Attracting Seekers, Energizing Friends: A Campaign for the Future of Quakerism
The world is loud right now. We are living in a time of constant noise, endless scrolling, division and uncertainty. Many people are overwhelmed, and searching for resources to help them navigate the 21st century. http://theequaker.org/future
For 400 years Quakers have been building a spiritual roadmap for times like these. What would a bold, courageous Religious Society of Friends look like in the age of the internet? This week, we invite you to join us as we dream big. It’s time we stopped hiding our light under a bushel.
Filmed and edited by Ellie Walton https://www.elliewalton.com/
Music by Jon Watts http://www.jonwatts.com
Quaker Videos is a project of Thee Quaker
http://www.TheeQuaker.org
Quaker Videos is a weekly video project brought to you by the creators of Thee Quaker Podcast and the Daily Quaker Message, and the founder of QuakerSpeak.
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Transcript
News Reporter 1
We’ve seen protests here on a daily basis.
News Reporter 2
Deep political polarization in the country.
News Reporter 3
Joblessness, hopelessness.
News Reporter 4
We’re losing our places of worship.
News Reporter 5
It’s rough out there. That’s how folks feel about it.
Jon Watts
We are living in a time of constant noise. Endless scrolling, division, uncertainty. A lot of people are overwhelmed, and they’re searching for something.
News Reporter 6
How do we fix this?
Jon Watts
As people are trying to navigate our times, they’re looking for resources. And for the past 400 years, Quakers have been building their own spiritual roadmap of what to do in times of great tumult. Certainly, Quakerism came out of a time of great tumultuousness in England in the 17th century. And for better or for worse, the internet is changing our everyday lives and how we connect with one another. What would it look like for Quakers to have a courageous, clear-hearted relationship with this new communication technology? That’s the question that we’re trying to answer at Thee Quaker Project. Thee Quaker Project is an ecosystem of three overlapping online media projects. We’ve launched a project a year for the last three years. We’ve got a podcast, Daily Quaker devotional, and a video project.
Maeve Sutherland
So the daily Quaker message is a way to feed people’s spirituality every day. A little grounding, a moment maybe in the morning that lets you say, “Okay, this is how I want to proceed. This is how I’m going to be a Quaker today. It’s one Quaker quote every day. There’s a query, there’s a spiritual exercise, and it’s also a community. People write in from all over the world. In the noise and chaos, The Daily Quaker message provides this moment of calm.
Zack Jackson
So we need to figure out what we’re doing for season four. The stories that we’re telling on the Quaker podcast are grounded in a spiritual depth that is universal. I’ve got to interview musicians and authors and activists and politicians. I got to march with a group of Quakers that were walking from New York City to Washington D.C. to protest the way that our government’s treating immigrants. At the heart of all of these stories, I’m always asking people why. Why do you do this, and how do you keep going? I think these stories have potential to inspire people to be who they truly are, and to do what they need to do, and that’s what we need more than anything in this world. You’re listening to Thee Quaker podcast. Today, we’re stepping back into the 1660s, an era facing massive inequality, the collapse of social institutions and profound uncertainty that honestly hits a little too close to home. But we’re not telling a story of chaos and darkness. We’re telling a story of a remarkable woman who figured out how to use that chaos to spread the light.
Diane Randall
The stories of hope that the videos show are both inspiring and inviting, and I think we really learn from each other. The stories of one another’s lives often can be very motivating to us as to think about, well, why did that person decide to be a conscientious objector, and would I do that, and how do I align with that? I find that there’s always a story of someone I’ve never heard of, or a meeting that’s doing a project that I didn’t know about. There’s real stories of resilience and inspiration in what Thee Quaker is sharing.
Jon Watts
Quakerism offers so much. Quakerism offers a foundation in deep speaking, deep listening, deep seeking, deep connections, and deep community, that depth is something that people are deeply hungry for. And so, Thee Quaker Project is aiming to tell these stories of spiritual courage, stories of possibility in dark times. Is aiming to uncover the resources and have the conversations that people are going to discover online and say, “This is it. This is what I’ve been waiting for. We’re hearing from Quakers for whom this project is deepening their faith. And quite often, we’re finding that listeners and readers find a Quaker meeting after plugging into one of our projects. We are planting seeds for the future, and those seeds are already starting to sprout. Investing in Thee Quaker project is an investment in the future of the Religious Society of Friends.