A reader wrote in to recommend a book, Before the Resurrection by Emily Provance, to London Friends, they say:
I’m writing to recommend a book which has just come out. Emily Provance gave the Swarthmore Lecture in 2025 and she writes of a lot of experience which will be helpful to us in London and to other Friends looking at change in our Meetings. I am a quarter of the way through it and I’m recognising so many patterns and situations which I’ve seen! She writes from an American perspective so we need to translate some of the language but the essentials are the same.
The synopsis of the book explains some of the main topics:
How do Friends’ meetings and churches adapt to changing or shrinking communities? A smaller or older meeting is no less valuable to God than a larger one, but the “”more is better”” messaging of modern culture tells us otherwise. This book weaves together logistical suggestions with eternal spiritual principles to help meetings right-size their institutions. Whether a group is altering its committee structures, restructuring entirely, selling a building, or laying itself down, the steps are essentially the same: recognizing the need for change, discerning the will of God at this time, caring for one another, and stepping forward into a new thing. Friends are a resurrection people. We know there will always be a renewal of life. But resurrection is not the same as resuscitation. How do we best make space for what God may do next?
Interested?
The book is availble form the Quaker Bookshop in Friends House.
We’d love to hear from Friends about their reflections on this book or the topics it contains for future articles in the Quill. Email us as quill@quakersinlondon.org