Matt Hisrich, who was in his second year as Dean of Earlham School of Religion in Richmond Indiana, was abruptly banned from campus on Wednesday December 16 2020. His Earlham email was revoked that morning, and he was directed to vacate the campus by 3 PM. Co-workers hurriedly gathered that afternoon to bid him a … Continue reading ESR Upheaval: Dean Resigns, Is Abruptly Banned
In mid-2014, a blast of church schism fever blew into the three-century old North Carolina Quaker community like a line of summer tornadoes. At its annual conference, a purge was suddenly demanded to “purify” their ranks of meetings deemed theologically “liberal” or friendly to LGBTQ persons. The same wave had already shattered Quaker groups in … Continue reading Solving the Mystery of “Murder at Quaker Lake”
English-speaking Quakers today are in dire need of some new “spiritual” books, and I have a top candidate to recommend here. It is John Calvi’s How far Have You Traveled? Amid all the wonderful stuff that’s in it, some of what makes Calvi’s book so excellent is what’s not in it. For example — and … Continue reading John Calvi: Boon Companion for Spiritual Travel
Plunging into Michael Cohen’s book, “Disloyal,” I’m more intrigued by the account of his self-seduction than any of his politically-charged disclosures, at least so far. Besides, the really smarmy stuff will be scrapped over & gnawed on by all the big media dogs. Instead, I was more struck by passages like this: To an outsider, … Continue reading Michael Cohen’s “Disloyal”: A Theological Review
It didn’t look or feel like lighting the fuse to a load of dynamite. But that’s what West Richmond Friends Meeting in Indiana did in June 2008 when they added a minute to their website. They placed the post without fanfare. But the fuse, once lit, sputtered and flashed for several years, and the … Continue reading Indiana Trainwreck: Trauma in Midwestern Quakerdom