Fall 2024

This fall and winter our Quaker study group will read and discuss three Pendle Hill pamphlets: ‘Forging Beloved Community with Friends’ by Bridget Moix, ‘Humanity in the Face of Inhumanity’ by Sue Williams, and ‘A Culture of Faithfulness’ by Marcelle Martin. We chose these pamphlets because they speak to issues relevant to our growing worship group and tumultuous world. Our hope is that our discussions will help us discern how to best live out our Quaker testimonies for each other and the communities in which we live.

October 2024

Our first reading is “Forging Beloved Community with Friends” by Bridget Moix. This lecture is also available on line by coping the follow link into your browser:

Forging Beloved Community with Friends, with Bridget Moix – Stephen G. Cary Memorial Lecture 2023

Here is a set of Questions concerning our selected reading for Quaker Study Group on Friday.

Scott Mathews and Sarah Sharp will be leading the discussion.

1. What does Moix mean by a “beloved community” (title, p. 21)?  How about some of the other terms that she uses in her pamphlet, such as “Refiner’s Fire”/”transformative fire” (pp. 6, 13, 15);  “chrysalises,” “cocoon,” “womb” (pp. 8, 14)?  What do these terms mean to us as individuals, as Quakers?
2. Moix tells us that she drew the phrase “Refiner’s Fire” and its imagery from the writings of Marcelle Martin (p. 6).  Martin herself drew upon early Quakers’ writings for this phrase.  Together, Moix and Martin give us the chance to think about past Quakers, here in the United States and elsewhere.  How do all of these references to other Quakers affect your thinking about Friends’ history, activities, and ideas?
3.  On pp. 10-11, Moix lists the ways that “our world is in turmoil…”  Which of these weighs heaviest on you?  Or is there another way that isn’t listed?  How do you make your own path forward as a person and as a Quaker to absorb or confront what concerns you most?