Milestones (announcements of births, marriages, deaths, and transitions) are published at the request of meetings or families. The Milestones section appears in every issue of Friends Journal and is published as individual posts online here. There is no charge for Friends Journal milestone listings.
Friends Journal welcomes milestones that families or meetings send us. While we would like to receive milestones material in a timely fashion (we hope within six weeks of the event), we understand that this is not always possible and will make every effort to publish material sent to us. Since publication depends on having all necessary information and on space available, we cannot guarantee the publication date. The minimum lead time is two months. Please be aware that we do not publish photos in the Milestones column.
Send material by email to [email protected] (Word Doc, PDF, or any text file will do), or by postal mail to Milestones Editor, Friends Journal, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102. Please be sure to include your contact information (email address and/or phone number) for follow-up questions. Thank you for your cooperation.
Births/Adoptions: Please include date of birth or adoption, names of child and parents (both first and last names), and meeting affiliations.
Marriages/Unions: Please include names (both first and last names), date of ceremony, location, meeting affiliation of the parties, and (optionally) under which meeting’s care the event took place.
Gender transitions: Please include new name and gender, preferred pronouns, location, meeting affiliation, and any additional information you would like Friends to know.
Death notices: These can be a rich source of spiritual wisdom gleaned from the life stories of others and can benefit not only those who may have known the deceased, but also the entire community of Friends Journal readers. While we do not publish memorial minutes as such, we frequently incorporate wording and information from them and try to preserve their tone for our readers. Although we do ask for certain essential information (please see below), we hope you will also include a freeform narrative description of the life of this person to serve as the basis for the Friends Journal notice. We encourage narratives focusing on one’s spiritual life as a Friend. Topics to consider are: childhood, education, marriages/unions—dates and (perhaps) how the couple met—how a person became involved as a Friend, meeting involvement, spiritual searching, family life, career, activities, interests, witness, good works, accomplishments, publications, awards, and obstacles faced. Specific examples are preferred over general statements. The order should be more or less chronological. You may include as much information as you like; we will edit it for length (maximum of 600 words).
Please be sure to include the following essential information:
- Date and place of birth (and if possible, names of parents)
- Date and place of death (cause of death is optional)
- Meeting affiliation (whether member or attender, and meeting name and place) at time of death and (perhaps) earlier meeting affiliations and transfers
- Names of survivors (both first and last names, including spouses where applicable) and relationships to the deceased. We publish survivor names for the following relationships: spouse or partner, parents, children, stepchildren, godchildren, and siblings (including siblings-in-law). Due to space constraints, we only publish the number but NOT the names of surviving grandchildren, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Names for these survivors may be included in special circumstances at the request of the submitter.
- Names of predeceased: We also publish the names of those close family members who predeceased the subject of the milestone, along with the year they died; most often these include spouse(s), children, grandchildren, siblings, and occasionally parents if requested.
Send any questions to [email protected].