New & Recent Books

How Quakers Made Sense of God and the Bible By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the effort to keep outside influences from impacting Quaker spirituality was clearly failing. Many Friends were impressed by the Enlightenment emphasis on reason in religion and commitment to religious and political freedom. Many others were caught up in Evangelical enthusiasm and commitment to social justice. The result was a series of separations and divisions—Quakers disagreed about the nature of God, the atonement, and the … Read More

Poems of love, death, a little sex, ALS, dementia, and the widow’s life thereafter Our love songs have no shadows. We dare not acknowledge the deep love that can coexist with loss. But in this timely and timeless collection, Peg Edera offers what we didn’t know we needed: a proposal in the dark, a squad car filled with lilacs, tears saved for the right time, toast and honey. The world of illness and dying is demanding and complex. Peg documents … Read More

A tiny institution that drew a mere handful of students on its first day may have seemed too inauspicious to garner local media attention. Indeed, the unpretentious training school opened with little fanfare. And yet, a century and a quarter later, the school endures—in a new location, with a new name, and with an expanded mission. This story begins with J. Walter and Emma Brown Malone amid the rise of industrial cities, the emergence of urban Bible institutes, among a … Read More

Did you know that a group of boys is called a noise? Or that a group of girls is called a giggle? It makes perfect sense that a group of family members is called a mess! This collective noun book celebrates the anticipation of your birthday and the uniqueness of your family. Celebrate your next birthday with a Mess of Relatives! A Mess of Relatives is designed to support early literacy skills development and a life-long love of reading. The front … Read More

The world hungers for peace. People are starved for peace. No doubt this points to a universal, timeless hope, but now it seems acute. We see peace rallies and vigils, blogs, workshops, internet activism, relief work in war-torn areas, mediators working with families and nations, and ordinary folks everywhere trying to reduce the effects of racism, discrimination, and economic injustice. What Howard R. Macy offers here is an exploration of important biblical ideas about peace. They center on the Hebrew … Read More

The North American Christian church of the early twenty-first century finds itself in a period of decline. A growing percentage of young adults are not entering the front doors of churches while at the same time older and previously dedicated Christians are leaving. Coinciding with the deflation of the Western church is the explosion in popular culture of the mindfulness movement, which emphasizes meditation practices derived from Buddhism. These concurrent phenomena—the decline of Christendom in North America and the rise … Read More

There is no greater privilege in the Christian life than to serve as a spiritual leader within the body of Christ. Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a genuine crisis in the church today. Pastors and other spiritual leaders are leaving vocational ministry faster than we can replace them. This is due primarily to the crippling effects of burnout, a pastoral pathology resulting from a lethal combination of extraordinary job-related stress and woefully inadequate self-care. Most of us know … Read More

Charlie Walker and the Civil Rights Movement by Brenda Walker Beadenkopf In this narrative biography of her Quaker father, Charles Walker, author Brenda Walker Beadenkopf tells the story of her father’s involvement with the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. Walker became a key trainer and writer of training materials for the civil rights movement and a steadfast supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King’s nonviolent campaign. This book provides a unique inside view of the training and support … Read More

A poem she wrote has been translated into multiple languages, set to music, and featured in a best-selling book on spirituality and the twelve steps. But until recently, the author of “Breathing Underwater” has been virtually unknown, and the collection containing that famous poem has never been published. Richard Rohr calls it “stunning”; other writers and poets describe Carol Bialock’s debut collection as “brilliant and luminous”; “lighthearted and holy”; “dynamic, immediate, ecstatic”; “a book of love and God … bursting … Read More

Sweetness of Unity: Three Hundred Years of Quaker Minuting. Judith Roads, 2019. ISBN/Price: 978-1-5272-4085-8 (Paperback) £5.00 / €6.00. 64 pages. This book is speaking mainly to those with some experience of Quakerism and those who understand something already about Quaker processes. Others interested in language or historical aspects of business Engish may also find snippets of new learning. Judith Roads has dug deap into the fascinating world of Quaker minute-producing in past generations, and introduces us to the processes, topics … Read More