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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 1h

I think the Anabaptists *might* have us beat by a few decades, though! I'd have to double check the timelines.

Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 5h

"I have met other Cambodian parents
and have seen the trying-to-forget
in their eyes. Those 1970s horrors
boxed up in far away corners we
try to burn to dust in our minds..."
—from "Returned to Sender" by Ellen Skilton

Returned to Sender

A poem by Ellen Skilton.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 13h

17th-century Quaker William Bennit was repeatedly "shut up in the prison-house, bound up with chains & fetters, in the low dungeon of darkness" by the English government, but his faith never wavered.

As authoritarians grow bolder, Friends do well to remember his courage.

quaker.org/2025/10/06/t...

In Gustav Doré's engraving, a bearded Paul sits in a Roman cell, manacled on his wrists and ankles. But he's totally calm, and writing a letter on a scroll that rests on the knees of his young assistant.

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 1d

Jane Barton Griffith was codirector of an AFSC humanitarian project during the Vietnam War. Nguyen thi Mai was a double amputee who came to the center for medical assistance and was later offered a job and invited to live in the AFSC house.

Two Women, One War is Jane's account of their friendship.

REVIEWED: Two Women, One War: An Unlikely Friendship During the Vietnam War

A memoir of a remarkable wartime friendship between a Quaker relief worker from the U.S. and a local Vietnamese woman.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 2d

At the first Friends Meeting of Washington (DC) Pride Month worship this year, a weeping Friend shared, “This meeting makes me a better person. Your queerness makes me a better person.” As trans & queer people face renewed enmity, a safe & welcoming spiritual center is imperative to their survival.

Advices and Que[e]ries

Chosen family and chosen ancestors.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Reposted by Friends Journal

Peterson Toscano @petersontoscano.bsky.social · 5d

Co-hosts Peterson Toscano (he/him) and Sweet Miche (they/them) explore the urgent question:

How do we balance peace and protest in today’s world?

Australian Friend Greg Rolles shares his experiences with nonviolent direct action.
www.friendsjournal.org/podcast/quak... @friendsjournal.org

Quaker Podcast - Podcast Exploring Quaker Life & Religious Beliefs

Quakers Today, hosted by Peterson Toscano, features writers, musicians, and thinkers who are seeking wisdom and understanding in a rapidly changing world.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 5d

"There’s this possible constitutional crisis coming down the pike," George Lakey said in the fall of 2020, when many feared Donald Trump might reject the results of the upcoming presidential election. Five years later, Lakey's Choose Democracy is still resisting Trump's bid to seize permanent power.

Why Should We Choose Democracy? - QuakerSpeak

"There's this possible constitutional crisis coming down the pike," warns Quaker peace activist George Lakey.

quakerspeak.com

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 5d

"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."

Affinity Spaces for BIPOC Friends

Healing from Polite White Supremacy together.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 6d

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.

REVIEWED: Those Who Stayed: A Vietnam Diary

Claudia Krich's memoir of the American Friends Service Committee's humanitarian work in Quang Ngai during the last years of the Vietnam War.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 8d

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...

A portrait of John Perrot, a 17th-century Friend who was held in an insane asylum by the Vatican for several years after he tried to convince the pope to abandon Catholicism. (Since he spoke no Italian, and the pope spoke no English, the meeting went poorly.)

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 8d

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

REVIEWED: In Brief: Down to the Bone: A Jail, a Journey, Four Women

A memoir by a woman unjustly imprisoned overseas reveals the inner strength of her fellow prisoners facing poverty and racist oppression.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 9d

"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"

September 29

Every year on September 29 / they gather.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 11d

"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.

Preaching with Power

When you set out to proclaim the gospel, spare us your personal anecdotes and opinions.

www.plough.com

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 12d

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.

Baking Bread Together

A Synagogue and a Meeting share a mission for peace.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 14d

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.

REVIEWED: In Brief: The Deep End of Hope in the Wake of Hurricane Helene: 40 Days and Nights of Survival and Transformation

The devastating impact of Hurricane Helene from the perspective of a Quaker trauma healer in a tiny town in western North Carolina.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 14d

"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...

A fresco of a Roman couple enjoying themselves at a banquet. He's drinking from a horn-shaped cup, and she's reaching out to a servant girl who brings her a box (jewels, perhaps?).

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 15d

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.

After Three Decades, Friends Lay Down Journal Chronicling Mystical Experience

The volunteer staff of What Canst Thou Say? (WCTS) have decided to lay the publication down.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 16d

"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.

Empowering East African Youth to Build a Better Future

An interview with Joyeuse Senga of Friends Career Center.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 17d

"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 Healing: Undoing the Damage of Violence

Quakers aren’t just anti-violence. Much of our work is pro-healing. John Calvi, a renowned Quaker healer, on why healing work is so incredibly essential.

quakerspeak.com

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 19d

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.

Seeing Light in Everyone

Encounters between Quakers and incarcerated people.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 20d

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.

REVEIWED: In Brief: Quakers and Chocolate

How did the faith and religious concerns of three Quaker families flavor the decisions they made as leaders in the chocolate industry?

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 21d

"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...

In this black and white photograph, a person holds their fingers to the temples of their forehead, as if in sorrow; their facial features are blurred.

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Reposted by Friends Journal

Peterson Toscano @petersontoscano.bsky.social · 21d

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

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 21d

"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

Song before Sleep

The broad-tailed hummers / sing high in the piñon.

www.friendsjournal.org

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Friends Journal @friendsjournal.org · 22d

🎧 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.

Quaker Podcast - Podcast Exploring Quaker Life & Religious Beliefs

Quakers Today, hosted by Peterson Toscano, features writers, musicians, and thinkers who are seeking wisdom and understanding in a rapidly changing world.

www.friendsjournal.org

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