Rashid Darden

Last week I shared the stories of two congregations in a major metropolitan area:  my meeting and my childhood church in DC.  I promised that I would discuss how each community could contemplate outreach and growth.  However, I’ll generalize the answers for even further relatability. In one faith community, the neighborhood became largely Spanish speaking….

Intermountain Yearly Meeting Statement of Conscience This statement was approved by the body gathered for the Intermountain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society ofFriends (Quakers) meeting for business on May 31, 2025. As Quakers, members of Intermountain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, we believe in the inherent worth of every person. We…

One thing I recall about growing up churchy in the 1980s and 1990s was that church was typically nearby, part of the community, and, broadly speaking, a family of families. I grew up in the Greater Tried Stone Baptist Church in the Columbia Heights section of Northwest Washington, DC. Established over a hundred years ago, Tried Stone…

In the case of Mennonite Church USA et al v. DHS, the suit that FGC is involved in, a briefing schedule has been set by the court.

Earlier this year, I sent a message comparing the 125th anniversary of the publication of The Wizard of Oz to the 125th anniversary of Friends General Conference, both occurring this year. At the annual sessions of North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative), I continued that idea, reminding Friends that even though the Quaker faith exists in many…

In this video, Dr. Harold D. Weaver, Jr. and Dr. Emma Lapsansky-Werner share about the making of “Black Fire.” In the process, they explore topics like segregation in Quaker spaces, liberation, and direct repair for slavery.

This week, my colleague Johanna alerted me to a poem written by Langston Hughes. It reads, in part: I swear to the LordI still can’t seeWhy Democracy meansEverybody but me. It reminded me of a speech from Frederick Douglass that I am quite familiar with, in which he asks “What, to the slave, is the Fourth of July?” I…

I want to hear from you! Outreach is one of the many things I do with FGC, and I want to hear what you have to say about it. Many Friends confide in me that they are concerned about the future of Quakerism in North America. They say their meetings are shrinking. Well, it’s time…

It’s Pride Month! I am grateful to be a member of a meeting that has wrestled with how to become more welcoming to the LGBTQIA+ community over the years. As a result of years of discernment, my meeting is now a place where I have never doubted whether my sexual orientation would be counted against…

Many of you know by now that I have written a novel called A Peculiar Legacy. It is available at QuakerBooks, which I hope you are already in the habit of supporting. Part of the novel depicts a fictionalized version of Jennie Mustapha, a very real, and very fascinating Black Quaker woman. She spent over 40 years in…

An update on Mennonite Church USA v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security from Friends General Conference.

QuakerPress of Friends General Conference (FGC) proudly announces the release of the audiobook edition of Black Fire: African American Quakers on Spirituality and Human Rights. This groundbreaking anthology, originally edited by Dr. Harold D. Weaver, Jr., brings to life the voices of African Americans within and adjacent to the Quaker community, offering profound insights into…