As the blog name implies, I am a member of the Religious Society of Friends, known colloquially as Quakers. Many of my blog posts deal with issues of our society and its interactions with the larger world. I generally only include my own posts in this list. I share many many Quaker links in my Links Blog category and on QuakerQuaker.
Important Posts:
The Lost Quaker Generation (2003)
Peace and Twenty-Somethings (2003)
We’re All Ranters Now (2003)
Passing the Faith, Planet of the Quaker Style (2004)
Quaker Testimonies (2004)
Hey, Who Am I To Decide Anything? (2007)
The Biggest Most Vibranty Most Outreachiest Program Ever (2010)
Getting a Horse to Drink (on Philadelphia YM) (2010)
Tell Them All This But Don’t Expect Them to Listen (2010)
From Emily Provance:
Now ask yourself: are the same activities, or even thoughts about the same activities, still bringing me joy? Still feeling as if they come naturally? This might be a hard question. For some of us, very few things are feeling joyful right now. Maybe nothing is feeling joyful at all.
From Rhiannon Grant:
The phrase ‘outward practice’ raises a more difficult possibility. Do we sometimes risk making the unprogrammed, open, listening space of Quaker worship into an outward ritual – just the kind of ritual early Quakers were rejecting when they threw out the practices of previous generations of Christians and created unprogrammed worship instead – by focusing too much on the fact of silence or sitting still?
https://brigidfoxandbuddha.wordpress.com/2020/08/10/is-a-bit-of-quiet-quaker-worship/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
A very thorough description of the tech behind Pendle Hill’s hybrid worship. Their daily 8:30am ET worships both happen in the physical space of their Barn room and also online via Zoom.
Vanessa Julye in how some Friends of Color are worshipping in the midst of Coronavirus and increased racial struggles following the death of George Floyd:
In the midst of such despair and turmoil, our collective trauma, exhaustion, sadness, and anger have increased. Friends of Color are finding it harder to be in predominantly White environments including our Quaker meetings.
From Sofia Lemons:
I was recently asked what it means to live a Quaker lifestyle (which for me is a Christian lifestyle), and I felt a strong pull to reflect on it more than just the casual answer that I could have given. In that reflection, I kept hearing the guidance of Micah over and over again. And each time it came up I asked myself in what ways I was living these words. Here’s an account of some of the things that came to my mind.
https://www.snlemons.com/2020/07/18/a‑reflection-on-micah-68/
From Kathleen Wooten:
What if rather than saying “when we get back to in-person worship we will do these things again” – we just assumed this video gathering is the new way to “do church”, for at least a year or more? What is the rush to get back to what was? Is this a time for innovation and experimentation? Can we just relax and lean into a word that is being reshaped around us, and be responsive and accept this as the new tool for these times?
A remix of content brings a list of antiracism books reviewed by
Friends Journal over the past few years:
Over the years, Friends Journal has discussed many of the works they selected, as well as other books about the legacy of racism in American culture. We’ve made a partial list below, with excerpts from our reviews. Any one of these books will help readers gain a fuller understanding of what life is truly like for non-White Americans today, and present ways to work toward a better, more just country for people of color.
Interesting article overall but I was especially saddened by the laws passed when Friends were firmly in control of the city’s governing council:
The council passed a law, in 1693, prohibiting African people from gathering in the city’s public spaces for the performance of religious dance and music. They called them “tumultuous gatherings.”
Seven years later, in 1700, the council prohibited gatherings of more than four black people.
1732, no black dancing or singing in public on Sunday.
1741, no “disorder” produced by African people at Court House Square.
https://hiddencityphila.org/2020/06/performance-of-freedom‑1/
Friends Journal 