The Double Priority
In the course of studying the history of the people called Quakers, two major contributions come into prominence. On the one hand, Friends are known for their active social concern. Since their beginning, the story of Friends attacking a series of social evils has been a thrilling one. The most
CFM Roots: Slavery and Abolition
During the nineteenth century, it was impossible for Cincinnati Friends to avoid being drawn into the most contentious debate in the history of our nation: the clash over slavery. Quakers were universally opposed to slavery by the mid-nineteenth century, but it had been a position arrived at gradually. When visiting
Discernment on Reproductive Healthcare
Last March, Cincinnati Friends Meeting approved the formation of a small group that led two open worship sharing sessions to discern our meeting’s responses to a series of queries posed by the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) regarding reproductive health. Seventeen people participated in the process, either during the
Examining the Life of Levi Coffin
While being interviewed recently for a documentary on Agents of the Underground Railroad, I was asked about the relationship between the abolitionist Levi Coffin and the other members of Cincinnati Friends Meeting. And the answer was . . . it’s complicated. By the nineteenth century, all yearly meetings in North