Introducing: Thee Quaker Podcast

Georgia Sparling: If I say Quaker, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?

[Music]

Montage of voices:
The guy from the oatmeal [laughs]

Just the oatmeal. I’m not a big fan of oatmeal. 

…the Quaker oatmeal guy, 

I think of people with the…dressed in black and white with the hat on., so like a Puritan.

I think it’s a type of like religion or culture.

Very quiet service as they sit around and wait for the Holy Spirit to move.

It was a really conservative Christian group? That’s about all I know.

It was some religion in early American history.

So there are a bunch of you still around?

Georgia: Yep. Quakers are still around today. And on Thee Quaker Podcast, we’re going to explore every aspect of this revolutionary religious group. A group that has often lived under the radar…except for the protests, the arrests, and, of course, the quaking.

Jon Watts: The quaking. We’ll talk with longtime Quakers about their journey with the faith.

Eppchez Yo-Sí Yes: Like who are those weird people over there who are always like shaking and standing up to say really like kind of mind-boggling, prophetic badass things.

Georgia: And we’ll talk to those who are just getting started on their spiritual path.

Woman: Where are you now? Where is the religion? I just don’t come across them very often.

Jon: We’ll take a deep dive into what it looks like to follow our leadings…

Georgia: The good, the messy, the amusing, the challenging, the confusing…

Jon: and we’ll explore how Friends throughout history have risen to the challenges of their day with courageous faithfulness.

Georgia: …and how they’ve sometimes fallen short of that lofty goal.

O: Why is the podcast so important? … it is because it is sound, that’s power. And so when power is well facilitated, when power is well channelled, when power is well grounded and it’s and it’s actually grounded, oh, my goodness, and it’s grounded in love. Well, then you have the capacity to touch millions, if not billions, of people because God is sound, God is story.

Jon: What does it look like to be a Quaker in the 21st century? How do Friends navigate this time of historic upheaval?

Ingrid Lakey: So I certainly got the idea that we are all to be activists, right, that everywhere you go, if you see injustice, you take it on.

Cheryl McVickar: I think a lot of meetings are going to have to ask themselves are we okay, opening our doors and our hearts to people who may not do God like I do God … Is it okay that they honor and value Quaker beliefs. Is that enough? And that’s a big question.

Georgia: How do we stay faithful to our ministries in a time of unprecedented connectedness? How can we adapt?

Rhiannon Grant: If we can make a Tiktok video that says, God loves you, God speaking to you, you can listen, if we can make a podcast that says that anything that helps people just to step back from some of the busyness of everyday life and listen to those promptings of love and truth. And say, actually, what is love asking me to do? That could be so powerful..

Jon: I’m Jon Watts

Georgia: I’m Georgia Sparling

Jon: I’m a Quaker

Georgia: and I’m not

Jon: But on Thee Quaker Podcast, we want to welcome you to come along for this experiment of sound, spirit, silence, and story. Of going out into the world seeking stories of courageous faithfulness; what that’s meant in the past, and what it will mean for us in the future.

Georgia: So, join us! Our first episode drops Wednesday, May 24. Visit QuakerPodcast.com to subscribe. We’ll see you in May!

Woman: I’m really excited to hear about your podcast!

Recorded and edited by Georgia Sparling

Original music and sound design by Jon Watts (Listen here)

Supported by listeners like you (thank you!!)