FRIENDS
INCUBATOR
FOR PUBLIC MINISTRY
Constellation of Witness Project
This book will be a resource, an exploration, a celebration of courage, an invitation, and a collection of art all in one.
Our Kickstarter was fully funded! Thank you so much!
What is Public Ministry?
As Friends, all of us are called to be ministers in the lives of our worshipping communities. Some of us are called to be ministers in public. Ministry in public is called public ministry!
There are many different ways one can be a public minister, and that's what this book will exemplify by lifting up stories of Quakers following their leadings, from history and today.
Author Ben Pink Dandelion on the diversity of Public Ministry experiences
This book will include first-hand accounts from public ministers themselves, reflections shaped by grief, sacrifice, joy, risk, endurance, and daily labor. These are not abstract theological essays but lived testimonies about what it costs to follow a call, what sustains a minister over time, and what it means to be accompanied or to stand alone. Alongside these voices, we will hear from Friends both familiar and less widely known, drawing lessons from our 400-year history as Quakers about recognition, authority, rupture, courage, and care.
Taken together, these voices form a constellation. Different lights, different contexts, different temperaments, yet a shared commitment to faithfulness beyond the meetinghouse walls.
If this vision resonates with you, I invite you to consider contributing to the project. Your support will help us gather, edit, illustrate, and publish these stories so that the Religious Society of Friends may remember what it knows about ministry and imagine what is still possible.
-Windy Cooler
(Convener of Friends Incubator for Public Ministry)
Co-editor Tom Hamm on Public Ministry
Seeking submissions of writing on public ministry
Constellation of Witness is a new collection of testimonies about public ministry by Quaker public ministers, fully illustrated by Joey Hartmann-Dow. Co-edited by Windy Cooler, Tom Hamm, and nova sturrup, this book seeks to tell the stories of public ministers together as a community, and to explore the ministries Quaker communities are called to together.
Deadline: First drafts, detailed proposals, and outlines are due May 15th. This submission is just a draft — we will work with you through around July 1st to complete a final draft.
We welcome poetry, essays, fiction, and interviews. Pieces typically run between 500 and 2,000 words. We are not prioritizing work that is argumentative or academic in tone, though you are welcome to bring such pieces to our attention for other projects growing out of this one.
What we're looking for...
Personal testimony and call
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First-hand stories about what has been hard and life-affirming about your call
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Explorations of call, community, and purpose
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The ministry that ended or changed: honest accounts of laying down a ministry, or watching it transform
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Failure and faithfulness: what happened when a leading didn't go as expected, and what you learned
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Seasons and silences: the dry spells, the waiting, and how you stayed faithful through them
Interviews and conversations
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Interviews with public ministers: we have Friends who would like to be interviewed and are specifically looking for people who can sit beside them and record their stories
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Intergenerational conversations between a younger and older minister about how the call has changed (or hasn't) across generations
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Interviewers are encouraged to include a brief reflection on what it felt like to sit beside someone and hold their story
Dimensions of ministry often left unspoken
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The ministry of presence: accompanying, bearing witness at vigils, prison visiting, care for the dying
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The body in ministry: how health, disability, age, or fatigue shape how people carry a call
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Family and relationship: what public ministry costs and gives to the people closest to a minister
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Collaborative or corporate ministry: stories of when a whole meeting or community felt called together
Widening the circle
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Voices from Quaker communities in Kenya, Bolivia, Cuba, and other places where Friends are numerous but underrepresented in English-language publishing
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Letters to a new minister: epistolary pieces offering tender, honest guidance to someone just beginning to feel a call
Submit below:
Send first drafts, detailed proposals, or outlines to us using the link below by May 15th.
Questions and correspondence are welcome. This project may grow into additional volumes and forms as we discover together how best to tell the stories of public ministers and the ministries Quaker communities are called to share, so be encouraged!