Michael Birkel is a Professor of Christian Spirituality at ESR (Earlham School of Religion) who became a self-taught friend of the Qur'an. In addition to the courses he has taught at ESR and Earlham College, he led a week-long workshop called Reading the Qur'an as Friends as part of the 2019 FGC Gathering.

Chad Seales writes & speaks eloquently on neoliberal capitalism, religion, spirituality, & their intersection with U2 star, Bono, in his book Religion Around Bono: Evangelical Enchantment and Neoliberal Capitalism.

Exploration of how spiritually-root service can transform the paths of young volunteers. There's riches in the experience with the Peace Corps, Americorps & VISTA, Teach for America, & many more, but today we visit with several folks with QVS (Quaker Voluntary Service). QVS provides a year of service, living at the intersection of transformational spirituality and activism.

In his new book, Race and Social Change: A Quest, A Study, A Call to Action, Max Klau uses wide-ranging social science investigation to search for a way forward on dealing with racism and privilege in the USA. The starting point is Camp Anytown's Separation Exercise, which has led to the awakening of many minds.

Hayley Hathaway is passionate about the relationships between ecology, economy, and faith. She is publications director for Quaker Earthcare Witness and lives as part of the South of Monadnock Community, after having spent 6 years with Casa de los Amigos in Mexico City.

Jeremy Lent, has an MBA, is an author, integrator, and founder of The Liology Institute. His amazing new book is The Patterning Instinct: A Cultural History of Humanity's Search for Meaning, which is all about understanding and leveraging humanity's fundamental drives toward sustainability of our species and the planet.

Past/current religious/spiritual influences:

It's time for a super-charged, profoundly-rooted, sustainable and transformative revolution, and Chris Moore-Backman has an inspired take on the needed way forward. He is the author The Gandhian Iceberg: A Nonviolence Manifesto for the Age of the Great Turning, loaded with thoughts, words, and images which will radically enrich the path of all who read it. Chris has a couple decades experience with nonviolent action and training, most recently with an emphasis on efforts to end the age of mass incarceration.

Anti-war activists and military folks are predisposed to see each other as "the enemy", but even mainstream or conservative folks can have a very difficult time truly welcoming home vets. Zachary Moon is very concerned about treating vets as real people, not political or theological pawns in some game. Relatively few Quakers serve in the military, even as chaplains, as Zachary does, and too few know how to really support our troops when they return home, so he has helped pioneer a way forward.

Talks with 3 science profs at UW-EC about their intersection with spirituality. Matt Jewell, Derek Gingerich, and Doug Matthews bring their experience with spirit face-to-face with their knowledge of Materials Science, Biology, and Behavioral Neuroscience, respectively. See the article about the interview linked via the CVPost.

4 scientists from UW-EC gather to share about the intersection of science & spirituality at the UU Congregation in Eau Claire. See the article about the interview linked via the CVPost.