Where does Quakers’ call to lobby for peace and justice come from? What do those origins have to say to Friends carrying their concerns into the world today?
The Quaker writer and speaker Marge Abbott considers these questions through the lenses of history of the Religious Society of Friends and the biblical sources they relied on. In conversation with Katie Breslin, Marge will discuss Friends’ historically complex relationship with law and government and what that history offers to Friends wrestling with these same questions today.
Katie Breslin is the former Young Adult Program Manager for the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a current member of the General Committee, and a seminarian studying Quaker ministry at Earlham School of Religion.
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About the Speakers
Margery Post Abbott has been traveling in the ministry, writing, and facilitating workshops on the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) for over 20 years. She carries a concern for making Friends’ voices heard more widely in the world, which takes her regularly to Washington, D.C., where she has served as presiding clerk of the Friends Committee on National Legislation.
Her books include “A Certain Kind of Perfection,” (Pendle Hill Publications, 1997), written with Pink Dandelion, Mary Ellen Chijioke, and John Oliver, “The Historical Dictionary of the Friends” (Scarecrow, 2007, 2012), “To Be Broken and Tender: A Quaker Theology for Today” (Western Friend, 2010) written with Peggy Senger Parsons, and “Walk Worthy of Your Calling: Quakers and the Traveling Ministry” (Friends United Press 2004). Her newest writing is “Walk Humbly, Serve Boldly, Modern Quakers as Everyday Prophets” (2018).
Katie Breslin is a Quaker, writer and advocate for peace and justice issues. Katie writes about issues related to religion, culture, and technology. She is currently a seminary student at Earlham School of Religion, where she is studying Quaker Ministry. Before coming to seminary, Katie worked at the Friends Committee on National Legislation and Catholics for Choice. At FCNL, Katie led the work of engaging young people to lobby Congress on peace and justice issues as their Young Adult Program Manager. She is a member of Friends Meeting of Washington and a sojourning member at West Richmond Friends Meeting. Katie currently lives in Richmond, Indiana with her cat Jada.