Public Ministry

Ashley M. Wilcox is the Executive Director of Public Friends. Their mission is to ensure the future of Friends in North America by supporting and developing Quaker ministers to a professional standard. The views expressed here are Ashley’s and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Friends General Conference. LG’s story is not unusual. A…

I want to frame this with my concern for building the trustworthy church. And, to me a trustworthy church, in Quaker terms, is a church where the leadership, the visible leadership, knows or is reminded by the rebels that our single most important query that faces any business meeting is “what does God want to…

An article by Windy Cooler about how meetings do, or do not, support public ministry among their members.

by Windy Cooler I need to find ways to put my love into the world. It is frustrating but the Society of Friends does not have the kinds of relationships I longed for. What [I have] learned was a lot of people were getting hurt. A public minister in the liberal tradition, Fall 2023

by Windy Cooler Throughout Friends General Conference, Friends are taking up the cause of “right relationship,” as 18th-century Quaker public minister John Woolman advocated. This cause involves addressing previously taboo issues and bringing hidden hurts into the healing light. This is the essence of a public minister’s role: summoning the courage to confront harsh realities,…