Vitality

A personal reflection on FGC’s new governance structure, simplicity in Quaker faith, and the enduring spirit of renewal.

Thank you to everyone who gave so generously through the end of September. With your help, wemet the $20,000 match goal before the end of FGC’s fiscal year! Your gifts support FGC programs and services that nurture the spiritual vitality of Friends, and you are deeply appreciated.  Many of you added personal notes of support for…

For me, a big thing is ‘what does God want me to do?’ And my answer to that is use my work to somehow provide comfort, to somehow improve the lives of other people, to create moments of connection as opposed to ‘How far am I? How much further can I go?’ – Brandon Stanton,…

In the early 1980s, an interfaith group, including Quakers, was led to deepen their solidarity with immigrants in Central America. That contributed to the beginning of the interfaith sanctuary movement. The litigations that FGC and several affiliated yearly meetings have recently signed on to, as well as the countless ways Friends and meetings are standing together…

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…

You may know that the Friends General Conference Staff was in retreat this week at Pendle Hill in Wallingford, Pennsylvania this week.  I am happy to let you know that we have been rejuvenated and given language around our strengths and gifts. Besides letting you know how great our time was with one another, a…

Who’s ready for another reference to “The Wizard of Oz?” At the dawn of the 20th century, two journeys began. In 1900, L. Frank Baum introduced the world to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. That same year, Friends General Conference was born. Both have since spawned countless new versions, remixes, and re-visions. Quakerism, like Oz,…

The Friends General Conference Events Team is thrilled to announce the 2026 Gathering theme, “A Window and a Door: A Prayer,” which invites us to open ourselves to new perspectives and step into a deeper connection with the Spirit. This theme will guide our week of worship, workshops, and community-building as we gather from July…

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….

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…