From our archives (February 2014): "Southern Illinois Quaker Meeting in Carbondale is a small meeting with about 20 regular attenders, most of whom aren’t members. Despite its small size, the meeting has funded four ministries in less than a decade."
"Gospel ministry is an old Quaker term, little used or understood among modern Friends," Peter Blood-Patterson says, but one we should refamiliarize ourselves with, so it's no longer "quite unusual" for meetings to recognize ongoing calls to vocal ministry as they become manifest among Friends.
At Pamela Haines's meeting, "we’ve developed a robust process for naming ministries, offering spiritual and sometimes financial support, and receiving reports... We maintain it with care and attention, the ministers and the ministries both benefit, and the impacts ripple out far beyond our meeting."
"Stuart Masters’s The Quaker Faith is one of a very short list of books on Quakerism that I can recommend without hesitation," says Paul Buckley.
Masters shows how each major strain of contemporary Quaker faith and practice has an authentic claim to be fulfilling the legacy of the earliest Friends.
The Hebrew word hesed describes a relationship—sometimes between two people, but more often between God and humanity. English words like "loyalty" or "trust" capture some of hesed's complexity, but they miss out on the "steadfast love" at the core of the relationship.
quaker.org/2026/06/01/i...
"Silence can be a means of fellowship with God."
After spending time listening to a Quaker podcast, one Episcopal priest reflects: "Perhaps, in the digital age, the ministers of the Church are being called to help our people learn the value of silence, of wordless worship."
Where did Quakers come from? What do they believe? And how did they get associated with oats? These are the sorts of questions Friends get asked on a regular basis. So we sat down with Steve Angell, a professor of Quaker studies at Earlham School of Religion, and got some solid answers.
In our September issue, we're revisiting the peace testimony: How does it speak to the experience of Friends today? Do we need to rethink some of its assumptions, or should we be doubling down?
We're accepting submissions (1,200-2,500 words) until June 22. Visit our website for more guidelines!
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.'”
The harvest of the blessed community awaits—what will we do to pitch in and bring it home?
quaker.org/2026/06/08/t...
“But recognition from the meeting as a minister is a high bar. What about everybody else?”
At Pamela Haines's meeting, "we’ve developed a robust process for naming ministries, offering spiritual and sometimes financial support, and receiving reports... We maintain it with care and attention, the ministers and the ministries both benefit, and the impacts ripple out far beyond our meeting."
Supporting gifts and leadings in our meeting community.
