Friends Journal
@friendsjournal.org
Friends Publishing is a non-profit organization dedicated to communicating Quaker experience in order to connect & deepen spiritual lives. Friends Journal is our flagship publication, with a legacy that goes back to 1827.
Quakers' understanding of pastoral ministry has set them apart from other Christian denominations for nearly 400 years.
As he considers how these views have shifted, Jasson Arevalo wonders: Will there be Friends willing to carry forward the legacy of faithfulness and obedience of past generations?
As he considers how these views have shifted, Jasson Arevalo wonders: Will there be Friends willing to carry forward the legacy of faithfulness and obedience of past generations?
You Will Be Told What You Must DoA Biblical Perspective on Quaker PastorsA Biblical Perspective on Quaker Pastors
A biblical perspective on Quaker pastors.
www.friendsjournal.org
December 15, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Quakers' understanding of pastoral ministry has set them apart from other Christian denominations for nearly 400 years.
As he considers how these views have shifted, Jasson Arevalo wonders: Will there be Friends willing to carry forward the legacy of faithfulness and obedience of past generations?
As he considers how these views have shifted, Jasson Arevalo wonders: Will there be Friends willing to carry forward the legacy of faithfulness and obedience of past generations?
Quakers believe every day is sacred, and that those of us with a Christ-centered faith celebrate Jesus's birth, death, and resurrection all the time, not just at Christmas and Easter.
Still, as QuakerSpeak viewers learned in 2020, many Friends take comfort in the year-end focus on the Nativity.
Still, as QuakerSpeak viewers learned in 2020, many Friends take comfort in the year-end focus on the Nativity.
Do Quakers Celebrate Christmas? - QuakerSpeak
We spoke with several Friends about the significance of this holiday season.
quakerspeak.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Quakers believe every day is sacred, and that those of us with a Christ-centered faith celebrate Jesus's birth, death, and resurrection all the time, not just at Christmas and Easter.
Still, as QuakerSpeak viewers learned in 2020, many Friends take comfort in the year-end focus on the Nativity.
Still, as QuakerSpeak viewers learned in 2020, many Friends take comfort in the year-end focus on the Nativity.
The challenge facing Quakers today is how to feel and share the experience described by George Fox: “There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition.” How can that experience be described and shared in new ways, using contemporary language?
Back to the Books
Reimagining the core of our faith.
www.friendsjournal.org
December 12, 2025 at 1:00 PM
The challenge facing Quakers today is how to feel and share the experience described by George Fox: “There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition.” How can that experience be described and shared in new ways, using contemporary language?
Reposted by Friends Journal
What if instead of asking what #Quakers believe, we talked about what Quakers love? I talked with Tom Gates this morning about Quaker beliefs and his article in this month’s @friendsjournal.org
What Do We Love?
YouTube video by Friends Journal Quakers
youtube.com
December 10, 2025 at 11:32 PM
What if instead of asking what #Quakers believe, we talked about what Quakers love? I talked with Tom Gates this morning about Quaker beliefs and his article in this month’s @friendsjournal.org
The award-winning Chooch Helped is a charming story of sibling rivalry in a present-day Cherokee family living in the United States. Both the author and the illustrator are citizens of the Cherokee Nation, and the book includes words and imagery from Cherokee language and culture.
REVIEWED: Chooch Helped
This charming story of sibling rivalry was awarded the 2025 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children.
www.friendsjournal.org
December 11, 2025 at 1:01 PM
The award-winning Chooch Helped is a charming story of sibling rivalry in a present-day Cherokee family living in the United States. Both the author and the illustrator are citizens of the Cherokee Nation, and the book includes words and imagery from Cherokee language and culture.
What drew audiences to John the Baptist? Quite simply, they came because he had a message that, to borrow a turn of phrase from George Fox, spoke to their condition. They chafed under the rule of a foreign oppressor, and John declared God would soon come to liberate them.
quaker.org/2025/12/08/w...
quaker.org/2025/12/08/w...
December 10, 2025 at 6:56 PM
What drew audiences to John the Baptist? Quite simply, they came because he had a message that, to borrow a turn of phrase from George Fox, spoke to their condition. They chafed under the rule of a foreign oppressor, and John declared God would soon come to liberate them.
quaker.org/2025/12/08/w...
quaker.org/2025/12/08/w...
"If we keep silent as a people,
the half-believing, the lukewarm…
ones who should come forward
but stay in the mountains’ shadows,
the coolness of caves,
silent as if they had no tongues,
then even the rocks will cry out,
which have no tongues."
—from "Even the Rocks Will Cry Out," Cynthia Gallaher
the half-believing, the lukewarm…
ones who should come forward
but stay in the mountains’ shadows,
the coolness of caves,
silent as if they had no tongues,
then even the rocks will cry out,
which have no tongues."
—from "Even the Rocks Will Cry Out," Cynthia Gallaher
Even the Rocks Will Cry Out
A poem by Cynthia Gallaher.
www.friendsjournal.org
December 10, 2025 at 1:01 PM
"If we keep silent as a people,
the half-believing, the lukewarm…
ones who should come forward
but stay in the mountains’ shadows,
the coolness of caves,
silent as if they had no tongues,
then even the rocks will cry out,
which have no tongues."
—from "Even the Rocks Will Cry Out," Cynthia Gallaher
the half-believing, the lukewarm…
ones who should come forward
but stay in the mountains’ shadows,
the coolness of caves,
silent as if they had no tongues,
then even the rocks will cry out,
which have no tongues."
—from "Even the Rocks Will Cry Out," Cynthia Gallaher
Ten months ago, the Trump administration deported two planeloads of asylum seekers—including 81 children—to Costa Rica, where they were put into a de facto prison. A group of Quakers in Monteverde was led to confront the Costa Rican government—and welcome some of these refugees into their community.
Welcoming the Stranger
Quakers in Costa Rica support asylum seekers deported by Trump.
www.friendsjournal.org
December 9, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Ten months ago, the Trump administration deported two planeloads of asylum seekers—including 81 children—to Costa Rica, where they were put into a de facto prison. A group of Quakers in Monteverde was led to confront the Costa Rican government—and welcome some of these refugees into their community.
Benjamin Lay became one of the first Quakers to take up the cause of abolition, well before most other Friends saw its spiritual necessity. Historian Marcus Rediker has spent nearly a decade telling Lay's story to as many audiences as possible—with a new biography for children joining the portfolio.
REVIEWED: Fearless Benjamin: The Quaker Dwarf Who Fought Slavery
“The lad is fiercely Quaker. He believes that all humans are born equal, [and] that he should trust his heart to know what’s right.”
www.friendsjournal.org
December 9, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Benjamin Lay became one of the first Quakers to take up the cause of abolition, well before most other Friends saw its spiritual necessity. Historian Marcus Rediker has spent nearly a decade telling Lay's story to as many audiences as possible—with a new biography for children joining the portfolio.
"If meetings exist only to comfort us, they will not sustain us," Tom Rockwell warns. "They certainly will not make us models of an entirely different way of living from secular culture."
Let's choose connection over isolation, and testify to our belief no one is outside the reach of God’s love.
Let's choose connection over isolation, and testify to our belief no one is outside the reach of God’s love.
That of God in Our Polity
Rejecting the temptations of limited grace.
www.friendsjournal.org
December 8, 2025 at 1:01 PM
"If meetings exist only to comfort us, they will not sustain us," Tom Rockwell warns. "They certainly will not make us models of an entirely different way of living from secular culture."
Let's choose connection over isolation, and testify to our belief no one is outside the reach of God’s love.
Let's choose connection over isolation, and testify to our belief no one is outside the reach of God’s love.
"I know from my own experience that the more I say something, the harder it is to listen to what I’m saying, and the less it means," Pamela Haines writes. "So I’m skeptical about putting a lot of weight on the value of saying what we believe."
So how DO Friends figure out our shared vision, then?
So how DO Friends figure out our shared vision, then?
What We Can Trust
Reaping the harvests of our shared practice.
www.friendsjournal.org
December 5, 2025 at 5:45 PM
"I know from my own experience that the more I say something, the harder it is to listen to what I’m saying, and the less it means," Pamela Haines writes. "So I’m skeptical about putting a lot of weight on the value of saying what we believe."
So how DO Friends figure out our shared vision, then?
So how DO Friends figure out our shared vision, then?
In The Littlest Drop, a hummingbird is building her nest in preparation for laying eggs when, not far away, a small spark lands on a leaf and grows into a raging inferno. As other animals shelter near the river, the hummingbird begins to carry water in her beak, one drop at a time, to the fire.
REVIEWED: The Littlest Drop
Everyone has something to offer—and working together, using those various gifts, we can overcome obstacles.
www.friendsjournal.org
December 4, 2025 at 1:00 PM
In The Littlest Drop, a hummingbird is building her nest in preparation for laying eggs when, not far away, a small spark lands on a leaf and grows into a raging inferno. As other animals shelter near the river, the hummingbird begins to carry water in her beak, one drop at a time, to the fire.
"From my cavern of envy, I present to you Rant #42.
My wife has each one numbered, you see.
This one concerns the barren cupboard of my life—self-pity
at how we can’t even dream of buying a parking space
in the neighborhoods where we once lived…"
—from "Real Estate Blues" by Alexander Levering Kern
My wife has each one numbered, you see.
This one concerns the barren cupboard of my life—self-pity
at how we can’t even dream of buying a parking space
in the neighborhoods where we once lived…"
—from "Real Estate Blues" by Alexander Levering Kern
Real Estate Blues
A poem by Alexander Levering Kern.
www.friendsjournal.org
December 3, 2025 at 9:01 PM
"From my cavern of envy, I present to you Rant #42.
My wife has each one numbered, you see.
This one concerns the barren cupboard of my life—self-pity
at how we can’t even dream of buying a parking space
in the neighborhoods where we once lived…"
—from "Real Estate Blues" by Alexander Levering Kern
My wife has each one numbered, you see.
This one concerns the barren cupboard of my life—self-pity
at how we can’t even dream of buying a parking space
in the neighborhoods where we once lived…"
—from "Real Estate Blues" by Alexander Levering Kern
Like John the Baptist, George Fox could sense the ax at the root of the trees, ready to cut everything down. He was convinced that the Spirit of Christ was already moving through this world—and he wanted to help others recognize and embrace that presence among them.
quaker.org/2025/12/01/e...
quaker.org/2025/12/01/e...
December 3, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Like John the Baptist, George Fox could sense the ax at the root of the trees, ready to cut everything down. He was convinced that the Spirit of Christ was already moving through this world—and he wanted to help others recognize and embrace that presence among them.
quaker.org/2025/12/01/e...
quaker.org/2025/12/01/e...
John Allen built a one-room cabin with a loft in Snow Camp, North Carolina, around 1780. His descendant, Marjorie Allen, was the last child born in the cabin, and narrates a story from her childhood (as told to her daughter, Jean Parvin Bordewich) in The Lost Book.
REVIEW: The Lost Book: An Allen House Mystery
What was life like for a family of 12 in a one-room cabin in 1930s North Carolina?
www.friendsjournal.org
December 2, 2025 at 5:01 PM
John Allen built a one-room cabin with a loft in Snow Camp, North Carolina, around 1780. His descendant, Marjorie Allen, was the last child born in the cabin, and narrates a story from her childhood (as told to her daughter, Jean Parvin Bordewich) in The Lost Book.
There is a prominent strain in Christian spirituality that teaches that we do not become better persons by obtaining more knowledge or different beliefs but by acquiring better loves. Hence, early Quakers exhorted one another to “love the Light”—even when it shows us things we would rather not see.
Beyond What Words Can Utter
Moving past the question of belief.
www.friendsjournal.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:30 PM
There is a prominent strain in Christian spirituality that teaches that we do not become better persons by obtaining more knowledge or different beliefs but by acquiring better loves. Hence, early Quakers exhorted one another to “love the Light”—even when it shows us things we would rather not see.
"Advent isn’t only about waiting for something to happen in the future. It’s about noticing what’s already holy now. The Christ who is coming has already come—and keeps coming still."—Teri McDowell Ott, @presoutlook.bsky.social.
That advice would surely have resonated with the earliest Quakers.
That advice would surely have resonated with the earliest Quakers.
First Sunday of Advent — November 30, 2025
Advent isn’t just waiting for what’s coming — it’s seeing what’s already holy now. Slow down, notice, and stay awake to God’s presence.
pres-outlook.org
November 30, 2025 at 1:01 PM
"Advent isn’t only about waiting for something to happen in the future. It’s about noticing what’s already holy now. The Christ who is coming has already come—and keeps coming still."—Teri McDowell Ott, @presoutlook.bsky.social.
That advice would surely have resonated with the earliest Quakers.
That advice would surely have resonated with the earliest Quakers.
"Making a knife for me is sort of like meeting for worship," Henry Freeman told us in 2024. As you get settled in, he explained, "there are parts of making that knife that are very routine... The place I really get to feel centered is when I get to the part of making the knife that really matters."
A Quaker Way of Knife Making - QuakerSpeak
quakerspeak.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:54 PM
"Making a knife for me is sort of like meeting for worship," Henry Freeman told us in 2024. As you get settled in, he explained, "there are parts of making that knife that are very routine... The place I really get to feel centered is when I get to the part of making the knife that really matters."
Some people look at the beloved community as a purely human endeavor, where everybody treats each other well because it makes sense to live that way. Others see God’s hand in its creation: “See,” God told the ancient Israelites, “I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.”
I Have Set Before You Today Life and Prosperity
New for 2025, the Bible Study column runs four times a year in the February, May, August, and November issues.
www.friendsjournal.org
November 28, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Some people look at the beloved community as a purely human endeavor, where everybody treats each other well because it makes sense to live that way. Others see God’s hand in its creation: “See,” God told the ancient Israelites, “I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.”
"On the platform of the Lexington Avenue and 96th Street station, a tall man was bent over a trash container. His body was folded at the waist, and his long, thrashing arms banged against the sides of the container, tipping it from side to side..."
A Thanksgiving story from Jeanine M. Dell’Olio.
A Thanksgiving story from Jeanine M. Dell’Olio.
Thanksgiving on the IRT - Friends Journal
A rushed moment on a New York subway platform is suddenly transformed.
www.friendsjournal.org
November 27, 2025 at 5:01 PM
"On the platform of the Lexington Avenue and 96th Street station, a tall man was bent over a trash container. His body was folded at the waist, and his long, thrashing arms banged against the sides of the container, tipping it from side to side..."
A Thanksgiving story from Jeanine M. Dell’Olio.
A Thanksgiving story from Jeanine M. Dell’Olio.
“Contemplation," Pico Iyer writes, "does not in any case mean closing your eyes so much as opening them, to the glory of everything around you. Coming to your senses, by getting out of your head.”
REVEIWED: Aflame: Learning from Silence
Pico Iyer offers meaningful guidance on slowing down and listening to that of God within ourselves, each other, and the natural world.
www.friendsjournal.org
November 27, 2025 at 1:01 PM
“Contemplation," Pico Iyer writes, "does not in any case mean closing your eyes so much as opening them, to the glory of everything around you. Coming to your senses, by getting out of your head.”
Reposted by Friends Journal
Have you sat in silent worship and had your mind spin out of control? I can totally relate. Centering is not always peaceful; sticking with it has enriched me. Listen to Quakers Today podcast as we demystify the internal experience of "waiting worship."
www.quakerstoday.org
@friendsjournal.org
www.quakerstoday.org
@friendsjournal.org
November 25, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Have you sat in silent worship and had your mind spin out of control? I can totally relate. Centering is not always peaceful; sticking with it has enriched me. Listen to Quakers Today podcast as we demystify the internal experience of "waiting worship."
www.quakerstoday.org
@friendsjournal.org
www.quakerstoday.org
@friendsjournal.org
Throughout history, people have tried to frighten the masses into believing the world will end, plunging us all into eternal torment. In Christian circles, this is often associated with "the Rapture."
Quakers (usually) don't get caught up in these panics—why not?
quaker.org/2025/11/24/y...
Quakers (usually) don't get caught up in these panics—why not?
quaker.org/2025/11/24/y...
November 26, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Throughout history, people have tried to frighten the masses into believing the world will end, plunging us all into eternal torment. In Christian circles, this is often associated with "the Rapture."
Quakers (usually) don't get caught up in these panics—why not?
quaker.org/2025/11/24/y...
Quakers (usually) don't get caught up in these panics—why not?
quaker.org/2025/11/24/y...
From the spring day in 1652 when Margaret Fell met George Fox and became convinced of the truth of Quaker ways, she threw herself wholeheartedly into the young movement. Shulamith Clearbridge takes a fresh look at one of Margaret's many letters, finding much wisdom in her words for us today.
Stand Still Where the Strength Is
Margaret Fell for modern Friends.
www.friendsjournal.org
November 26, 2025 at 1:00 PM
From the spring day in 1652 when Margaret Fell met George Fox and became convinced of the truth of Quaker ways, she threw herself wholeheartedly into the young movement. Shulamith Clearbridge takes a fresh look at one of Margaret's many letters, finding much wisdom in her words for us today.
Can Mary Magdalene be an example for Quakers?
Jennifer Powell McNutt's The Mary We Forgot suggests the Magdalene’s apostleship (commissioned by God, outside of any formal office and despite cultural barriers) can—and should—challenge the church to cultivate women's gifts for faith and ministry.
Jennifer Powell McNutt's The Mary We Forgot suggests the Magdalene’s apostleship (commissioned by God, outside of any formal office and despite cultural barriers) can—and should—challenge the church to cultivate women's gifts for faith and ministry.
REVIEWED: The Mary We Forgot: What the Apostle to the Apostles Teaches the Church Today
By misunderstanding Mary Magdalene’s story in the gospels, we miss crucial aspects of Jesus’s ministry to both men and women.
www.friendsjournal.org
November 25, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Can Mary Magdalene be an example for Quakers?
Jennifer Powell McNutt's The Mary We Forgot suggests the Magdalene’s apostleship (commissioned by God, outside of any formal office and despite cultural barriers) can—and should—challenge the church to cultivate women's gifts for faith and ministry.
Jennifer Powell McNutt's The Mary We Forgot suggests the Magdalene’s apostleship (commissioned by God, outside of any formal office and despite cultural barriers) can—and should—challenge the church to cultivate women's gifts for faith and ministry.