Quakers today have been challenged to reconsider much of what they know about their predecessors and their role in worldly affairs—at the same time, they have been given many opportunities to show how their testimonies can be applied to contemporary crises. And, of course, there is the effort to preserve the Religious Society of Friends as a spiritual home for future generations. These are the sorts of issues that have resonated with Friends Journal readers in the first half of this year.
5. Pour Out My Spirit
“It sorrows me and hurts me and vexes me to say this, but it’s true: I think most working-class and poor people, and even many rural and suburban middle-class folks, would not feel welcome at a Liberal Friends meeting.”
4. Rethinking William Penn
“Friends have only recently begun to examine and acknowledge our role in slavery, not as abolitionists or visionaries on the vanguard of the struggle for human rights, but as players in perpetration of one of the most egregious and long-standing crimes against humanity.”
3. How to Retain Young Families in Quaker Meeting
“People put energy into the things they’re excited about. A meeting can be the thing that young people and families are excited about, if a meeting is willing to shift its approach to be more inclusive of a wider variety of needs and ways to participate.”
2. The Peace Testimony and Ukraine
“Quakers are clear on their obligation to wage peace, serve those in need, and pursue diplomatic channels, no matter how narrow they might be. But what happens when diplomacy fails, justice is breached, aggression persists, and lives are endangered? “
1. Flawed Quaker Heroes
“As Quakers, we have testimonies of truth and equality. Adhering to these values would seem to suggest that we have a responsibility to examine and face up to the uncomfortable truths of the past, with all their awkward and painful implications. They may require us to change—in fact, they almost certainly do.”
Catch up on past years’ lists!
Top Articles of 2021
- #5. A Quaker Call to Abolition and Creation by Lucy Duncan.
- #4. Pistachios and Cats by Lynn Gazis.
- #3. When Quakers Were the Karens by Elizabeth Cazden.
- #2. The Mystical Experience by Donald W. McCormick.
- #1. Are There White People in the Bible? by Tim Gee.
Top Articles of 2020
- #5. A Quaker Antiracist Reading List
- #4. Quaker Meetings Respond to Coronavirus by Katie Breslin.
- #3. Recognizing Racism, Seeking Truth by .Inga Erickson.
- #2. Careful Discernment or Spiritual Timidity? by Kat Griffith.
- #1. The Middle-Class Capture of Quakerism and Quaker Process by Donald W. McCormick.
Top Articles of 2019
- #5 Selling Out to Niceness by Ann Jerome.
- #4 Building White Racial Stamina by Liz Oppenheimer.
- #3 A Quaker School’s Response to Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Erik Hanson.
- #2 We Are Not John Woolman by Gabbreell James.
- # 1 Slavery in the Quaker World by Katharine Gerbner.
Top Articles of 2018
- #5 Are We Really Christian? by Margaret Namubuya Amudavi.
- #4 What People Really Want from Church and Quaker Meeting by Donald W. McCormick.
- #3 Simple Living Beyond the Thrift Store by Philip Harnden.
- #2 Can Quakerism Survive? by Donald W. McCormick.
- # 1 Civility Can Be Dangerous by Lucy Duncan.
Top Articles of 2017:
- #5 Mystical Experience, the Bedrock of Quaker Faith by Robert Atchley.
- #4 Weeping to Joy by Betsy Blake.
- #3: A Mysticism for Our Time by Roger Owens.
- #2: It Breaks My Heart by Kate Pruitt.
- #1: A Quaker Approach to Living with Dying by Katherine Jaramillo.
Top articles of 2016:
- #5 Framing the Light by Jean Schnell.
- #4 Why Quakers Stopped Voting by Paul Buckley.
- #3 Affirming Ivy by Laura Noel.
- #2 The Third Reconstruction by William J Barber II.
- #1 A Gospel of Quaker Sexuality by Kody Gabriel Hersh.
Top articles of 2015:
- #5 Baltimore, the Time Is Now by Sarah Bur.
- #4 Reflections on Selma by Gail Whiffen.
- #3 What Quakers and Catholics Might Learn from One Another by John Pitts Corry.
- #2 Realizing Wholeness: Reflections from a Gay Palestinian Quaker by Sa’ed Atshan.
- #1 Beyond Goodness Sex by Su Penn.
Top articles of 2014:
- #5 Dear Friend/Good White Person by Regina Renee.
- #4 Sustainable Simplification Shuns “Shoulds” and Sacrifice by Chuck Hosking.
- #3 A Quaker Argument against Gun Control by Matthew Van Meter.
- #2 My Experience as an African American Quaker by Avis Wanda McClinton.
- #1 White Narcissism by Ron McDonald.
Top articles of 2013:
- #5: Bum-Rush the Internet interview with Jon Watts.
- #4: Categorically Not the Testimonies by Eric Moon.
- #3: Are Quakers Christian, Non-Christian, or Both? by Anthony Manousos.
- #2: Quakerism Left Me by Betsy Blake.
- #1: We Think He Might Be a Boy by Su Penn.
Top articles of 2012:
- #5: The Safety of Silence by Lindsey Mead Russell.
- #4: Eight Questions on Convergent Friends, an interview with Robin Mohr.
- #3: Quakers Are Way Cooler Than You Think by Emma Churchman.
- #2: Homosexuality: A Plea to Read the Bible Together by Douglas C Bennett.
- #1: When Quaker Process Fails by John M. Coleman.
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