Vitality

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…

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…

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…

…queens and rainbow balloons without feeling afraid. The person with the pennywhistle did not waver. They stayed by the men for an hour, beeping. They had found a way to harmonize with the horn. Johanna Jackson Communications Coordinator…

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…

In May 2025, FGC noticed an uptick in positive comments from Friends on social media that were personal, kind, and specific.

As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had…