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Are We Ready to Make the Necessary Changes?

By Vanessa Julye on January 1, 2019

What barriers prevent a racially diverse Religious Society of Friends in the United States?

Vanessa Julye leads workshops, and speaks and writes articles on issues regarding racism. A member of Central Philadelphia (Pa.) Meeting, who travels under a concern for addressing racism in Quakerism with a travel minute from her meeting, Vanessa is Friends General Conference's coordinator for the Ministry on Racism, Youth, and Institutional Assessment.

Posted in: Features, Racially Diverse Society of Friends (January 2019)

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Building White Racial Stamina

By Elizabeth A. Oppenheimer on January 1, 2019

The primary way to develop racial stamina is to wade or dive in.

Elizabeth (Liz) A. Oppenheimer carries a concern for addressing whiteness and racism among Friends. She recently distributed an open letter to white Friends, which is on her web-log at _thegoodraisedup.blogspot.com_. She is a member of Bear Creek Meeting outside of Earlham, Iowa, and worships with Laughing Waters Friends Preparative Meeting of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative).

Posted in: Features, Racially Diverse Society of Friends (January 2019)

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Greater Racial Diversity Requires Greater Theological Diversity

By Adria Gulizia on January 1, 2019

The early Friends have much in common with today’s Black Americans.

Adria Gulizia is an attorney and member of Chatham-Summit Meeting in Chatham Township, N.J., and of the Friends of Jesus Fellowship. She enjoys helping Friends connect to our Quaker heritage, as well as exploring how God is moving within and among us. Adria blogs at shadowofbabylon.com.

Posted in: Features, Racially Diverse Society of Friends (January 2019)

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Expectant Visions of a Christian Anarchist

By Zae Asa Illo on January 1, 2019

Have Friends lost our willingness to be countercultural?

Zae Asa Illo (formerly David Breitzmann) serves on the Ministry and Oversight Committee of San Francisco (Calif.) Meeting. He co-founded the weekly #FridayFoodSharing (2014), streetDoves (nonviolent, civilian-based defense training, 2017), Uplifted (a digital pacifist newsletter, 2018), and has met monthly with an oversight committee since 2016. He is in discernment for application to seminary and has finished the initial draft for his first collection of poetry.

Posted in: Features, Racially Diverse Society of Friends (January 2019)

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We Are Not John Woolman

By Gabbreell James on January 1, 2019

The prophetic agitator is remembered and spoken of years later; the people that wanted them gone are forgotten today.

Gabbreell James is a lifelong Friend of color, active in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Undoing Racism Group and at her monthly meeting, Green Street Meeting in Philadelphia. She wants to help Friends be truly welcoming to all people.

Posted in: Features, Racially Diverse Society of Friends (January 2019)

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The Continuing Revelation of My Christianity

By Lauren Brownlee on December 1, 2018

The diversity within Quakerism and Christianity can reveal additional windows into the Divine.

Lauren Brownlee is a member of Bethesda (Md.) Meeting, a steering committee member of the Quaker Palestine Israel Network, and serves on Baltimore Yearly Meeting's Peace and Social Concerns Committee. She serves as director of social action at a Catholic School in Bethesda and is a Sacred Heart Associate.

Posted in: Features, Quakers and Christianity

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Are We Really Christian?

By Margaret Namubuya Amudavi on December 1, 2018

Do we focus on the religiosity or the spirituality of our Quakerism?

Margaret Namubuya Amudavi has a degree in theology from Friends Theological College (FTC) and in Christian education from Kenya Highlands Bible College. She has a master's in development studies from St. Paul's University in Limuru, Kenya. She has served FTC as a teacher and academic dean.

Posted in: Features, Quakers and Christianity

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Inward Power

By Gene Hillman on December 1, 2018

Continuing revelation implies we are continuing from somewhere.

Gene Hillman is a convinced Friend, having come to Friends from the martial arts and Buddhism in 1983 in Annapolis, Md. He has taught short courses in basic Quakerism, the Quaker testimonies, and the Bible ever since he was employed at Pendle Hill in 1988. He represented Baltimore Yearly Meeting on the Friends United Meeting General Board throughout the 1990s. He and his wife, Pat, are members of Goshen (Pa.) Meeting, PhYM. Email: [email protected]

Posted in: Features, Quakers and Christianity

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God, Jesus, Christianity, and Quakers

By Jim Cain on December 1, 2018

A nontheist Friend on the role of Jesus and Christianity in his life.

Jim Cain is a member and former clerk of Atlanta (Ga.) Meeting, currently attending Collective Church, a "misfit faith community" in DeLand, Fla. He's recently retired from a long career in public mental health. He has co-led Friends General Conference Gathering workshops on "Nontheism Among Friends" and "Reclaiming the Sacred" and made a presentation on the evolution of God to nontheist Friends at this summer's Gathering.

Posted in: Features, Quakers and Christianity

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Understanding Belief

By Elizabeth Boardman on December 1, 2018

Magical thinking, non‐belief, and respecting others’ paths.

Elizabeth Boardman has been an active Quaker for many years and is now a member of Redwood Forest Meeting in Santa Rosa, Calif. Her books on Quaker themes include Where Should I Stand? A Field Guide for Monthly Meeting Clerks and Letters from Lillian: Faith and Practice among Modern Liberal Quakers. Much of her poetry deals with issues of faith.

Posted in: Features, Quakers and Christianity

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