Life Lessons from a Bad Quaker: A Humble Stumble Toward Simplicity and Grace
by J Brent Bill

On quick observation, the Quaker lifestyle boasts peace, solitude, and simplicity—qualities that are attractive to any believer of any denomination or religion. Yet living a life of faith is not as simple as it may look. In fact, it’s often characterized more by the stumbles than the grace.

“When someone asks me what kind of Christian I am,” says Quaker author J. Brent Bill, “I say I’m a bad one. I’ve got the belief part down pretty well, I think. It’s in the practice of my belief in everyday life where I often miss the mark.” In Life Lessons from a Bad Quaker, a self-professed non-expert on faith invites readers on a joyful exploration of the faith journey—perfection not required. With whimsy, humor, and wisdom, Bill shows readers how to put faith into practice to achieve a life that is soulfully still yet active, simple yet satisfying, peaceful yet strong.

For anyone who is bad at being good, this is an invitation to a pilgrimage toward a more meaningful and satisfying life . . . one step—or stumble—at a time.

5.5 x 8.5 inch, 208 p. paperback
ISBN: 9781630881313
Cost: $16.99

This book can be ordered directly through Abingdon Press

Finding God in the Verbs: Crafting a Fresh Language of Prayer
by Jennie Isbell and J. Brent Bill

Do you long for deeper communion with God? Spiritual director Jennie Isbell and Quaker minister Brent Bill know how easy it is to lapse into repetitious refrains of prayer:

“Our hearts told us that we had lapsed into easy God speak. We weren’t reaching deep into our spirits and drawing out living words of praise, confession, concern, intercession and longing. We were tired of speaking in clipped shorthand to God. We wanted to pray in such a way that we showed up with our whole selves.”

If you have experienced a similar longing, come join the authors on this prayer journey into the deep waters of the Spirit. This book offers companionship and guidance as you begin to notice, consider and deepen your prayer experiences, with refreshing exercises sprinkled through every chapter to offer you a fresh language for prayer. Find God here—in the nouns and the verbs of your conversation.

5.5 x 8.2 inch, 362 p. paperback
ISBN: 9780830835966
Cost: $16.00

This book can be ordered directly through Intervarsity Press

Eastern Light: Awakening to Presence in Zen, Quakerism, and Christianity
by Steve Smith

This spiritual autobiography integrates perspectives of early Quakers, Zen Buddhists, and contemporary Christian thinkers. Smith draws from these sources as he tells a personal tale of his Quaker childhood, his years of spiritual crisis, and his ultimate return to Quakerism by way of Zen Buddhism. Along the way, Smith explores and explains the Quaker peace testimony and liberal Quaker views of gender, power, education, and care for the natural world.

5.5 x 8.5 inch, 242 p. paperback
ISBN: 9781941309001
Cost: $22.00

This book can be ordered directly through Western Friend

Giving Up Something Good for Something Better
by Sister Alegria del Senor

In this chronicle of the development of Amigas del Señor Monastery in rural Honduras, Sisters Alegría and Confianza tell of the joys, struggles, and adventures they encounter in a country beleaguered by poverty and violence. Sharing in a Covenant of Caring with Multnomah Monthly Meeting, the two women are perpetually professed Methodist Sisters, working to improve healthcare at a local clinic, while walking a path of spiritual insights.

6 x 9 inch, 362 p. paperback
ISBN: 9781539888123
Cost: $15.00

This book can be ordered directly through Western Friend

Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War
by Helen Thorpe

“A raw, intimate look at the impact of combat and the healing power of friendship” (People): the lives of three women deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, and the effect of their military service on their personal lives and families—named a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly.

“In the tradition of Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Richard Rhodes, and other masters of literary journalism, Soldier Girls is utterly absorbing, gorgeously written, and unforgettable” (The Boston Globe). Helen Thorpe follows the lives of three women over twelve years on their paths to the military, overseas to combat, and back home…and then overseas again for two of them. These women, who are quite different in every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to stay connected to their families back home. We see some of them drink too much, have affairs, and react to the deaths of fellow soldiers. And we see what happens to one of them when the truck she is driving hits an explosive in the road, blowing it up. She survives, but her life may never be the same again.

Deeply reported, beautifully written, and powerfully moving, Soldier Girls is “a breakthrough work…What Thorpe accomplishes in Soldier Girls is something far greater than describing the experience of women in the military. The book is a solid chunk of American history…Thorpe triumphs” (The New York Times Book Review).

5.5 x 8.4 inch, 432 p. paperback
ISBN: 9781451668117
Cost: $17.00

This book can be ordered directly through Simon & Schuster

Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America
by Helen Thorpe

Now updated, the powerful account of four young Mexican women coming of age in Denver, two who have legal documentation, two who don’t, and what happens to them as a result.

Just Like Us tells the story of four high school students whose parents entered this country illegally from Mexico. We meet the girls on the eve of their senior prom in Denver, Colorado. All four of the girls have grown up in the United States, and all four want to live the American dream, but only two have documents. As the girls attempt to make it into college, they discover that only the legal pair sees a clear path forward. Their friendships start to divide along lines of immigration status.

Then the political firestorm begins. A Mexican immigrant shoots and kills a police officer. The author happens to be married to the Mayor of Denver, a businessman who made his fortune in the restaurant business. In a bizarre twist, the murderer works at one of the Mayor’s restaurants—under a fake Social Security number. A local Congressman seizes upon the murder as proof of all that is wrong with American society and Colorado becomes the place where national arguments over immigration rage most fiercely. The rest of the girls’ lives play out against this backdrop of intense debate over whether they have any right to live here.

Just Like Us is a coming-of-age story about girlhood and friendship, as well as the resilience required to transcend poverty. It is also a book about identity—what it means to steal an identity, what it means to have a public identity, what it means to inherit an identity from parents. The girls, their families, and the critics who object to their presence allow the reader to watch one of the most complicated social issues of our times unfurl in a major American city. And the perspective of the author gives the reader insight into both the most powerful and the most vulnerable members of American society as they grapple with the same dilemma: Who gets to live in America? And what happens when we don’t agree?

5.5 x 8.4 inch, 416 p. paperback
ISBN: 9781416538981
Cost: $17.00

This book can be ordered directly through Simon & Schuster

A Language for the Inward Landscape: Wisdom from the Quaker Tradition
by Brian Drayton and William P. Taber, Jr.

As Quakers expressed and reflected upon their experience of life under the guidance of the spirit of Christ, they developed a rich vocabulary to describe those experiences. This vocabulary played an important role in Quaker spiritual formation and community life from the beginning of the movement in 1650, and continues today as modern seekers wrestle with describing their experiences.

When Bill Taber died in 2005, he left behind notes on a project: “A language for the inward landscape.” Key phrases provide important insights into the nature of inward experience over time and can help people explore their spiritual experience with an enriched vocabulary. Brian Drayton compiled these notes and expanded them.

Readers (both Quaker and non-Quaker) may find this language conveys a distinctive “alternative Christianity” combining mystical and prophetic experiences with God and in community.

6 X 9 inch, 192 p. hard cover
ISBN: 9781943290086
Cost: $20.00

This book can be ordered directly through
1) The Tract Association of Friends, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia PA 19102-1403 or by e-mail
info@tractassociation.org
2) QuakerBooks@FGC (at Pendle Hill) 338 Plush Mill Road, Wallingford PA 19086; Phone: 1-800-966-4556 or +1-215-561-1700 x3044 (international) bookstore@fgcquaker.org

By Nancy L. Haines
Illustrated by Anne E. G. Nydam

How can children work cooperatively to make decisions? Approved! A Story About Quaker Meeting for Business tells of a group of children who want to donate the money they earned selling hot dogs at their Quaker meeting. The story uses simple, clear language and charming artwork to introduce Quaker process, highlighting
•The role of the clerk and recording clerk
•Reporting to meeting for business
•Participating in spiritual discernment
•Identifying the sense of the meeting
•Writing and approving minutes
•Working together as a community

Approved! includes additional tools for Quaker meetings, schools, and camps to help children learn the basics of Quaker process including queries, a glossary, and a brief overview of junior meeting for business at Wellesley Monthly Meeting in Massachusetts.

“Oh this is so exciting and wonderful! I am really, really excited—and grateful—about this. Thank you again and again! I can see this being used in lots of settings, including in Friends’ schools where most children and teachers have not had the experience of being part of a Quaker Meeting.”

Gretchen Baker-Smith, NEYM Junior Yearly Meeting Retreats Coordinator

Nancy L. Haines has served as clerk for Wellesley Meeting as well as numerous committees at her meeting, yearly meeting, and Friends General Conference. She and her husband offer leadership training workshops for high school and adult clerks.

Anne E. G. Nydam is the author and illustrator of books for children about adventure, creativity, and looking for the best in others and the world. She loves working with block prints and collage. She is also a member of Wellesley Meeting. See more of her work at http://www.nydamprints.com

Available from Amazon, Quaker Books of FGC, and from the author

by Marcelle Martin

Our Life is Love describes the transformational spiritual journey of the first Quakers, who turned to the Light of Christ within and allowed it to be their guide. Many Friends today use different language, but are still called to make the same journey. In our time people seeking deeper access to the profound teachings of Christianity want more than just beliefs, they want direct experience. Focusing on ten elements of the spiritual journey, this book is a guide to a Spirit-filled life that affects this world.

Quakers in the seventeenth century and today provide examples of people and communities living in the midst of the world whose radical understanding of Christ’s teachings led them to become powerful agents of social change. The book offers a simple, clear explanation of the spiritual journey that is suitable not only for Quakers, but for all Christians, and for seekers wanting to better understand our spiritual experience and the fullness of God’s call to us.

The book would make an excellent focus for study groups.

About the author

Marcelle Martin has led workshops at retreat centers and Quaker meetings across the United States. She served for four years as the resident Quaker Studies teacher at Pendle Hill and was a core teacher in the School of the Spirit program, The Way of Ministry. She is the author of the Pendle Hill pamphlets Invitation to a Deeper Communion and Holding One Another in the Light. In 2013 she was the Mullen Writing Fellow at Earlham School of Religion while working on this book.

• Inner Light Books
• 230 pp.: Hardcover, ISBN 978-0-9970604-0-9
• 230 pp.: Paperback, ISBN 978-0-9970604-1-6
• ebook: EPUB or Kindle format, ISBN 978-0-9970604-2-5

Spirit Rising: Young Quaker Voices

El Espiritu Se Levanta: Voces Jovenes Cuaqueras, eseste libro celebra, critica, cuestiona, y refleja sobre la experiencia de la fe cuaquera. Esta coleccion de escritura y arte grafico fue creada por adolescentes y jovenes adultos cuaqueros de todo el mundo y de toda la amplia gama teologica y cultural de la Sociedad Religiosa de los Amigos. —

Spirit Rising: Young Quaker Voices, is an anthology of writing and art by Quaker teens and young adults worldwide. The contributors in this volume challenge and inspire, as they witness to and celebrate Quakerism as it has been, as it is, and as it could yet be. The voices here come together in a symphony, cacophonous but also deeply resonant. Listen and you will hear that their Spirit – here called by many names – is undeniably rising.

Edited by: Angelina Conti, Cara Curtis, C. Wed Daniels, Harriet Hart, Sarah Katreen Hoggatt, Evelyn Jadin, John Epur Lomuria, Emma Condori Mamani, Katrina MQuail, and Rachel Ann Miller
Translated by: Emma Condori Mamani
Publisher: Quakers Uniting in Publications 2014