Author: Mark Russ

‘Quaker Shaped Christianity’ has been launched

Mark Russ3 Comments

On Monday 7th December, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre hosted the online launch of my new book, 'Quaker Shaped Christianity'. Over 50 people attended from all over the world. Thank you to everyone who attended! The first part of the launch was recorded and is now available to watch. The recording includes a conversation between myself and Woodbrooke tutor Stuart Masters, followed by a short reading of the book.

Should Quakers drop “worship” to be more inclusive?

Mark Russ13 Comments

I hear, through social media, the letters page of the Friend, and conversations with Quakers in my Meeting, a steady trickle of Quaker voices rejecting various bits of religious vocabulary, including “prayer”, “faith”, and particularly the word "worship". This is framed in terms of "inclusivity", even "radical inclusivity". The more religious words we eliminate from our vocabulary, the more inclusive we will be of those who are put off by religion. As someone who longs for a rich shared theology, I don't experience it as inclusion.

Jolly Quaker Podcast 01 – In conversation with Ben Wood (1/3)

Mark Russ1 Comment

I recently met with fellow Quaker theologian Ben Wood to talk about our upcoming books that both reflect on Quakerism and Christianity. We originally meant our conversation to be one long video, but after recording we realised it’d be better offered as a series of three shorter podcast episodes. So in this first part of our conversation we talk about what prompted us to write our books, our difficulties with universalism and our approaches to Jesus.