There are not many people who know George Schaefer and do not turn to him for wisdom, or for a much-needed and deft delivery of just-in-time Quaker advice and knowledge. This has been true on PYM staff, at every Annual Sessions, in crisis situations, and for those moments of song, fellowship, and joy that come our way as Friends in community.
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Quaker Authors
Letter from a Quaker Translator for Indigenous Peoples in Brazil
Meg Kidd is a Friend who has been translating human rights documentation for indigenous peoples in Brazil. The people she has been working with, the Mbya Guarani, have a deep relationship with nature and keen knowledge of botany, which makes this conversation by email an interesting story to share on Thanksgiving.
With thanks to Richard (Dick) Nurse, (Princeton Meeting) who brought this story to PYM.
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Norval Reece: Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and Other Mountains (Like the Pandemic)
With many thanks to Norval Reece of Newtown Monthly Meeting who wrote the following piece about his experience climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro following a Quaker assignment in India. Norval was at the Friends Centre in Delhi, sponsored by the AFSC and British Friends Service Council. He is a member of Newtown Meeting and previously published a version of this story in the Courier Times of Bucks County (PA).
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Quakerism and Constructive Conflict Addressed by Dr. Sa’ed Atshan
Dr. Sa’ed Atshan offered the closing keynote to 106 Friends at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s 341st Annual Sessions with a talk on managing conflict within the Religious Society of Friends. He spoke of the powerful healing force of a humble, empathetic approach to difficult conversations. In his personal work across the Palestinian-Israeli divide, he has forwarded a shared understanding of the facts, avoidance of social media, and an approach that recognizes the humanity of each person even when disagreeing. Dr. Atshan began the talk by sketching his Quaker schooling at Ramallah Friends School and credited Quakerism with shaping his thinking on constructive conflict.
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Interview: Annual Sessions Keynote Speaker Cherice Bock
Cherice Bock is our Keynote speaker for Saturday, July 31st at 4:30 PM. She lives in Oregon and is an adjunct professor of ecotheology at Portland Seminary. Cherice serves as the Creation Justice Advocate at Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. She holds an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and an M.S. in environmental studies from Antioch University New England. She is a Ph.D. candidate in environmental studies at Antioch University New England.
Cherice is an editor of Barclay Press’s Illuminate (Bible study curriculum written by Friends, for Friends). She also edits the environmental studies journal Whole Terrain as well as curates web content for the watershed discipleship website. As a recorded Quaker minister, Bock sees environmental concerns as one of this generation’s most important social justice issues.
In the interview below she shares some of her thinking around this important issue and its relationship with her faith. [Read more…] about Interview: Annual Sessions Keynote Speaker Cherice Bock
Quaker Educator: Interview with Jay Marshall, Dean Emeritus of Earlham School of Religion
This interview with educator, Jay Marshall follows our earlier conversations with educators Terry Nance, Sa’ed Atshan, Maurice Eldridge, and Sarah Willie-LeBreton.
A recorded Friends minister of North Carolina Yearly Meeting, Jay Marshall graduated from Guilford College in 1985. He earned his M.Div. in 1988 and a Ph.D. in 1992 from Duke University. He served as a Dean of the Earlham School of Religion, retiring in 2018 after 20 years of tenure. He continues to serve the Earlham religious community as Dean Emeritus. [Read more…] about Quaker Educator: Interview with Jay Marshall, Dean Emeritus of Earlham School of Religion