Putney Friends Meeting

At the end of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Summer Sessions this Sunday, it was announced that Steve Chase’s new Quaker Press book, Letters To A Fellow Seeker: A Short Introduction To The Quaker Way was chosen as the coming year’s selection for PYM’s “One Book, One Yearly Meeting” program.

As noted on PYM’s website, “One Book, One Yearly Meeting is an opportunity for meetings, quarters and Friends of all ages to connect and grow in the Spirit through one shared experience. Each year a book is chosen which reflects the theme of our Annual Sessions. Friends are invited to read the book individually or with their meeting over the next year. An accompanying curriculum provides support for going deeper into the book.” The website also says that more information for ideas about how Quaker meetings can promote discussing the new selection will be posted soon.

Steve Chase reacted to the news this weekend by saying, “I am touched that this book, which seemed to write itself this Spring, is now being viewed as such a valuable tool to help spark discussion of our different faith journey’s within all the meetings in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.”

In its promotional literature, Quaker Press of Friends General Conference describes the book this way: “In seven letters to a fictional correspondent, Steve Chase describes his spiritual journey among Friends. The writer, a member of the Quaker Quest travel team, introduces the Quaker way to a newcomer in language that is personal and gentle, while offering powerful inspiration through his own stories. Written as an invitation to inquirers, Letters to a Fellow Seeker will also stimulate discussion among longtime Friends about how we experience and remain true to our Quaker faith.”

A second printing of the book has also already been ordered by the publisher. Paper copies and ebook versions can now be ordered online at Quaker Books, the bookstore of Friends General Conference.

Steve Chase is a member of Putney Friends Meeting, the educational director of the environmental studies master’s program in Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability at Antioch University New England, a founder of the Transition Keene Task Force, a member of the Transition US Trainers Team, and a moderator of the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends’ website Quakers In Transition.