear our eating
standards back here are going to seem fairly common after Coventry! Theological College

We all had a marvellous time in Coventry, and I do hope that it will be possible to send many more
Danish students and pastors to Coventry, and that there can be a really creative dialogue. Danish Group

The programme you arranged gave us much to think and talk about and, of course, we thought at the
Cathedral film and our night visit round the beautiful buildings quite wonderful. There is so much of
interest in this unique Cathedral and we found its dedicated modernity most exciting. We were immensely
interested in the Sunday morning service and the majority of our teenagers were impressed and even
moved by this experience. I shall never forget that act of worship and I think they won't either.
Presbyterian Youth Club

I can't thank you enough for my two weeks in Kennedy House. The whole programme was the most
enriching and enjoyable experience ever had - I've never been involved in any type of work which
inspired me more to Christian service or made me more aware of my responsibilities as Christian in an
increasingly secularised world. Service and Study

I would like to thank the Service and Study people for their friendliness towards us and to say what a great
experience it has been meeting them. That is true of all of them but especially for those from Alabama
because we had most to do with them and because nothing impressed me more than to see the precincts
swarming with young people who had come so many thousands of miles just to work and to take part in
the life of the Cathedral. Our intellectuals are always talking about openness; but here I found it lived by
ordinary boys and girls. Benedictine Monk

End of second side.

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