This special issue of Quaker Studies explores the theme ‘Spiritual Witness: The Ground of Quaker Social Action’. I am delighted to have worked with Cherice Bock and Barbara Welling Hall as guest editors, and most of this editorial lays out their vision for the issue. I also want to thank our book reviews editor, Erica Canela, all our authors, and those working behind the scenes, especially our peer reviewers, copyeditor, and the publishing team at OLH.

Submissions are open for future issues, on any aspect of the multidisciplinary field of Quaker Studies, and especially for a special issue in light of the upcoming semiquincentennial anniversary of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence. The focus will be on the subject of Quakerism in North America and the wider Atlantic world, with a particular emphasis on subjects of liberty, equality, justice and independence, broadly conceived. Lily Chadwick will be the guest editor for this special issue and submissions are due by 30 January 2026.

I now turn it over to the guest editors to introduce the current issue.

How is social action in the world shaped by spiritual conviction? What does the contemplative tradition of Quakerism have to offer the world in terms of lived social action? These questions were engaged by Quaker scholars, practitioners, and church historians at a collaborative event organized by Boston University School of Theology and Beacon Hill Friends House in Boston, MA, in April 2023 entitled, ‘Friendly Witness: The Spiritual Ground for Quaker Social Action’. The event provided a joint academic-activist venue for people curious about Quaker theology to engage with scholars and practitioners about past influences and current concerns.

Conference organizers responded to a moment in which Friends were asking for more clarity about the difference between spiritual witness and secular social action. Among the questions and issues registrants indicated as pressing for them were these:

I’ve long been concerned about how we as Friends can engage in practical action through political and social movements/campaigns while always being led and resting in the ground of love, integrity, nonviolence, the truth of our oneness, etc. It affects both what we do and how we do it — the means must be consistent with the ends, and actually will inevitably be so.

I would love to learn more about how Quaker tools, values and experience can speak to the current issues we are facing. How can we catalyze strengths to become active and effective change makers?

Papers from this conference compromise this special issue of Quaker Studies, addressing these living concerns by drawing together Quaker history and theology, street activism and advocacy, and experiments in Quaker-informed communal living. The authors identify ways Quaker spirituality grounds social witness through conceptions of Spirit, spiritual disciplines, and testimonies on peace, ecology, equality, and justice as these are embodied in individual lives and communities. Challenges facing Quaker groups (past and present) are also explored, as well as gaps where Quaker practice is not fully aligned with its ideals.

Each of the articles in this issue offers a different perspective: scholar or practitioner, detailing theoretical, historical, or practical information about Quaker engagement in social action. In an article derived from the event’s keynote address, ‘An Ever-Branching River: The Beautiful Watersheds of Quaker Theology’, Christy Randazzo frames the work of Quaker theology and how social action flows naturally as Friends embody the interconnectedness of Quaker testimonies and their sense of calling. Claiming an inherently dialogical approach to theological methodology, the author guides readers through a deep dive into a potent ecological metaphor. In her article, ‘Quakers and Ecospirituality’, Cherice Bock defines ecospirituality and describes the importance of spiritual connection to the community of all life in this era of climate change, offering ways ecospirituality relates to both Quaker spirituality and Quaker social action. This research article bridges the conversation between academy and practitioner by concluding with ways in which Quakers can grow into this important work.

In her article ‘Rufus Jones and Howard Thurman’, Barbara Welling Hall explores the similarities in theology between two leading Quaker and Quaker-proximate mystics of the twentieth century, the mutual commitments of Jones and Thurman to social action, and Jones’ failure to fully engage with the questions of race and systemic racism that shaped so much of Thurman’s work. The article explores drama as a medium for uncovering the potential inherent in conversations that might have or might yet take place. Church historian Rady Roldan-Figueroa explores how James A. Corbett’s Quaker theology of resistance to imperial Christianity provided a guiding framework and tactics based in spiritual practice for the sanctuary movement in the 1980s. In ‘James A. Corbett, Quaker Spirituality, and the Sanctuary Movement’, the author explores the conception and implementation of sanctuary as a civil initiative and a left-wing libertarian response to imperialism.

This special issue includes two research notes that focus a practitioner’s perspective on the connection between spiritual witness and social action. Drawing on her leadership experience, Jennifer Newman, director of Beacon Hill Friends House in Boston describes how the process of building intentional community teaches Quaker process and spirituality to diverse residents who carry their learning into lives of service. Her note is titled: ‘Listening to the still small voice: How Quakerism shows up in life and action at Beacon Hill Friends House’. Finally, in ‘Becoming the Quakers the World Needs’, Robin Mohr, former executive secretary of the Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas, frames how attending to the daily tasks of Quaker worship and business creates the conditions for love, community, and spiritual growth both locally and globally.

Though these articles represent just a few examples, they begin to paint a picture of how Quaker spirituality inspires and sustains individual practice and communal movements for social action.