Now — A Great Quaker Job Is Open

Help Us Fill The Best Quaker Job There Is

Are you worrying this week about Russia invading Ukraine and starting a European/NATO war?

What about China vs. Taiwan (& the U. S.)? And/or the Uighurs?

Then there’s the rise of authoritarianism in country after country that used to be at least sort of democratic? (Like the USA.)

Or have you been obsessing over Congress? Especially about who will come out ahead in the scramble for the big federal bucks?

Well, on this last, you can stop speculating. I’ll  tell you right now who’s going to win that race:

The war machine. It always wins, whoever occupies the White House and the Pentagon.

Last I looked, Congress had just upped the war budget again, $25 billion beyond the increase the White House had requested. 

And that’s why, among all those other things, we still need Quaker House in Fayetteville NC.

Quaker House doesn’t have any magic wands to roll back the war machine. But it does have the only live on-the-ground Quaker peace project next door to one of the largest military bases of all, where they’ve been bringing it since 1969.

It operates a GI Rights Hotline that takes several thousand calls a year from servicemembers, offering free counseling & support on issues of conscience, recruiting violations and other issues. Its domestic violence staffer works with military family members facing abuse, in a safe confidential space that is very rare in the army world.

Quaker House has joined other community groups grappling with racial justice issues. And during the hard Iraqistan years, it organized countless nonviolent vigils and rallies.

As this is written, the U. S. is hovering uneasily between big wars. Quaker House still has plenty of work.

And Quaker House now needs a new Director (or Co-Directors). Our former Director, Kindra Bradley, spent four busy and productive years, but unexpectedly stepped down in October, to deal with urgent family health issues.

Meanwhile, militarism remains as American as apple pie; even more so. Fort Bragg in North Carolina is one of the biggest military bases. Here the faraway wars are not just grist for policy wonks, pundits or social media: they come back home in actual broken bodies and spirits. The costs are counted by real families and communities. And Quaker House is the only active, long-term Friends peace project near a major base.

I say Quaker House offers the best, most real job in Quakerdom, and I stand by that, based on eleven years in the post. The testimony that underlies it is real, and it’s applied here in real time, with real people.

The Director is called on to deploy a wide range of skills, from the dramatic (big protests in open wartime), to the mundane (raising the budget, an every day concern), amid a dynamic, rapidly evolving “threat environment.” The Director will stretch and be stretched; the stakes are high.

And beyond the pay, there’s the reward of being a direct part of 350  years of ongoing peace witness: we won’t finish it, but we can know the fulfillment that comes from good work done full-tilt, and passed on intact.

The connections to Quakers are genuine too.  We don’t have a creed, but we’re part of a strong faith community with a long tradition of practical, persistent witness. Yet there’s nothing else in Quakerdom quite like it.

Quaker House is not a fly-by-night, Society of Trends activist fad. As Director, Kindra Bradley did a fine job of organizing –and celebrating– its 50th anniversary. (Last summer, though, anniversary 52 was marked with all work and no fanfare.)

Did I mention that the pay is good too? (Though, to be clear, the Director has to make sure the budget gets raised, to maintain that generous paycheck; this is no gravy train. Which in my book is another way of keeping things real.) Plus free rent and utilities in a darn nice house (all tax-free “income”), in what’s long been a pretty safe neighborhood; and health insurance.

It’s not a job for the faint of heart, the dilettante, the beginner or the unimaginative. An old saying is that ”Rust never sleeps.” The war machine doesn’t either.

The official notice for the Director search is here. Look it over. If the Friends Peace Testimony means anything to you, then you know this job needs to be filled right, and the sooner the better.

If it’s not your cup, you can still help. Pass this on to a promising candidate. The search  has already started, and the Quaker House board is eager to find the right candidate and get back to full strength.

Because, to repeat . . .

Rust never sleeps.