Powell House Nontheism Among Friends

The “Nontheism Among Friends” workshop was originally designed and led by Bowen Alpern (Scarsdale Meeting), the late Glenn Mallison (Ithaca Meeting), and myself (Scarsdale Meeting), at the Friends General Conference Gathering in 1996. Twenty years previously, Robert Morgan (PYM) had led a “Workshop for Nontheistic Friends” at the FGC Gathering; so far there has been no trace of any follow-up. The 1996 workshop was taken up by other leaders, and has been offered ever since at the Gathering. Many Friends have led similar conferences at Woodbrooke Study Center in England, Pendle Hill, and at their Monthly and Yearly Meetings.

Nontheism Among Friends workshop — Jan. 26-28, 2007, NY

Powell House conference center, NYYM http://www.powellhouse.org Robin Alpern and Joan Lukas, facilitators As early as 1976, the Friends General Conference Gathering hosted a well-attended Workshop for Nontheistic Friends. In the decades since, Friends have become increasingly aware of the theological diversity of our Religious Society. Through experience and statistical studies, we have learned a large … Read more

Meeting for Worship: an Opportunity for Being

Note: New York Yearly Meeting (NYYM) invited the author to write an essay from a nontheist perspective, for a special issue of the NYYM newsletter on Meeting for Worship. Meeting for worship is a potent crucible for breaking the spell of time, the ego, the identity, our daily drama, the alluring vale of tears that … Read more

Godless for God’s Sake: Nontheism in Contemporary Quakerism

Order from Quakerbooks.org (US) (listed under “Universalism”) Order from Amazon.co.uk (in the UK) Order from Amazon.com (in the US) In this book edited by British Friend and author David Boulton, 27 Quakers from 4 countries and 13 yearly meetings tell how they combine active and committed membership in the Religious Society of Friends with rejection … Read more

Welcome!

Nontheistfriends.org presents the work of Friends (Quakers) who are more concerned with the natural than the supernatural. Some of us understand “God” as a symbol of human values and some of us avoid the concept while accepting it as significant to others. We differ greatly in our religious experience and in the meaning we give religious terms.

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Why Not Join the Unitarians?

Why Not Join the Unitarians? That is one of the questions most frequently asked when I tell people about being a nontheist Friend. The answer that comes to mind first has nothing to do with being of a nontheist bent. I grew up in the Religious Society of Friends, literally and figuratively. My parents joined … Read more

Report from Nontheistic Friends’ Workshop at FGC 1976

Friends General Conference, Ithaca, New York, June, 1976 The fifteen to twenty of us who joined this workshop did so out of the need to share ideas with others who are searching for an authentic personal religious framework. The lack of an adequate religious vocabulary which could be used as an alternative to traditional concepts … Read more

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