A New Year’s top five: The most read articles of 2012

We’ve been sharing our most-read articles of 2012 on Facebook and Twitter. Here they are along with highlights from the issues in which they originally appeared.

#5: The Safety of Silence

By Lindsey Mead Russell. November is traditionally our expanded books issue, and in 2012, we paired it with articles on literature and writing. Highlights included a Q&A with our long-time poetry editor Judith Brown, an interview with Pulitzer-prize winning author Jeffrey Eugenides (whose latest novel features a Quaker plot twist at the end!) and our own staff picks of favorite books.

#4: Eight Questions on Convergent Friends

An interview with Robin Mohr. Our January issue looked at the Convergent Friends movement and included an appeal for the freedom of tradition by C Wess Daniels and Micah Bales on what Friends have to offer the wider church. We also ran a lovely little piece by a spiritual seeker who recounted his first visit to a Friends meeting.

#3: Quakers Are Way Cooler Than You Think

By Emma Churchman. Our April issue focused on membership and the generation gap and was full of practical tips for bringing people into the life of our meetings. In addition to Emma’s article, Emily Higgs penned a moving piece on her evolving Quaker identity, Isabel Penraeth shared practical tips for providing hospitality to isolated Friends, and Mary Klein talked about how Pacific Yearly Meeting works to bring their youth into the life of the yearly meeting.

2: Homosexuality: A Plea to Read the Bible Together

By Douglas C Bennett (who we also interviewed on Youtube). Our June/July special issue looked at faith, practice, and community and asked “What makes us Friends?” It included stories of international bridge building among Friends by Sara Katreen Hoggatt, Nenad Knezevic’s tale of cultivating an amazingly diverse small Quaker community in Serbia, and Rick Seifert’s appeal that we tone down the off-putting Quakerese.

#1: When Quaker Process Fails

By John M. Coleman. Our October economics issue looked at “Wall Street, Main Street and Meetinghouse Road.” Other standout articles included Norval D Reece’s piece on how we might learn from corporate America, Jeffrey W Perkin’s profile of the surprising witness of Friends Fiduciary Corporation, and Merry Stanford’s personal story of how she came to see giving money as a form of ministry.