Steven Dale Davison Interview

Quaker author Steven Dale Davison was interviewed for his May 2024 article, “Speaking to Our Members’ Conditions.”

Steven Dale Davidson discusses his journey to joining a Quaker meeting and the challenges he faced as a new member. He describes how he was initially antagonistic towards Christianity, but over time came to appreciate the Bible and Quaker faith. Davidson emphasizes the importance of meetings supporting and nurturing the spiritual lives of their members, rather than just focusing on committees and finances. He highlights the value of having a “gifts and leadings” committee to help discern and support members’ spiritual callings. Davidson suggests meetings should proactively engage with members about their spiritual practices and sense of ministry, rather than waiting until they are deceased to recognize their gifts.

Previous Friends Journal articles by Davison include:

• The Quaker Covenant with Creation: A Testimony of Earthcare Love (Dec. 2023)
• Learning to Follow: On Being Led by the Spirit (June/July 2023)
• Quakers and Capitalism (July 2006)

The background of Davison’s Zoom is Pendle Hill in Lancashire, England, where Quaker founder George Fox had a vision of a “great people to be gathered.” The artist he mentions in the interview is Keith Meiling.

Steven Dale Davison is a member of Central Philadelphia (Pa.) Meeting, now living in central New Jersey. He is the author of the Pendle Hill pamphlet The Gathered Meeting (FJ review) and of the Quaker blog Through the Flaming Sword. He’s also published chapters in several Quaker books, including “Quakers and Capitalism: A History of Paradoxes” in Quakers, Politics, and Economics (FJ Review).