With Donald Trump’s return to the White House, political activism has become a major focus for many Quakers in 2025—and that’s reflected in some of our mostly widely read stories these last six months. But Friends also have been concerned with their spiritual well-being at an intimate level, addressing mental and emotional challenges on many different fronts.
5. Divine Dress Code
“Looking back over the last few years, I can see how God was quietly writing my story long before I understood its direction,” Amy Andreassen says. “When I first heard about the 100-day dress challenge—where participants commit to wearing the same dress for 100 consecutive days—it definitely fell outside of my comfort zone… Now I can see that this choice created the space I needed for internal transformation.”
4. A Place of Unmasking
“Ideas about what makes a good ‘space’ for neurodivergent people are still being developed,” observes Kate Fox. “My instinct and conclusion from my own experience is that Quaker meetings are potentially good places for many neurodivergent people to worship and to be. But the invitation needs to become more explicit.”
3. Quakers Walk from New York City to Washington, D.C.
This May, Friends walked more than 276 miles from New York City to Washington, D.C., to deliver a copy of the original Flushing Remonstrance to members of the U.S. Congress, Friends Journal staff writer Sharlee DiMenichi reported. Participants in the pilgrimage demanded that the Congress members acknowledge and safeguard freedom of speech, due process, and the constitutional rights of everyone in the United States.
2. The Delight of Being Alive
“In 2022, burnt out from the slow pace of social justice, I realized that I was beyond my measure: doing far too much and some of it not in the right spirit,” Gail Melix (Greenwater) confides. “I prayed for Creator’s guidance to give me what was mine to do. I sought advice and counsel from Indigenous elders. I added a woodland walk to my daily schedule. I went into the woods to heal, and this has made all the difference.”
1. Quaker Lawsuits Against Homeland Security
Sharlee DiMenichi is following two lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security brought by groups of religious organizations that include Quaker meetings, arguing that their religious liberty is violated by the Trump administration’s rescindment of protections for people without legal status in “sensitive locations” such as places of worship. Plaintiffs in the first lawsuit, filed in late January, include Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, New England Yearly Meeting, Baltimore Yearly Meeting, Adelphi (Md.) Meeting, and Richmond (Va.) Meeting; Friends General Conference is a party in the second lawsuit, filed less than a month later. We continue to update each story as events warrant.
Banner images: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service; Corrie Aune; Egbert van Heemskerck
Catch up on past years’ lists!
Top Articles of 2024
- #5. True to Your Word by Anonymous.
- #4. White Supremacy Culture in My Clerking by Michael Levi.
- #3. Dear God, Help Me Here by Sharlee DiMenichi.
- #2. The Radical Original Vision of George Fox by Marcelle Martin.
- #1. George Fox Was a Racist by Johanna Jackson and Naveed Moeed.
Top Articles of 2023
- #5. Three Common Fallacies of Quaker Leadership by Andy Stanton-Henry.
- #4. Speaking Up for Palestinian Rights Now by Steve Chase.
- #3. A Visit to the Hector Meetinghouse by Chester Freeman.
- #2. From Atheist to Friends by John Marsh.
- #1. Young Adults Want What Early Friends Had by Olivia Chalkley.
Top Articles of 2022
- #5. The Art of Quaker Quilts by Vicki Winslow.
- #4. Quakers Must Take a Stand on Abortion by Erick Williams.
- #3. Safe Meetings Don’t Avoid Conflict by Donald W. McCormick.
- #2. The Peace Testimony and Ukraine by Bryan Garman.
- #1. Flawed Quaker Heroes by Kathleen Bell.
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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