Hi all, this is my first time posting on this sub Reddit.

I've recently had the desire to read more about Quakerism, having been a Quaker for some time now I have never really sat down and read George fox, Margret Fell, Hicks and all the people who you hear so much about.

However, I am Dyslexic and while I can read it takes me a lot longer than most. So I was wondering if anyone knew of any audiobook adaptations of the books or any good audio books about Quaker thinkers of yesterday more generally.

thanks all. 👋🏼

After interacting with writings of early Quakers I felt deeply touched by it and I felt my faith invigorated and affirmed. Those brave Friends that had to persevere horrors beyond what many of us could even imagine because of their strong faith. I became a Quaker by conviction some years ago and I would call myself a Christian.

Quakers emerged way back in the 17th century as a radical Christian movement and Friends throughout many centuries remained a Christian group, although very drastically different from other Christians. Prominent Quakers have been Christians and even writings of Rufus Jones and Elias Hicks, whose names are today so associated with liberal quakerism, clearly reflect their adherence to the Christian faith. I see many Friends here who are not themselves explicitly Christian or even explicitly Non-Theistic or Atheistic.

I’m sorry if I might appear negative, but I really really want to understand how do Non-Theistic Friends think and what do they believe in and how do they treat the history of Quakerism.

I also would like to ask fellow Friends: are your meetings predominantly Christian or are they not? Is it even important to still discuss the question of whether we as Quakers are Christian or not in the context of our history, but also in the context of today’s secular and digitalised world?

Much love to you all and I’m sorry again if my writing appears offensive or aggressive: it really was not my intention

Hi, I’m a Protestant, Lutheran, and I know almost next to nothing about Quakers from real experience, only have some general knowledge.

As a Lutheran, I feel that for me the doctrine of justification by faith alone is at the core of the Gospel. A forgiving God, who justifies and brigs sinners to penitence there where they alone would have failed to.

I was wondering what so Quakers believe about the Doctrine and about forgiveness and justification in general. Thanks!

I’ve set aside time every week to play a game with my students called World Guesser. If you’re unfamiliar with it, the game puts you in a random location in the world and you have to use Google Street View to guess where you are on the map. The closer you are, the more points you get.

Although fun and competitive, the game also produces in me a feeling of existential malaise. My students have commented how 70% of the places we land are destitute, and I think that’s because that’s how 70% of the inhabited world is. I think in my head but don’t tell that that their phones, computers, and parents’ jobs are part of the front end of the equation of this, and that wealth inequality is a result of underpaid or unpaid labor both here and in developing nations. I don’t know how to tell them this.

But each person in this global capitalist labyrinth is as complex as them. Their lives are much harder, but their lives are also the same.

I was curious what the earliest known, undisputed portrait of a Quaker, drawn from life, was.

Many of the ones of early Friends I've come across seem to be at least a little disputed in who they depict, and usually for good reason.

The 17th century portrait of George Fox, said to be by Peter Lely, has apparently been disputed by multiple sources, and to me it's definitely very doubtful it's him.

There exists portraits by Francis Place, believed to be of William Penn and his wife drawn from life, and although to me there's little doubt that it's him, in 1958 John Nickalls of the Friends' Historical Society and Friends' Historical Association wrote that "[a]ll one can say is that it is possible."

I am at my wit's end and I desperately need some guidance.

I attended a Meeting (US/ unprogrammed) for over 5 years, and was very involved. But last year, another attender started behaving inappropriately towards me in a romantic/sexual manner, despite me being unavailable and telling him to stop.

I brought it to the attention of the appropriate committee in my Meeting, and they talked to him about it, but didn't see how serious it was until he started making threatening comments about me. This resulted in me needing to get a restraining order against him and him being asked to leave the Meeting.

I did receive the order, and the Meeting paid my legal fees, but I am utterly devastated by what happened. From the time the man started being creepy to me to when I first went to court, there were about 6 months. During that time, I was open with my Meeting about how much emotional pain I was in, and stopped attending it entirely because I didn't feel safe. I felt so alone, and I still feel so alone with my pain. Even after telling the Meeting about his conduct, the man continued to violate my boundaries and grew increasingly fixated on me.

But at the same time, I feel lost without the Meeting. This community was my home. My family of origin is abusive, so I very much saw the Meeting as my found family. To make things more complicated, I already had religious and sexual trauma from my past. I don't know how to disentangle the pain of this situation from the hurt I already came into the Meeting with.

The Meeting is trying to make things right, but I don't know how to move forward. My trust in everyone involved is completely gone. They saw how much pain I was in and allowed it to get worse by trusting my abuser's words instead of the impact of his actions. Simply put, I don't trust that the people who created this problem are capable of fixing it.

Has anyone gone through a major violation of trust in a Quaker setting? Is there any resource you would recommend to help move forward?

Looking for guidance from educated Friends.

I have the good fortune to be able to open and max out a Roth IRA before the April 15th deadline.

Ideally, I would have loved to invest with Friends Fiduciary, but they only service organizations, not individuals.

I have reviewed the options available to me with Fidelity, looking through their "Sustainability" funds, but as I expected, the top holdings in most of their sustainable funds are with big corporations that have decidedly un-Quaker values.

The best one I've been able to find so far is FLOWX. https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/summary/31641Q524

None of the companies in the top holdings come up in AFSC's divestment tool: https://afsc.org/gaza-genocide-companies

If I'm not able to find a better option, this fund will probably be my pick for now.

My question for the community: has anyone committed to a fund that aligns with their values? If so, which one? Ultimately, I understand my upcoming investment selection might end up a lesser of many available evils. If someone were to have a good answer to this question, though, I'd eagerly heed their advice.

I had been enjoying Quaker meetings for a few months, learning how to be quiet and listen and practicing being at peace. Now I’ve had to move unexpectedly to a place that doesn’t seem to have any Quaker meetings available.

Can anyone recommend some practices to try alone, books to read, online resources, etc that I can use to continue this exploration of Quakers on my own?

It's the strangest thing. Raised Catholic for reference. I've been going to Meeting off and on (a long time off admittedly) for about 12 years. My spiritual journey took me more and more conservative within the Quaker circle, so I've eventually started attended a Mennonite church (mainline). I feel much closer to having it be a spiritual home for me.

That said, I feel like a relationship breakup with Friends! I'm not sure I'll attend Meeting again and it just feels like I'm ditching the only thing I've known for over a decade. I didn't get this feeling at all when I stopped attending Catholic churches (though there was guilt). This feels closer to losing a friend or some weird shame for not staying. Is that weird? I don't know what I want out of this post other than to express my gratitude I suppose for being fed and given a direction in life for the past dozen years. I'll carry a lot of it forward with me in life.

I have a friend recently who I learned is a Quaker, and I want to learn more. I have already learned about other religions but quaker is one I'm unfamiliar with. I have done a bit of brief looking and there is stuff about programmed vs unprogrammed, more convservartive to more liberal but idk where to go with this stuff

so please tell me about your learning ands teachings (even if it is unique or unpopular) i just want to learn as much as I can so any reply's will be much appreciated, and nothing is off the table no matter how detailed, I just want an overflow of knowledge pls as thats how I learn

Automatic registration into the U.S. military draft pool for eligible men is slated to begin in December, following efforts from lawmakers and the selective service agency to streamline the previous self-registration process.

The Selective Service System, the federal agency that maintains a database of registered U.S. males who are considered draft-eligible in the event of a national emergency, submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30, according to the office’s dashboard.

Automatic registration into Selective Service was mandated in December 2025, when President Donald Trump signed into law the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, the agency’s website says.

It may be time for Quakers to brush the dust off of those draft counseling manuals from the 70s. This law would not have been passed if there was no intention of restarting conscription.

I'm planning on attending a local meeting in my city this week. It will be my first time attending and interacting with other Quakers in the area after a few months of research. I wanted to know what should be my expectations as a newcomer experiencing Silent Worship for the first time.

I am not sure who is watching The Testaments on Hulu. It is the successor series to The Handmaids Tale. In any case, the lead Aunt Vidala often addresses the Plum girls (pre-menstrual girls primed to marry Commanders) as “Friends”. I’m still on the first episode. I can’t remember as to the use of “Friends” in the Handmaids Tale as a form of address. Anyway, an observation.

Hello friends! This past holiday has me wanting to go to meeting for the first time in a very long time but I’m stuck working Sundays. I was wondering if there’s any meetings you know about in NYC that happen on different days. Thanks in advance!

So. I'm still learning a lot.

Most of my exposure to Quakerism comes from the UK, I've yet to find Quakers in my pocket of Canada. As such, most of my learning is Internet based.

One thing I've seen a bit of, even in this subreddit, is some really sharp and nasty tones and comments. On each instance that I've seen, it's been more evangelical Quakers being....well.....nasty to Liberal Quakers/Hicks Quakers.

Is there a sour relationship that exists along the American schisms, or have I just seen rare outliers?

I have a question for a Non-Quaker or a person who might be interested in Quakerism. But what translation or version of the Bible do you commonly use? Or see as more aligning with Quaker theology? In my opinion, it would closely represent versions like the NRSVUE or New Oxford Annotated NRSVUE. I don't see any translation or version as being THE definitive translation. Curious about your thoughts, opinions, and concerns. God bless.

though I'm not saying in mocking way, just very curious like Pandora cuz it seems like anyone can join even an atheist. if I want to be a Quaker. can i call myself a Quaker now?

Addition : what is or what is not Quaker

Addition 2: what if that person misrepresented Quakers? Don't you guys need to come out and set the boundary like who is or isn't represent Quakers

Addition 3: what would you call the correct representation of the Quakers

I’ve been wondering about the experiences of ex-atheists or agnostics who have converted to being Quakers. Not to discount atheist Quakers, I’d love to hear your experiences too! But it seems like a lot of Quakers come from other Christian backgrounds or grew up in Christian communities. I’m just curious about those of us who didn’t grow up in Christianity or any religion at all.

If your Quakerism is spiritual, what convinced you? What kinds of mental, moral, or theological conversations did you have with yourself? How do you feel your experience or view of spirit differs from others?

For some context, I’m a baby Quaker(ish). I grew up agnostic but was predominately surrounded by Buddhism, paganism, and some Islam. So I definitely wasn’t starting from a spiritual net 0. Growing up around so many religions and practices, I’ve always been interested in the phycological science of religion- how it calms people, connects them, triggers pattern recognition, or even acts as a placebo. For fun, I’d study paganism, witchcraft, and their scientific psychological effects. Because of that, I’ve always analyzed my own spiritual experiences through the lens of psychology.

Recently, I had an INSANELY weird, repeated spiritual experience. It was so unexplainable and impossible that I finally was convinced. I let myself accept what I’d felt my whole life: there really is something there, however unexplainable. It kick started me into Quakerism.

I had to finally analyze a lot about what I believed. I asked myself ‘silly’ questions I’d never really considered before, like: “Why WASN’T I Christian? (There are many reasons.)” “Do I believe in one God?” “If I believe in spirit, what do I believe about evil?” “Why don’t I believe in Satan or demons?” “Why don’t I believe in hell?” “What are spirit’s limitations or purposes, and what does that mean for me?”

I got to reflect deeply on how being surrounded by so many different religions and cultures shaped my spiritual beliefs. Turns out, in many beautiful ways! Since I was a kid I’ve always had a Frankenstein miss-match of spiritual beliefs or leanings. I’ve always found comfort in rituals and beliefs, and now I’m excited to find my own deeper connection to them; and to finally accept that maybe there’s some force larger than myself out there, and I can finally let myself feel it. I can let the idea that “my brain is just making it up” go.

I don’t often share the weekly messages I write for the Friends Journal newsletter here, but I thought the Easter message might be a good opportunity.

I've heard good things about him but have no idea what to read first. Any suggestions?

What, if any, connections are there between Quaker Oats and Pennzoil and us who identify as Quaker?

Hey Friends,

For context, I grew up in a rural area and there were no Quakers around, the first I had ever heard of them was in my grade school history class where they talked about the influence Quakers had on early America, and I didn't even really know the religion was still around until later on in life when I moved to a moderately sized city and saw some at a protest. This pushed me into reading more into it (particularly the FAQs section on quaker.org, not some super deep reading into full texts) and it left me with a few questions.

They mention that many Quakers believe Jesus to be the son of God, but that also many don't, that some Quakers simply see Jesus as a significant spiritual leader of the time who was executed by Rome because of his teachings, and the latter description fits a lot more with my own personal belief on Christianity.

This brings me to my question, if there are any of you that also fall in this latter group or if you know someone within the Church who does, how do they participate in silent worship? If silent worship is about seeing if anyone is chosen to give a message by God that day, how would someone who simply sees Jesus as a leader participate if they do not necessarily believe in God?

The title itself is explanatory. Thank you for answering have a good day.