Useful theology from a Quaker-shaped Christian
I'm excited to be presenting a paper at the Quaker Theological Discussion Group on Saturday 2 December 2023 at 8–10am PST / 11am–1pm EST / 4–6pm GMT. This event is online and free to attend. Do join me! My paper is called "Whiteness and the roots of the Quaker Universalist discourse." Here's a short summary… Continue reading Join me at the Quaker Theological Discussion Group 2023
One of my favourite buildings is the chapel of St Peter’s-on-the-wall, the oldest chapel still in use in England. You can find just outside the village of Bradwell-on-sea, which is on the Essex coast. Near to the chapel is the Othona Community, a kind of Christian holiday camp first set up after the Second World… Continue reading The hard work of translating: a message for St Cedd’s Day
Here’s the text of the paper I presented at the Society for the Study of Theology Postgraduate Conference, 4-6 September 2023, at the University of Edinburgh. In this paper, which is based on my Masters thesis, I begin with the understanding of hope found in narrative theology, a way of doing theology associated with Stanley Hauerwas among others. I use this to show how Quakers in Britain today struggle to articulate a common hope. I then suggest how Quaker worship can be seen as a source of transcendent hope through offering a taste of the Eternal sabbath, with some help from Reformed theologian Jürgen Moltmann.
I was interviewed recently by Peterson Toscano for the Quakers Today podcast, talking about my book Quaker Shaped Christianity (2022) and responding to a recent review in Friends Journal.
I'm delighted to announce that my second book has been accepted for publication by Christian Alternative Books. It's called The Spirit of Freedom: Quaker-shaped Christian Theology, and collects together the best of the jollyquaker blog from the last decade.
A widely held belief amongst Quakers is that beneath the surface level differences of the world religions is a uniting spiritual bedrock. Quakerism, in its rejection of outward religious symbols and its use of stillness and silence, is seen as an essentially mystical religion that tries to get as close to this bedrock as possible. Quakerism is often seen as akin to other traditions labelled as mystical, such as Vedanta Hinduism, Sufism, Kabbalah and Buddhist mediation. Quakerism’s focus on this mystical essence makes the Quaker meeting a theologically inclusive space, holding different surface beliefs whilst mystically united. In this blog post I’m going to trace the history of this idea and suggest its built on problematic foundations.
There are many positive things to be gained from an exploration of Celtic spirituality. However, as a PhD student researching theology and race, I have some observations and questions about the whiteness of Celtic spirituality to wrestle with if it is going to form a part of my faith journey.
Something is queer if it smudges and transgresses boundaries. Queerness takes stone walls and reveals them to be lines drawn in the sand. Queerness asks: Who drew these lines and who do they serve? Queerness delights in the blurring of edges and shows how joy and creative energy can be found in the in-between places. So a queer approach to faith is to embrace loose ends and trespass across supposedly unpassable borders, and say this is a legitimate spiritual path.
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed for the "Quake It Up" channel about my book "Quaker Shaped Christianity." I'm really enjoying hearing people's responses to the book, and Olly had lots of really great questions.
In 2013, when I began the Jolly Quaker blog, I was a primary school music teacher and writing Quaker-shaped Christian theology was a hobby. As 2022 draws to a close, the seeds I planted a decade ago have bourn more fruit than I could ever anticipate. I started a PhD, my first book was published, and I branched out into broadcasting. I wouldn’t have gotten very far without the encouragement of people like you who’ve taken an interest in my work, so as a big ‘thank you’ for your support and the time you’ve given to reading my theologising, here’s my now customary reflection on my reading, writing and thinking over the last year.
Jolly Quaker 