Our 2023 Quaker Theological Discussion Group panels will be on the topic, “Tradition & Transformation: Quakerism 400 Years After the Birth of George Fox,” and will take place on December 1–2, 2023. Register here, and find the time in your time zone. Please consider donating for Spanish interpretation.

The Friday panel discussion will be on the topic, “Reconsidering Fox’s Rejection of Rituals.” While there were important reasons George Fox found it important to remove former rituals from the liturgical practice of his day, do we need to reject all rituals? What about when our Quaker forms become rituals in themselves?

The Saturday panel discussion will be on the topic, “A Great People Gathered? Quakers in Global Context.” George Fox famously had a vision of “a great people to be gathered” when he climbed Pendle Hill. Four hundred years after his birth, we reflect on this vision: Are we the great people gathered? If so, in what way(s) are we great? In what way(s) are we gathered? Are there ways in which the gathering of this great people caused unintentional harm and there is repair work to do? Does this vision still speak to us and call us forth today?

We hope you’ll join us to hear our panelists share their thoughts on these topics from a range of locations and branches of the Friends tradition. You’re welcome to download these posters and share them with your networks.

Panel 1: Reconsidering Fox’s Rejection of Rituals

Alice Elliott-Sowaal is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at San Francisco State University, where she teaches courses on early modern European philosophy, history of feminism, existentialism, and mysticism. She is also a member of San Francisco Monthly Meeting.

Diego Navarro is a community college educator. He gave the recent Carey Lecture at Baltimore Yearly Meeting, titled: “Healing Harm through Using Sacred Space and the Genius of Quakerism.” Diego is a former clerk of Pacific Yearly Meeting. He was trained by Moshe Feldenkrais in his somatic method and holds degrees from Antioch College and Harvard University.

Barbara Birch is a retired professor of applied linguistics with interests in ESL literacy and peace education in the ESL classroom. A Quaker for 35 years, she is interested in embodied spirituality and the history of worship. Her forthcoming book is called Lectio Divina the Quaker Way (Quaker Quicks, John Hunt Publishing).

George Busolo Lukalo is the pastor of Friends Church (Quakers) Bura Mission in Tana River County of Kenya under Mombasa Monthly Meeting, Nairobi Yearly Meeting. He is married and blessed with two children. Previously he worked with Friends Church (Quakers) Chavakali Yearly Meeting as a pastor and school chaplain. He holds a BA in theology from Friends Theological College, Kaimosi. His writing on African Quakerism can be found in the Cambridge Companion to Quakerism and elsewhere.

Welling Hall is Earlham College Plowshares Professor of Peace Studies Emerita and Research Professor of the Liberal Arts. An experienced consultant with Quaker organizations, including FCNL and QUNO, Welling is currently finishing an MDiv degree at Boston University School of Theology. Welling is a member of West Richmond Friends Meeting and attends 3Rivers Worship Group.

Panel 2: A Great People Gathered?

Emma Condori Mamani is a member of Santidad (Holiness) Friends Yearly Meeting in Bolivia. An MDiv graduate of Earlham School of Religion, she is a language teacher and an editor of Spirit Rising: Young Quaker Voices. She wrote Quakers in Bolivia: The Early History of Bolivian Friends and contributed to The Quaker World. As a pastor and a traveling minister, she has traveled widely among Quakers in numerous countries. She works as a director at the Friends International Bilingual Center, and she is a member of the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative.

Mark Russ is a PhD student at the University of Nottingham, England. He is researching how Whiteness shaped liberal Quaker theology in Britain. Previously, Mark was a programmes coordinator at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre. Mark blogs at jollyquaker.com and is the author of Quaker Shaped Christianity: How the Jesus story and the Quaker way fit together (Christian Alternative, 2022) and the forthcoming The Spirit of Freedom: Quaker-shaped Christian theology.

Rhiannon Grant researches Quaker theology with a particular interest in religious language and changing practices. She works for Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, where she supports postgraduate researchers and runs a range of short courses. She is also a member of Britain Yearly Meeting’s Book of Discipline Revision Committee, and worships with Bournville Local Meeting. Her publications include British Quakers and Religious Language and Quakers Do What! Why?

Robert J. Wafula is principal of Friends Theological College, Kaimosi, Kenya. A former pastoral minister of Friends International Centre, Nairobi, he is a Christian leader, scholar of religion, social scientist, and educator. Robert’s PhD is in educational studies – religious and cultural anthropology from Ohio University, USA. He holds an MA in international affairs – political science from Ohio University and an MA in religious studies from Earlham School of Religion. He has been a professor and has many academic publications. Robert is married and has a grown daughter and two grandchildren.