The Progressive Quakers, though long forgotten by historians, were the radical seed of activist American religion in much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Remaking Friends is the first book to tell their unique, exciting story. Emerging in the decades before the Civil War, the movement included pioneer crusaders for abolition and women's rights. They challenged authoritarianism in churches and questioned many traditional dogmas. They stood for applying reason to doctrine, the Bible and theology; yet they were also welcoming to the burgeoning spiritualist movement. Come right down to it, the Progressive Friends were just darned interesting. They also shaped the contemporary liberal stream of the Quaker religious movement. Among many other outstanding figures of the era, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott and William Lloyd Garrison were associated with them. The Progressive Friends have long deserved to have their story told. Finally, in Remaking Friends, they are. In Remaking Friends, the saga of the Progressive Friends comes to vivid life, with sketches of some of their outstanding leaders (and their dogged antagonists), their struggle for a voice, recognition, and impact. Beginning as a band of pacifists, some agonized over the Civil War, while others joined up to end slavery and rebellion. Then we follow their evolution and impact through the post-Civil War decades, into the first "Gilded Age," and the emergence of modern imperialism and militarism--all issues they addressed, with striking contemporary resonance. It shows their ultimate success in shaping today's liberal Quakerism, even as their separate identity faded. Based on ground-breaking research in a wide range of original sources, the book includes more than thirty illustrations."

The Progressive Quakers, though long forgotten by historians, were the radical seed of activist American religion in much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They included pioneer crusaders for abolition and women's rights. They denounced authoritarianism in churches and many traditional dogmas as well. They championed the application of reason to doctrine, the Bible and theology; yet they were also welcoming to the burgeoning spiritualist movement. Come right down to it, the Progressive Friends were just damned interesting. They also shaped the contemporary liberal stream of the Quaker religious movement. Among other outstanding figures of the era, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott and William Lloyd Garrison were associated with them. They deserve a much better deal from historians than they ever got. And with this book, they're finally getting it. The documents in "Angels of Progress," collected in print for the first time, trace where the Progressive Friends came from, sketch some of their outstanding leaders, detail their agenda for change in both society and spirituality and track their struggle for a voice and recognition. Beginning as a band of pacifists, it also shows their agonizing over the Civil War, which pitted one of their key values -- nonviolence, against another -- ending slavery. Then we follow their evolution and impact through the post-Civil War decades, into the first "Gilded Age," and the emergence of modern imperialism and militarism--all issues with striking contemporary resonance. It shows their ultimate success in shaping today's liberal Quakerism, even as their separate identity faded. The book includes extensive samples of their theological work, plus introductions and overviews.

In 1965, Chuck Fager was a rookie civil rights worker, fresh out of college, who was sent to Selma, Alabama to work for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s direct action campaign to end the racist exclusion of African-Americans from voting, there and across the South. This is Chuck Fager's vivid personal account of the movement: how he got there, his experiences in and out of jail, what he learned, how Selma shaped his life and launched him on a spiritual journey and a writer's career. This book is a revealing first-person counterpart to his earlier, highly-praised historical account, "Selma 1965: The March That Changed the South."

Issue #24 of "Quaker Theology" (Winter-Spring 2014) includes the following articles and essays: Editor's Introduction "The Fall of Man," a newly-discovered essay by Angelina Grimke Weld; "'Let the Holy seed of life reign' -- Perfection, Pelagianism, and the early Friends," by John Connell; "Blessed Unrest: The Radical Act of Gathering," by Scott Holmes; 'Separation Accomplished: New Beginnings for a New Association of Friends and a 'Reconfigured' Indiana Yearly Meeting," by Stephen W. Angell; "A Letter re: Kenya Quakers & Homosexuality," by David Zarembka; "Review: "The Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies,"" by Chuck Fager; "Northwest Yearly Meeting and 'Shattering' Conflict: Chapter One," by Chuck Fager with Jade Souza.