Sometimes it puzzles me when people grump about the “organized church” (a bit rare actually) or the “institutionalized church” (maybe some should be). Of course I’m not surprised that people in groups, including churches, sometimes bumble along or act badly. That happens in we’re-not-a-church churches, too. It does surprise me, though, how easily we can [...]
British abolitionist Thomas Clarkson set out in 1806 to tell the story of Quakers, to help the larger English-speaking world understand these foreign-seeming Friends. He titled the work, A Portraiture of Quakerism. Why Quakers? As Clarkson puts it, he had been “thrown frequently into the company of the people, called Quakers” in his work against [...]
This book, Just Moms: Conveying Justice in an Unjust World, came out last spring from Barclay Press. It’s a collection of essays from moms in peace churches about the challenges and joys of being a mom and attempting to raise kids who care about peace and justice in our violent and unjust culture. Several of [...]
Traveling to far away places always provides opportunities for reflection. That truth was very evident as I traveled with the team from NWYM to visit our Friends Churches in Peru. A golden anniversary was the occasion. The Peru INELA (yearly meeting) was celebrating 50 years of existence. I suppose one could argue that 50 years [...]
It was an honor to be able to celebrate 50 years of cooperative ministry between Peru Yearly Meeting and NWYM missions. As missionaries we not only wanted to spread the gospel, start churches and train leadership, we also wanted to emphasize the contextual application of the gospel in the Peruvian culture and language. What I [...]
Having just moved across the country, from Boston to Newberg, OR, my family and I are on a search for a new community. Five years of doctoral studies often left me feeling alone, bereft of friends and family. But now: Friends! Friends everywhere! Colleagues! Students! I feel as though I’m in some sort of pre-heaven, [...]
I used to religiously drink orange juice from concentrate. It was always a grand adventure getting the frozen pulp to mix with a pitcher full of water in order to get the best orange juice possible. It would take some time, but eventually the chunky water would become orange juice, and I would drink deeply [...]
We all have lenses we look through. We carry these pieces of glass around, using them to clarify and focus the situations we find ourselves in—much like a camera. They are shards of our life experiences. Each one tells a story, reveals who we are, what street corner we found it on, who left it [...]
One of the biggest challenges to the way I perceive myself and my relationship with God has been my relationship with my daughter. I am a Quaker to the core, but somehow my daughter shows me up as the authoritarian judge waiting to strike down the disobedient that lurks under the surface. We are currently [...]
The prayers of a righteous man, so says the writer James, are effective and powerful. Not sure what that makes mine…but here goes: “Lord, may you give the whole community of NWYM and each member in it bold faith, persevering love, unity of mind and heart, compassion for others, a rich indwelling of your Spirit’s [...]
