Genesee Valley Quaker Meeting

08/31/2026

A connection between Gandhi and Quakers

Did you know Quakers played a role in Gandhi's spiritual journey, and that Gandhi's ideas later influenced Quakers in return?

Gandhi’s interest in religion, which began in his childhood with his devoutly Hindu mother, deepened quickly when he moved to South Africa as a young lawyer in 1893. As part of his religious exploration, Gandhi became friends with a small group of Quakers in Pretoria. Though he rejected Christianity, the Quakers encouraged Gandhi’s study of comparative religion. Learning about Quaker pacifism also reinforced Gandhi’s emerging belief that justice cannot be achieved through violence.

That connection deepened through Gandhi's decades-long friendship with British Quaker Horace Alexander. Gandhi stayed with Alexander at Woodbrooke Quaker study center in Birmingham during his negotiations with England in 1931, where he attended meeting for worship. The experience inspired Gandhi to incorporate silent meditation into the prayers at his ashram, and Alexander remained a trusted friend throughout India's journey to independence.

The influence flowed both ways. Quaker author Richard Gregg helped introduce Gandhi's ideas to the West, in turn inspiring Civil Rights organizer Bayard Rustin, a key advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. Today, there are many humanitarian and peacebuilding organizations that are founded jointly on Quaker and Gandhian principles.

08/17/2026

Many members of our meeting have been involved in prison ministry, some for decades. Matthew 25:40 “Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me.”

There has been a Quaker meeting inside Green Haven Correctional Facility, a maximum-security men's prison in Stormville, New York, for over 50 years. Up to 15 attenders gather together weekly for silent worship and fellowship.

Green Haven Correctional Facility is where the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), the now-worldwide conflict transformation and trauma resilience program, got its start. Founded in 1975 by Quakers and incarcerated people, it uses experiential workshops to help people handle anger, build communication skills, and resolve conflicts without violence. Some men incarcerated in Green Haven come to Meeting for the first time after hearing about Quakers at an AVP workshop.

Incarcerated Friends at Green Haven have had some of their religious freedom taken away in recent years. In 2015 they lost permission to gather for quarterly meetings, and in 2018 they were no longer allowed to hold their weekly meeting for business on the supposed basis that it “does not appear to be a study group or a worship service and therefore does not appear necessary.” They have been supported by outside Friends and legal action is ongoing. Last year Friends also lost their weekly spiritual study group, as the prison said it did not have enough officers to supervise.

Quaker ministry in prisons goes back to the earliest days of the Religious Society, when many Friends were imprisoned for their faith. If you would like to volunteer or worship with inside Friends, write letters, or pay visits, contact your yearly meeting to be connected with people already involved in this work.

From one volunteer at Green Haven (where more Friends are needed and welcome!):

“Incarcerated people are deeply touched by the presence of outside Friends: we listen to their spiritual journeys, share our own, and bring a profound respect for them. And prison worship touches me, too. I find an inspiring level of connection, honesty, dignity, and inner strength in the prison circle.”

08/14/2026

You don’t have to post your name in the comments to enjoy a bit of Quaker humor 😂

These are all real names found by Isabella Rosner over the course of her research on Early Quakers.

Post your name in the comments! (I'm Peace B**r ✌🍺)

08/03/2026

Did you know that poet John Whittier was a Quaker abolitionist?

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) was an abolitionist, poet, and writer whose life was shaped deeply by his Quaker faith.

Raised on a struggling farm in Massachusetts, Whittier was only able to attend school during the winter when his labor wasn’t needed. Whittier’s family traveled nine miles each way to attend meeting for worship on Sundays.

His fortunes changed at the age of 19 when his sister submitted his poetry to the Newburyport Free Press for publication. The editor there was abolitionist leader William Lloyd Garrison, who took Whittier under his wing.

Working alongside Garrison, Whittier went on to become one of the nation’s leading abolitionist voices. In 1833 he published his antislavery pamphlet, “Justice and Expediency,” which catapulted him to prominence. He was a founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society that same year, and became a Massachusetts legislator two years later.

His activism placed him in danger more than once, including a narrow escape from a mob that set fire to an abolitionist hall where he was attending a meeting. He was able to get out unscathed when he hastily assembled a disguise and blended in with the pro-slavery crowd by shouting, “Hang Whittier!”

The Civil War was a complicated turning point for Whittier. His Quaker pacifism led him to oppose it, but he ultimately thought that it was the only way to end slavery. President Lincoln said that Whittier’s ‘Luther’s Hymn’ had influenced him to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, and that it was the kind of song he wanted all the soldiers to hear:

O North and South,
Its victims both,
Can you not cry,
‘Let Slavery die!’
And union find in freedom?

After the war, Whittier returned to primarily writing poems about the natural world, Quakerism, rural life, and New England. By the end of his life he was one of the most widely-read poets of his time and a household name in the US and England. At his death, thousands came to his wake and packed into his Amesbury backyard for his funeral.

07/08/2026

Pacifist does not mean passive.

07/04/2026

Quakers ask questions of ourselves, called queries. FCNL offers these as we reflect on the meaning of America.

07/03/2026

https://pendlehill.org/epistle-from-quaker-trans-day-of-visibility-gathering

06/29/2026

A Quaker connection to the flag

Betsy Ross, known as the woman who sewed the first American flag, was born into a Quaker family in Philadelphia and educated at a Friends school.

To her family’s dismay, she fell in love with a fellow apprentice upholsterer and eloped at the age of 21. Her husband was not Quaker, and so Ross was read out of meeting, according to the custom of the Society of Friends at that time. When her husband passed away a few years later, Ross managed their upholstery business alone, making tents, flags, and uniforms for the Continental Army. And, according to the oral history of the Ross family, George Washington brought her an unfinished design for an American flag, which she completed and sewed with stripes and stars for each of the 13 colonies.

Ross joined the Free Quakers (or Fighting Quakers), a group of Friends who set aside the pacifism of mainstream Friends in order to support the Revolution. She was originally buried at the Free Quaker burial ground on North 5th Street, then moved to another cemetery 20 years later, then moved one final time in 1975 to rest in the courtyard of what is thought to be her former home to mark America’s bicentennial.

Betsy Ross House

06/24/2026

This looks like a very interesting episode!

When authoritarianism wraps itself in faith, how should a spiritual community respond? This week on the podcast, we trace the chilling historical parallels between 1930s Germany and the modern political moment as Quaker lawyer Scott Holmes crafts a modern declaration of resistance.

https://quakerpodcast.com/a-quaker-response-to-christian-nationalism/

06/12/2026

Quakers don’t inherently reject technology. We ask questions and ponder answers together.

Nourish your spiritual journey with daily Quaker wisdom.