Finding My Center: Reflections from a Term at Pendle Hill

"Waiting upon the Lord in silence"—what an odd phrase, I thought—when, in my Moravian tradition, you sang praises to God…

Patricia Smith

Unobstructed Love

The problem with unobstructed love is that it’s rarely understood. Maybe that’s because it does not appear like any other…

John Calvi

One Bad Apple: A Meditation on Organic Applesauce

I spent the week before Labor Day at my family farm in Michigan making applesauce. This has been a custom…

Marjorie E. Nelson

Reasons to Never Give Up

There are days when depression threatens to engulf me and I feel like giving up. At such times I remind…

Kathe Bryant

Reexamining the Peace Testimony

I grew up as part of the first generation to have regular access to TV. Much of what we watched…

Susan Corson-Finnerty

'Returning' and 'Receiving' Communities in Kenya

Friends, I must share with you something so exciting and wonderful. As a volunteer with the Africa Ministries Office here…

Lisa Stewart

The Declaration of 1660

Several years ago, a local television station set up a table in a shopping mall and asked people to sign…

Paul Buckley

What is a Peace Church?

What does it mean to be a peace church in 2008? As a member of the Religious Society of Friends,…

Tom Ewell

Understanding Pacifism: Reconciling Religion with Philosophy

I have been brought up a Quaker, and pacifism is the harmony to which the melody of my meager 20…

Harriett Hart

Conflict in the Life of Our Meeting: Friends Peace Testimony at Work?

Years ago a Friend told the story of an order of Catholic nuns who lived by the discipline that if…

Arlene Kelly

How I Became a Pacifist: An Interview with Lee Thomas

FJ: How did you feel about the war effort? Were people at that time okay with it? Lee: Well, sure.…

Susan Corson-Finnerty

A Testimony on the Effects of Combat from a United States Army Officer

I cannot tell you much about the Peace Testimony of Friends; I have only read about it in books. I…

David Gosling

The Peace Testimony and Armed Forces Emergency Services

It’s 3:45 am when my pager wakes me. I speak to a man who is quite upset: his sister has…

Stasa Morgan-Appel

Bringing the Peace Testimony to Washington

The United States may have the best opportunity in decades to persuade Congress to fund the peaceful prevention of deadly…

Jim Cason

A Modest Step Towards Peace and Union

Among reflective people, there is probably little doubt that the traditions and culture we are born into incline most people…

Malcolm Bell

The Quaker Coalition for a Department of Peace

I am involved at various levels in a grassroots global phenomenon calling for ministries and departments of peace within governments.…

Anne Creter

Tom Louderback on Quakers and Capitalism

Capitalism is supposed to be an economic system with checks and balances, like democracy, and we…
Steven Davison on Speaking with Spiritual Authority

Thank you, Peter, for this ministry. I share your concern. In fact, Pendle Hill just published…
Ron Braithwaite on Hoopes Sentenced to More Than Two Years in Prison for Assaulting an ICE Agent

At the actual sentencing, Jacob was sentenced to 30 months at the Sheridan, Oregon Federal Minimum…
Kevin Johnson on Hoopes Sentenced to More Than Two Years in Prison for Assaulting an ICE Agent

I would have hoped that Friends would refrain from violent protests in these difficult days. Friends…