Bios

Lewis Randa

Lewis M. Randa

Founder/Director of The Peace Abbey

Lewis Randa is a Quaker, pacifist, vegan, educator and social change activist.

Lewis is the founder and director of The Life Experience School for children with disabilities (1972); The Peace Abbey, an Interfaith Center for the study and practice of Nonviolence and Pacifism (1988); The Special Peace Corps., an organization that provides community service programs for adults with mental challenges (1990); The Courage of Conscience Award, an international peace award for nonviolent contributions to peace and justice (1991); The National Registry for Conscientious Objection, a register for people of all ages to publicly state their refusal to participate in armed conflict (1992); The Pacifist Memorial, a national Monument honoring pacifists throughout history (1994); The Veganpeace Animal Sanctuary, a safe haven for animals that have escaped from slaughterhouses following the rescue of Emily the Cow (1995); Stonewalk, a global peace walk that involves physically pulling a two-ton memorial stone for Unknown Civilians Killed in War (Documentary shown on PBS) (1999 – 2005); Citycare, an empowerment program for the homeless (2000); R.A.T.C., the college-based Reserve Activist Training Corps; and The Lavender House, a Group Home for adults with disabilities (2002).

Since his discharge from the Army as a conscientious objector in 1971, Lewis has devoted his life to creating innovative models for social change through programs that change the way meaning is produced in society. A native of Des Moines, Iowa, he received a B.S. from the University of Iowa in 1969, where he helped to coordinate the 1968 presidential campaign of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He received an M.A. in Social Change from Goddard College in 1971 with a specialization in Alternative Education for the Disabled.

Before establishing The Life Experience School at the age of 24, Lewis directed the Therapeutic Activities Department at the Kennedy Memorial Childrens Hospital in Boston (69-70). He was hired as a house parent at one of the first group homes for adults with a diagnosis of mental retardation in Massachusetts as part of the state de-institutionalization mandate (1971) while maintaining a teaching position in a special education classroom at the Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Dorchester, MA (1970-71). He also served on the faculty at Lincoln College of Northeastern University (1972-77).

Lewis has traveled extensively on peace-related projects in Central America (El Salvador, Nicaragua & Guatemala), in Europe (Northern Ireland, England, Italy), in India, and in the former Yugoslavia. He maintains an affiliation with the UN University of Peace in Costa Rica, the Department of Religious Life at Wellesley College and supervises graduate interns at The Peace Abbey from Harvard Divinity School, Boston University and Andover-Newton Theological School. Lewis is also the founding Peace Chaplain, an interfaith pastoral role within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, headquartered at The Peace Abbey.

Lewis has written and spoken on a broad range of issues in the fields of education, peace and social justice, nonviolence and pacifism, interfaith dialogue and disability rights. He was honored with a Resolution from the Senate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the 20th anniversary of The Life Experience School, received the Person of Peace Award (with Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop) in 2001 at the 16th International Peace Day in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was recognized with the Massachusetts Doctors Group Humanitarian Award that same year. In addition to consulting on numerous boards of non-profit organizations, he is a Commonwealth Justice of the Peace.

Lewis lives in Sherborn, Massachusetts with his wife Meg (with whom he operates the educational programs of the Life Experience School) They have three grown children: Christopher, Michael and Abbey.

Dot Walsh

Dot Walsh

Chaplain, Abbey Program Coordinator

Perhaps one of the most significant steps on my life path has been my appointment as a Peace Chaplain in 1992.

At various times in my life there have been serendipitous spiritual events that have been instrumental in forming my personhood.

Although I was educated as a teacher with a graduate degree in Special Education from Boston University my further studies and professional life took me in a different direction.

I spent many years in the Massachusetts correctional system first as a recruiter and trainer for volunteers in a Christian Fellowship program, then as a lay chaplain on a Catholic chaplaincy team., and finally as a program director in the county system.

The prison environment helped me to understand the roots of violence and the need for the roots of nonviolence. I learned the importance of pastoral presence and compassion. Then on June 4, 1988 I spent a day with Mother Teresa in the prisons which then connected me to The Peace Abbey. I have remained as Peace Chaplain for The Peace Abbey where I find daily nourishment for all aspects of my life. My beliefs as a pacifist, my commitment to nonviolence and cruelty free living shape my daily life and the prayers for peace from the twelve major faith traditions are the foundation of my spiritual life. As a married woman, mother and grandmother I have a deep concern for the future of our planet and the quality of life for all beings.

Dan Dick

Dan Dick

Peace Chaplain

Dan grew up in the Chicago area, and has degrees in Anthropology (BA) and Education (MST) from the University of Chicago. He has taught students from preschool to graduate students, and has homeschooled his own children. Dan is a Vietnam-era Conscientious Objector, has been a vegetarian for almost forty years, and vegan for about eight years.

Dan was commissioned a Peace Chaplain in September, 2005, in the words of Lewis Randa, “in recognition of his long unofficial service as Peace Chaplain to the Peace Abbey community.” He especially enjoys helping couples envision a wedding ceremony that reflects their unique relationship and values. Dan is an active member of the Abbey community. His contributions include planning, political actions, musical events, website maintenance, hosting, and assisting with ongoing operations.

Dan plays a variety of folk instruments in several bands that perform at the Abbey’s Coffeehouse, and enjoys walks in the woods. He lives in Natick, MA with his wife, Carol, a women’s health advocate, and his teen son, Jonah. Daughter Leah attends Smith College.

You can meet Dan most Sunday mornings at the Abbey’s Pacifist Meditation Service.

Meg Randa

Meg Randa

SPED Coordinator, Teacher / Special Peace Corps

The joy, vitality and creativity that has come to characterize the Life Experience School require the involvement of everyone, but especially Meg who for 3 decades awakens each morning with her husband Lewis to co-create the dream of a place we call the Life Experience School. With the care a mother bear gives her cubs, Meg looks after everyone as though they were family. And rarely seen without the School’s mascots, Journey the Golden Retriever and Chester the Collie, Meg’s love of animals is ever present. Like her daughter Abbey, her love of horses has created the School’s equestrian program which is centered at August Farm in Holliston where Cupid our pony lives. Meg is the touchstone for parents and state agencies as she and Ruthanne work collaboratively to meet the ever-changing needs of each person and animal at the School and Abbey. She is, as everyone would agree, the heart and soul of the place as she has devoted well over half her life to keeping the dream alive with a level of devotion and love that serves as a halo around the place.