"I live in a world that practices what Yawo Brown calls Polite White Supremacy," Vanessa Julye writes, a force to which Quaker meetings are not immune. "With subtle, coded, and ever-present demands to conform, BIPOC Friends often feel compelled to prioritize white comfort over our own authenticity."

Claudia Krich and her husband, Quaker Keith Brinton, were codirectors of the American Friends Service Committee humanitarian program in Vietnam from April 1973 until the fall of Saigon two years later. Those Who Stayed is Krich's memoir of that time.

Many of the men and women in the first generations of the Religious Society of Friends spent time imprisoned for challenging the intertwined religious and political power structures of England. When you take on the world’s ruling powers, persecution comes with the job. quaker.org/2025/09/29/s...

Friends seeking a deeper understanding of the faith lives of women in adverse circumstances will find Clémence Overall's memoir compelling and enlightening.

"Every year on September 29 they gather. Raphael brings the drinks, while Michael and Gabriel raid the pantry for caviar and taco chips. They congregate in the fireside room, spread the food on the table, pull out the Parcheesi board, and take off their shoes. Then they sing..." —from "September 29"

"Great, great things will pass through you by the power of the Spirit. There’s nothing else like it. It happens Sunday after Sunday after Sunday," says Fleming Rutledge. As an Episcopal priest, she's talking about church sermons, but her insights are just as applicable to the Quaker meeting.

One Sunday afternoon a month from noon to 6:00 p.m., volunteers from a synagogue and a Quaker meeting in Vermont assemble at the synagogue school’s well-equipped kitchen. Side by side, Jews and Quakers make dough for challah, pita, and gluten-free oat bread and bake it in industrial-size ovens.

Emma Churchman writes about the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene from the perspective of a survivor—who also happens to be a Quaker trauma healer—in a tiny town up a mountain in western North Carolina. From her account, we get an inside picture of what it’s like to wake up to catastrophe.

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion..." When you read the prophet Amos, you can understand why oligarchs fear the prospect of class struggle—he DOES make it sound very personal. No wonder they want to discourage people from even dreaming of upending their status quo. quaker.org/2025/09/22/w...

The volunteer staff of What Canst Thou Say? (WCTS), a quarterly journal focusing on Quaker mysticism and contemplation, have decided to lay the publication down after three decades. Sharlee DiMenichi spoke with some of the team about their difficult decision.

"We believe that career development, spiritual and faith practice, and mental health are key to long-term peace and community empowerment," says Joyeuse Senga, co-founder and executive director of Friends Career Center, which serves the needs of young people in Rwanda and Canada.

"Violence is always a bad choice," John Calvi told QuakerSpeak back in 2014. "It not only makes a horrible mess at the time it’s happening, but it leaves an even bigger mess after it’s been done... So a lot of compassionate work in the world is undoing the damage that has been done by violence."

Quaker convictions about care for others and nurturing the Divine in everyone motivate Friends to visit, worship with, and educate people living in prison. Sharlee DiMenichi talks with Quakers who have been led to work with the incarcerated in various capacities.

How did the faith and religious concerns of three Quaker families shape their decisions as they ran some of the most successful chocolate companies in England? Helen Holt considers the lives of George Cadbury, Joseph Rowntree, Beatrice Boeke, and John Wilhelm Rowntree.

"Who can understand why men steeped in a gun-fetishizing environment lash out against their communities so violently?" Ron Hogan asks rhetorically. "Authorities and commentators alike throw up their hands in willful confusion and continue searching for an easy scapegoat." quaker.org/2025/09/15/i...

We're gathering stories for our next podcast episode. Here's the question we're pondering: How has being rooted in a small group changed the way you share your voice in bigger settings? What's your experience been? We'd love to hear it. Call 317-QUAKERS to leave a message. @friendsjournal.org

"What calm do you carry like a rare gift you have secreted away for just the right occasion? The world needs listeners." —from "Song before Sleep" by Wayne Lee

🎧 The fifth season of the Quakers Today podcast begins now! Greg Rolles shares his experiences with nonviolent direct action, police intimidation, and the risks of faithful disobedience. You'll also hear from pastor Jade Rockwell, lifting up the role of renewal and revival in Quaker practice today.

Rashid Darden has written more than a mystery with his latest novel, A Peculiar Legacy: As Abigail E. Adams says in her review, "it’s a portrait of D.C. beyond the mall, museums, and politics."

"Shame is common to many soldiers during and after combat and is one of the most troubling reactions to war," the late Edward W. Wood Jr., a WWII veteran, wrote, "and one that they must deal with throughout a lifetime. It is also the one least often admitted and the one almost never talked about."

We recently spoke with Renzo Carranza, Friends Journal corresponding editor for Latin America, about his affinity for liberation theology, which he first encountered as a seminarian in his native Guatemala, and the ways he sees its "narrative of social justice" intersecting with Quaker testimonies.

"Sometime in 1968," Ronald Marullo recalls, "I received a 3-A Selective Service deferment, 'married with children,' which replaced the 2-S student deferment I had while in college." He thought he was all set. When he was reclassified as 1-A, a Quaker draft counselor was able to help sort it out.

The Jesuit priest Gregory Boyle's Cherished Belonging proposes that the healing that erases acts of cruelty, hatred, and violence is based on an unshakeable acceptance of and trust in the goodness of each person—including oneself.

“The scoundrel has said in his heart, ‘There is no God,'" is how Robert Alter translates the opening of Psalm 14. We’ve seen our fair share of such scoundrels in recent years, haven’t we? But Friends can confront their corruption with the voice of prophetic imagination. quaker.org/2025/09/08/f...

Season Five premieres Tuesday, September 16, 2025. Quakers and Action: How Do We Balance Peace and Protest? Now with 100% more video! Quakers Today is available wherever you get podcasts or at quakerstoday.org @friendsjournal.org

Adria DiCapua challenges Friends to recognize, welcome, and nurture the fullness of God’s spiritual gifts in themselves and others. Doing so, she says, will bring “powerful ministry; tender outreach; generous service; and loving, responsible relationships.”

Last March, a Quaker meetinghouse in London was raided by 20 police officers who arrested a half dozen women ganthered to discuss protests against the violence i Gaza. As Greg Rolles observes, governments do this sort of thing when they're afraid protest movements might actually bring about change.

When Betsey Kenworthy’s adult son suggested she and her husband downsize from their large home, maybe he thought they’d get an apartment in town. But Betsey wasn’t ready to settle down—so, she told QuakerSpeak, they put the house up for sale, bought an RV, and were on the road in three months.

God sent prophets to hold kings accountable, to remind them to show mercy, to practice justice, and to be faithful to God’s commandments. Prophets are needed now more than ever—what can we do, individually and collectively, to be a prophetic voice for our times?

Friends Journal is delighted to welcome Addi Schwieterman, who will be serving on our editorial team for the next year as a Quaker Voluntary Service fellow. Addi grew up Quaker, attending Fort Collins Meeting and graduated last year from nearby Colorado College.

Joel Edward Goza's Rebirth of a Nation lays bare the foundation of White supremacy in the United States—a history that must be acknowledged as the task for reparations begins. This racialized economic system was designed to create massive wealth for some; it can be remade to create equity for all.

"The categories of nation, race, and gender that we use to dominate and exclude ... have been drawn differently (or not at all) in the past, and they can be drawn differently (or not at all) today. God does not respect whatever petty justifications we give for the narrowness of our hearts."

Some look at the Beloved Community as an idealized society in which everybody will treat everybody well because it makes the most sense to live that way. Others see God’s hand in its creation. For them, the Beloved Community already exists. We just need to choose life. quaker.org/2025/09/01/l...

"Sitting quietly in Quaker Meeting, it occurred to me that honesty is one of the luxuries of privilege...." —from "Do, re, mi" by Charles Weld

Common Ground is Quaker activist Eileen Flanagan's account of her experience in the climate justice movement, a collection of “lessons in resistance and solidarity” that Flanagan has picked up along the way in her life-changing journey to protect the earth.

"I ultimately found my faith tested in these last years," says Evan Welkin, executive secretary of the FWCC Section of the Americas, "in a way that had nothing to do with Catholicism, perhaps even little to do with Quakerism but everything to do with God meeting me in the darkest places in my life."

Our December issue asks, "What Do Quakers Believe?" Is there a way to describe our beliefs that covers most if not all Friends? Is it grounded in classic principles of Quakerism or in the varied practices of actual Friends today? Submissions accepted (1,200 to 2,500 words) until September 22, 2025.

Last year, we spoke with Rania Maayeh, the head of Ramallah Friends School in Palestine, and Omar Tesdell, the clerk of its board of trustees. Earlier this week, Israeli military forces conducted a raid on the city of Ramallah, extremely close to the school's campus.

Quaker missionaries visited Nantucket in the early 1700s and ministered to the residents there, including Mary Coffin Starbuck. She became the island's first convinced Friend, founding the Nantucket Meeting in 1708. A.V. Crofts, a distant cousin of Starbuck, reflects on her family's faith legacy.

"Quakers believe in the principle of the ‘free ministry,’ that the Spirit can speak through anyone, including people traditionally excluded from Christian ministry… [F]ree ministry comes with the responsibility of discerning which words are inspired by the Holy Spirit, because not all of them are."

When the UK government started telling trans people which public restrooms they can and can't use, these Quakers decided to make ALL their restrooms gender-neutral. When a transphobe complained, Friends explained the discernment that led to this policy and made it clear they won't give in to hate.

Your favorite podcast in video form. (Don't ask me what I think about this lol) Coming soon: Quakers Today Season Five--an audio AND video podcast www.youtube.com/@FriendsJour... @friendsjournal.org

"Are not these the choicest of thy worthies who are now in power?" James Nayler asked. “Hath it not been the top of thy desires and labors to see it in their hands?" He was writing about England in 1653, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it sounds like the U.S. in 2025. quaker.org/2025/08/25/t...

Jan Smuts, prime minister of South Africa in the early 20th century, shaped that nation's apartheid regime. His great-granddaughter, Cato Pedder, attempts to make sense of her family history through the lives of nine ancestors, including the grandmother who escaped to England and married a Quaker.

"When we study the Bible, we choose what has meaning for us," says Judith Inskeep. "I believe that’s the best way to understand it, rather than just accepting someone else’s interpretation." With that in mind, Judith has a deep think about what Jesus meant when he said "blessed are the meek."

As a theater major in college, Sara, who had spent years attending Young Friends meetings, found "the theater-making process was really a way into understanding other people and in telling stories, and it felt spiritual; it felt like an extended worship sharing sometimes."

Friends Publishing is hiring a corresponding editor to shepherd our coverage of Quaker affairs in Africa. Newsroom or other media experience will be helpful; communication skills in both Swahili and English are essential. Learn more about this remote position at our website!

Staff writer Sharlee DiMenichi spoke with several U.S. Quakers who discussed affirming same-sex unions in the 1980s and 1990s, a movement that led many meetings to adopt minutes in favor of same-sex marriage before the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized it nationwide.

Oregon’s Bethany Lee is a recorded Quaker minister, musician, and poet who has published three volumes of poetry, most recently The Coracle and the Copper Bell. She's also the author of the memoir Close to the Surface. Sandy and Tom Farley take turns reviewing each of the two books.

In one of his many considerations of the prophet’s life, the theologian Walter Brueggemann says that “Jeremiah must do truth-telling not because he is a scold but because he knows, as deeply as anyone can know anything, that this is a community on its way to death.” quaker.org/2025/08/18/y...