Is membership a pragmatic arrangement or first and foremost a spiritual experience?
Tag Archives | Christianity
Membership as Commitment and Belonging
Marisa Johnson has been serving as secretary to Friends World Committee for Consultation Europe and Middle East Section since 2008, and this has given her the opportunity of seeing many forms of Quaker worship and community building. Membership is often a central theme in becoming and maintaining community.
The article is taken from thoughts from an address that Johnson gave to Britain Yearly Meeting Gathering in 2014.
Posted in: Reimagining the Quaker Ecosystem, The FJ Blog
The Market as God
By Harvey Cox. Harvard University Press, 2016. 278 pages. $26.95/hardcover or eBook. [Buy on QuakerBooks] The ancient view of the world as populated by mysterious forces that need appeasement for their fickle moods—the gods—often makes little sense to me as a contemporary Westerner. Yet one such implacable, persistent, and nearly omnipresent force is alive and […]
Chris Mohr is a member of Green Street Meeting in Philadelphia, Pa., and is a trustee of Friends Publishing Corporation.
Posted in: Books, March 2017 Books, Race and Anti-Racism
Making a Portrait of Jesus
By John Lampen. Pendle Hill Pamphlets (number 441), 2016. 33 pages. $7/pamphlet. Many have found their way to the Religious Society of Friends via a journey that did not include learning about Jesus in Sunday school. Who was Jesus and what was it like in his time and place? Where can I find a short […]
Brad Sheeks is a member of Central Philadelphia (Pa.) Meeting and with his wife, Patricia McBee, has moved to Newtown, Pa., to enjoy retirement and live closer to daughter, Jennie, and her family.
Posted in: Books, February 2017, February 2017 Books
Words
By Harvey Gillman. The Friend Publications, 2016. 56 pages. $9/paperback (available from QuakerBooks). British Friend Harvey Gillman deserves to be more widely read on our side of the Atlantic. This collection of articles from the British periodical The Friend has sensitive insights into words we use—or avoid. Gillman asks questions—admittedly familiar ones—about using religious vocabulary. […]
Posted in: Books, February 2017, February 2017 Books
Queer Virtue: What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and How It Can Revitalize Christianity
By Reverend Elizabeth M. Edman. Beacon Press, 2016. 181 pages. $25.95/hardcover; $24.99/eBook. Before we begin, let us pause for a moment to respectfully acknowledge that the common use of the word “queer” still alienates and therefore excludes some members of the sexual-minority community. I, myself, know what it means to feel disrespected by the unthinking […]
Mitchell Santine Gould is a gay and Quaker historian who is writing a book on Walt Whitman. He runs an Airbnb destination in Portland, Ore., called PDX Wheelhouse, and is the curator of Leavesofgrass.org.
Posted in: Books, November 2016 Books, Quakers and Social Media
Grounded: Finding God in the World—A Spiritual Revolution
By Diana Butler Bass. HarperOne, 2015. 336 pages. $26.99/hardcover; $14.99/paperback; $10.99/eBook. “Where is God?” Answer: “In the neighborhood.” This question-and-answer pair captures something of the spirit of Diana Butler Bass’s new book, Grounded: Finding God in the World—A Spiritual Revolution. In several ways, this book and its predecessor, Christianity After Religion (2012), together trace a […]
Tom Paxson is a member of Kendal Meeting at Kendal Crosslands retirement community in Kennett Square, Pa. He has been involved in ecumenical work on behalf of Friends for many years.
Posted in: Books, Crossing Cultures, October 2016 Books
Eastern Light: Awakening to Presence in Zen, Quakerism, and Christianity
By Steve Smith. QUPublishing, subsidiary of Quaker Universalist Fellowship, 2015. 232 pages. $22/paperback; $8.99/eBook. “Who, other than Friends, are genuinely interested in helping people to fall in love with the Inward Guide?” For all the fascinating personal parables in Steve Smith’s self-disclosing volume, these words from Marshall Massey (spoken in 1985 at Pacific Yearly Meeting) […]
Judith Favor appreciates the gladdening light of Steve Smith’s presence as f/Friend, teacher, guide, and neighbor at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, Calif.
Posted in: August 2016 Books, Books, Quaker Spaces
A Gospel of Quaker Sexuality
A sex-positive and queer look at our spiritual testimonies from a queer, trans, polyamorous Quaker youth worker.
Kody Gabriel Hersh is a queer, trans, polyamorous Quaker youth worker who loves Jesus and is passionate about justice, peacebuilding, and joy. Kody grew up and maintains membership in Southeastern Yearly Meeting and is active with Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns (FLGBTQC) and Christian Peacemaker Teams.
This article was adapted from a talk given during Haverford College’s Religion and Spiritual Life Week in September 2015.
Posted in: Features, Gender and Sexuality
A Ministry of Prayer and Learning
The School of the Spirit Ministry teaches Friends how to live and grow in grace.
Catherine Bly Cox has been a teacher of college English, a writer, and a full-time mom. She is a graduate of the Spiritual Nurturer program and a member of Goose Creek Meeting in Lincoln, Va.
Posted in: Features, Spiritual Nurture / Quaker Training
Why I Won’t Teach Bible Stories in First-day School
Religious education. 🔒 Friends Journal Member? Sign in here! Not an FJ member? To read this piece, please join us today! For $28, you’ll get: A year of Friends Journal delivered to your mailbox (11 issues) and email Full, instant access to the world’s largest online library of Quaker information: every Friends Journal ever published, going back to 1955 […]
Peter Landau is married with three children, works as a writer and editor, and is a member of Orange Grove Meeting in Pasadena, Calif.
Posted in: Religious Education, Spiritual Nurture / Quaker Training
QuakerSpeak DVDs on Sale Now
June/July 2017: Reimagining the Quaker Ecosystem
Consensus Decision Making in Eusocial Organisms by Barbara Dale
What We Cannot Do Alone by Noah Merrill
Worshiping Online by Rachel Guaraldi
Finally Breaking Down the Hedge? by Thomas Hamm
Turning Somersaults in the Quaker Ecosystem by Margaret Fraser
Quaker Book Reviews
On Friendsjournal.org: Web-only articles
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