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Oct 1, 2024 | 
friendsjournal.org | Andy Stanton-Henry |Alla Podolsky
One of the biggest challenges to Quaker outreach (aside from oatmeal associations and our phobia of evangelism) is the challenge of explaining our faith and practice in a clear and concise way. Our “elevator speech” often requires a many-floored skyscraper or a very slow elevator. It’s the beauty and burden of a non-creedal tradition. Yet with all of our theological diversity and ethical complexity, there are some things we are clear about: sometimes even fundamentalist about.
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Sep 26, 2024 | 
faithandleadership.com | Bekah McNeel |Andy Stanton-Henry |Adam Taylor |Rebecca Peters
I spend a lot of time talking about polarization and political conflict. Because I am bullishly solutions-oriented, it’s only a matter of time in the course of almost every podcast, workshop and Q&A session before the question comes up: How do I make my neighbors and my family see that their politics are cruel and immoral?
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Sep 4, 2024 | 
faithandleadership.com | Andy Stanton-Henry |Adam Taylor |Tim Alberta |Ian McPherson
John Fea: Evangelicals may vote the same in 2020 as in 2016, but we understand them much better now
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Aug 13, 2024 | 
faithandleadership.com | Andy Stanton-Henry
In 1966, Thomas Merton wrote that our primary task as people of faith is to stay human. “Be human in this most inhuman of ages,” he advised. “Guard the image of man for it is the image of God.”Staying human is hard and holy work; it’s even harder during a presidential election year. Lots of people are spending lots of money to activate our anxiety and anger. Having worked on political campaigns, I know the tactics used by political parties to motivate and move people.
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Oct 1, 2023 | 
friendsjournal.org | Andy Stanton-Henry
Andy Stanton-Henry was featured in the October 2023 Quakers Today podcast. I have a confession to make. Every Easter, you will find me worshiping in a megachurch. I will be standing in a large, modern sanctuary, surrounded by thousands of people. The worship band up front will be leading us in lively singing, complete with an accompanying rock band. The transitions on the stage are impeccable, the technology cutting edge, and the audience multicultural.
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Jul 31, 2023 | 
spiritualityhealth.com | Andy Stanton-Henry
When I worked in a public library, I enjoyed learning the reading trends of our patrons. Many of the trends were unsurprising—religious inspiration, crime novels, and children’s fiction were all steady favorites. But one surprised me. One of the most popular genres in our collection was Amish romance. I’m not sure why Amish romance novels were so popular. Maybe it was because nearby Amish Country was a popular destination for food, shopping, and gawking.
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May 31, 2023 | 
friendsjournal.org | Andy Stanton-Henry |Alla Podolsky
A few years ago, I was on an international trip with a Quaker seminary, and we visited a number of cities and faith-based organizations. At each stop, we had to introduce ourselves: describing the seminary and its Quaker affiliation. This was not an easy task. Most of the people we were meeting had never heard of Quakers, and we were communicating across a serious language barrier. One person took it upon herself to explain Quaker faith and practice.
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Apr 24, 2023 | 
plough.com | Andy Stanton-Henry |Quaker minister
In the beautiful film A Hidden Life, about the Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter who refused to sign the soldier’s oath of loyalty to Hitler, there is a scene in which Jägerstätter is confronted by a fellow prisoner. Throughout the film, a host of people tell him to swear the oath and do whatever he has to for his and his family’s survival. God will understand. And his prison-mate is no exception. He launches into a speech born out of hopeless weariness: “Have the meek inherited the earth?
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Apr 20, 2023 | 
spiritualityhealth.com | Andy Stanton-Henry
A few years ago, I was visiting Cuba on a seminary trip and I was trying to remember the name of a political concept from South America. “No problem,” I thought, “I’ll Google it!” Instinctively, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, only to be quickly reminded that I couldn’t use the internet. In Cuba, at that time, Wi-Fi was only available in select locations and only accessible by purchasing expensive cards.
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Apr 1, 2023 | 
friendsjournal.org | Andy Stanton-Henry
Going Local with Universal MinistryAs a public Friend who manages multiple social media accounts, I do a fair bit of hunting for good Quaker quotes. They are not hard to come by, and some names come up repeatedly, like Thomas Kelly. Recently, I was going through some Kelly quotes I had kept in a Google doc, and one of them caught my attention. It was a quotation from A Testament of Devotion in which he discusses the imperative of holy obedience.
