The Gift of Eldership

Eldership is a practice at the heart of the Quaker tradition, yet it is often misunderstood or left unspoken in our meetings. In this conversation, Quaker elder Deborah Shaw and public minister Windy Cooler will reflect on the role of eldership in nurturing and sustaining public ministry today. Together they will explore eldership as both a gift and a responsibility—how it can ground ministers in faithfulness, support communities in discernment, and open pathways of accountability and love.

They will share stories of their own experiences with eldership, naming the joys and challenges that come with walking alongside ministers in their callings. Their dialogue will invite Friends to consider how we might reclaim eldership as a living practice of mutual care, one that strengthens the bonds between ministers and their meetings and helps us all to grow in the Spirit.