Quaker Faith & Podcast

This time we’re talking about death and how Quakers handle it. We cover Quaker memorial services/meetings/funerals and burial practices. Also, trigger warning for anyone sensitive to discussion of suicide, toward the end we talk about death with dignity laws. Transcript Mackenzie: Hi, welcome back to Quaker Faith and Podcast. We are your hosts, Mackenzie and […]

Sam Barnett-Cormack calls in to talk about nontheist Quakers. Sam is one. This has been requested by a few listeners. Micah is currently moving cross-country to be co-pastor (with his wife) at Berkeley Friends Church, so everybody wish him well. He’ll be back when things settle a little. Transcript Mackenzie: Hi. Welcome back to Quaker […]

This time we’re talking about a recent incident. A man named John Chau went to North Sentinel. He intended to talk to people whose language he didn’t know in order to bring them to Christ. He ended up dead. This is bringing up all sorts of ethical questions about missionaries working overseas. We talk about […]

This is another guest episode. When Hye Sung was on the show talking about charismatic gifts, we mentioned our good friend Elijah a few times. Elijah is a student at the same Quaker seminary Micah attended: Earlham School of Religion. Through Quaker Voluntary Service, he was a pastoral intern at West Hills Friends Church a […]

This time we’re talking about centering. Last time, Christy mentioned centering prayer as a Buddhist/Catholic practice with Quaker overlap. Transcript Speaker 1: Welcome to Quaker Faith and Podcast where we will explore traditional Quaker beliefs and the variety of Quaker beliefs found today. Mackenzie: Welcome back to Quaker Faith and Podcast with Mackenzie and Micah. […]

This time, Quaker academic Christy Randazzo joins us as a guest. They’ve studied all sorts of aspects of Quakerism, and this time we’re dealing with Quaker hybrids. Especially in the liberal Quaker world, you’ll find all sorts of Quaker hybrids. Some have cute names, like Quaker Pagans calling themselves “Quagans” and Quaker Catholics being “Quatholics.” […]

This time, Mackenzie has Hye Sung from the Friendly Fire Collective on the show as a guest, to talk about charismatic gifts. And it’s a long one, because we are going to talk about all the charismatic gifts we can think of! Years ago, Mackenzie told someone that Quakers speak from the Spirit. The question […]

We had a listener request to talk about the afterlife. So, to start off with: most cultures have some sort of idea that you somehow continue after your body dies. A lot of them, including that found in the Hebrew Bible, have everyone experiencing the same death after death. Micah gives an overview of some […]

This is the last episode we are doing from the book Traditional Quaker Christianity. We’re talking about integrity. This ties in a lot to our last episode, which was on plainness. People often use “integrity” and “honesty” interchangeably, but integrity is bigger. It means wholeness or completion. What’s whole? Well, you could say it’s our […]

The next section of the book we’re looking at is on simplicity and plainness. Since Mackenzie wears what Isabel Penraeth dubbed “plain modern” clothes, we’re gonna talk a fair bit about that. For reference, Mackenzie’s everyday clothes are a blouse, a black skirt, black boots, and a white head covering. Right up until that last […]

This time we’re talking about the Quaker peace testimony. We’re combining three sections of the book Traditional Quaker Christianity here. We start out with talking about the historical context (coronation of Charles II) in which Quakers first wrote the peace testimony. The peace testimony is basically like “Dear king: we believe violence is a sin, […]

Following last episode’s introduction to the Book of Revelation, we’re talking about the Lamb’s War, which comes directly from that book. It’s also the next bit in Traditional Quaker Christianity. This also means that, in general, we’re talking about spiritual warfare this time. Ok, first off, the lamb in the Book of Revelation is Jesus. […]

We had a listener request to talk about the Book of Revelation. We figure this would be a good intro before we dive into the Lamb’s War next time. The Book of Revelation is the only book on which George Fox wrote an entire treatise (PDF, go to page 127 as labeled at the top, to […]

Welcome to season 4! We’re on the final section of Traditional Quaker Christianity! Chapter 7A is on Quaker testimonies. Or Quaker testimony. We’re going to talk about the implications of those two. Quaker Testimony Testimony has two primary definitions: evidence in support of a fact, proof a public declaration regarding a religious experience Second things […]

Chapter 6G in Traditional Quaker Christianity is on eldering and oversight. Those correspond to roles that come from the New Testament, and they’re called various things in different Christian traditions. Eldering and oversight are also interpreted very differently in different Christian traditions. Eldering Sometimes eldering is described as “nurturing ministers.” We’ve talked about the position […]

This time we’re looking at section 6F in Traditional Quaker Christianity, which is really just a quote from Barclay’s Apology. The section is titled “Spirit-led Teachers.” The quote reflects the semi-Gnostic perspective the early Quakers found in the Gospel of John. Gnosticism makes a strong distinction between spirit (good) and material (bad). Really, the point […]

This time we’re talking about advices and queries, which is section 6E in Traditional Quaker Christianity. British Friends have a little red book called Advices and Queries. Other Quaker groups don’t tend to publish them separately—they’re a section in the Book of Discipline or the Faith & Practice. Advices The first advices came from the […]

Section 6D in Traditional Quaker Christianity is called “Clerking: an Aid for Decision Making,” meaning it’s about business process. Quaker business process is generally pretty much the same at least across the Western world. We’re less certain about how it’s done in Africa and Latin America. The book makes several assertions about business process that […]

We’re going off-book this time, because we felt like it. There’s a taboo on recording worship during waiting worship. This is especially the case with photography. This comes up most in regard to Quaker weddings. In non-Quaker weddings, it’s really common to have photography all throughout the wedding. Non-Quakers couples often have photos of themselves […]

This time around we’re discussing individualism and community in the Quaker tradition. Section 6C in Traditional Quaker Christianity quotes heavily from William Penn’s True Spiritual Liberty. The opening paragraph of this chapter is gold: Western individualism, which elevates individuals above the group, destroys community, eats away at our concern for others’ welfare, and too often […]