iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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This session explores the spiritual vision of the American essayist philosopher and activist, Henry David Thoreau. Friends will discover his radical message for an age of organised untruth and climate crisis. Book your place: ow.ly/u9Ro50ZQy7q

Living More Deliberately: Spiritual Activism With Henry David Thoreau Tuesday 17 November 19:00-20:30 (UK time) Pay as Led with Robert Oulton

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

There's so much that's gross and upsetting about this, but as a theologian my eyes are drawn to "Christian Rights are Real Rights" which is total theological nonsense. Christians have no additional rights by virtue of being Christian. "Christian" is not a special category of person.

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Chris Clare DJ @cdjtheology.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is the thesis of my book, yes

A post by @constans on X.com:

Protestant with arm tattoos and a soul patch: you're about to hear a message about how gay people are going to hell and Harris is going to bring forth communism

Protestant with full robes and a censer: you're about to hear how Jesus is, if you think about it, trans

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

"Around the throne [of God], and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind, because the creatures are potatoes." Revelation 4.6

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

If Julian of Norwich can contemplate God through a hazelnut, then Quakers can find God through a potato.

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Come and enthusiastically discuss #Quaker #theology with us! Registration is open for the annual Quaker Theological Discussion Group. Join us on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October 17, 8am-10am Pacific / 11am–1pm Eastern / 4–6pm BST. Find more info on how to register here: qtdg.org/2026/09/25/r...

qtdg.org

Registration Now Open for Quaker Theological Discussion Group 2026

Hello F(f)riends! All are welcome to join us for the Quaker Theological Discussion Group panels on Friday October 16 and Saturday October 17. Each day’s session begins at 10am Pacific / 11am–…

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Feminist Theology Network @feministtheology.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

A "proper" invite and a "Save the Date" - All the important things you need to put on your calendar...

Feminist Theology Network
Trauma, Survival and the Stories We Tell with Rev. Dr Kamilah Hall Sharp
Rev. Dr Kamilah Hall Sharp is a womanist preacher, scholar, professor, and community organiser whose work sits at the intersection of justice, Scripture, race, gender, sexuality, and public ministry.
7pm BST Online - Tuesday 13th October

feministtheologynetwork.org

Feminist Theology Network
With what empathetic body? Autistic futures, Pentecostal eschatology, and Luke 20 with Dr Claire Williams
7pm GMT Online
Wednesday 25th November

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Quake It Up @quakeitup.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

📣 New Video! Today, I am looking at the mistakes rookie Quakers often make, once meeting starts to become familiar and comfortable, how do we continue to grow in faith and challenge ourselves? youtu.be/o8ge88cpFKM #quakerism #quakers #britishquakers

Ollie inside a meetinghouse. Text reads “I’ve been there”

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Ben Fulford @benmfulford.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

If you’ve seen or shared news about programme closures at Edinburgh (not least in Theology & Religious Studies) please see this appeal from Prof Rachel Muers. The reports are misleading.

Text reads: ‘Appeal to anyone who has seen or shared the news reports about programme closures at Edinburgh, including in TRS: Please stop circulating them. They are very misleading, and are causing actual damage to our otherwise healthy department. (And for what it's worth, colleagues in Scottish Literature are saying something similar). I am now fed up with responding to anxious prospective students who think we, or some of our areas of teaching and research, are being closed down. We aren't. There are institutions where our subject is at risk but Edinburgh is not one of them. Please don't try to fit us into a narrative of "attack on the humanities" or "secularisation gone mad". Thank you.’

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

My latest Pause for Thought on "making things right." "Our life is love, and peace, and tenderness; and... praying one for another, and helping one another up with a tender hand." Isaac Penington, 1667 #Quaker @quaker.org.uk #spirituality www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

bbc.co.uk

Pause For Thought - Mark Russ: "A way of being" - BBC Sounds

Mark Russ on this week's theme 'Making Things Right'.

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Just finished writing a lecture for my upcoming course on the Quaker Renaissance in Britain. I'm loving returning to this topic. I've previously taught the period chronologically, but now I'm focussing each week on a theological theme e.g. progress, mysticism, Jesus etc, which feels much more "me."

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Open Table Network @opentablelgbt.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

THREE PLACES LEFT! 🍂 Join us for our Autumn LGBTQ+ Christian Retreat at St Beuno’s in North Wales, 30th October–1st November. With six weeks to go, now’s the time to book your place for a weekend of rest, reflection, prayer and community: bit.ly/StBeunosLGBT...

Seven abstract stained-glass panels from St Beuno's Rock Chapel, designed by Claire Mulholland. Warm golds, reds and oranges blend into cool blues and greens through flowing lines and circular forms, creating a vibrant, reflective composition.

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Woodbrooke @woodbrooke.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

📚 Our new programme is live! Explore Woodbrooke’s new courses, sessions and residentials from November 2026 to April 2027. ✨ Discover the programme today: www.woodbrooke.org.uk/our-courses/

NEW WOODBROOKE COURSES HAVE ARRIVED!

BOOKABLE ON OUR WEBSITE NOW
WWW.WOODBROOKE.ORG.UK

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I'm back on the radio again, talking about how welcoming others involves making space for that of God in everyone. #Quaker #spirituality @quaker.org.uk www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

bbc.co.uk

Pause For Thought - Mark Russ: "Making space" - BBC Sounds

Mark Russ on this week's theme 'All Are Welcome'.

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Henry Wilhelm 💛🤍💜🖤 @nymphrodell.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. [...] The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. James 5:1-4

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ellen @elfenzo.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

so excited about this! I love a podcast, and Quaker content 😀

youtu.be

Launching a new podcast | The other side of silence

YouTube video by Quakers in Britain

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SCM Press @scmpress.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Church of the Empire, edited by Sanjee Perera, gathers a diverse and distinguished range of contributors (Mike Higton, Evie Vernon, Anthony Reddie) from within and beyond the Church of England to offer perspectives on its inheritance. Only £32 here this month: scmpress.hymnsam.co.uk/books/978033...

An endorsement of Church of the Empire, a book edited by Sanjee Perera. Kwok Pui-lan, Professor Emerita of the Episcopal Divinity School, USA, says: This pathfinding volume is indispensable in diagnosing why racism is a 'wicked problem' for the Anglican Church - yet it also offers guideposts to imagine a church beyond empire... A must-read for Anglican missiology and ecclesiology.

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Stuart Masters @stuartkmasters.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

“Nayler’s vision of a better world is…predicated on the life of Christ being revealed in the bodies of men and women in his time. Through this process, a society based on pride, greed, hatred, violence, and injustice is overcome by God’s kingdom of humility, generosity, love, peace, and justice.”

The image includes the quotation below, along with a picture of "The Rule of Christ" book cover:

“Nayler’s vision of a better world is…predicated on the life of Christ being revealed again in the bodies of men and women in his time. Through this process, a human society based on pride, greed, hatred, violence, and injustice is overcome by God’s kingdom of humility, generosity, love, peace, and justice.”

The Rule of Christ, p.72

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Woodbrooke @woodbrooke.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

We are one of the historic Peace Churches. What does this mean for the role of an elder in Quaker meetings and communities? Find out more: www.woodbrooke.org.uk/courses/essen…

Essentials of Quaker Eldership: Being An Elder in a Peace Church Monday 9 November 19:00-20:30 (UK time) Pay as Led

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Quake It Up @quakeitup.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

📣 New Video! In this one, I attempt to visit all EIGHT Quaker meetings in Cornwall in just ONE day! Summer traffic, sheep, rain, sunshine, bingo players and getting lost all stand in my way. Can I make it to all eight before the clock runs out? Come along for the road trip. youtu.be/msJPr40Xs8E

Left, Ollie driving looking fretful.
Right, John Speed’s map of Cornwall
Text reads, One day. Every meeting!

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

A good and needed statement, and it's refreshing to hear a direct challenge to "the public." Often "the public" is treated as this innocent body that must be placated at all costs, but "the public" (usually meaning "white people" when invoked by politicians) need to repent too.

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Quakers in Britain @quaker.org.uk · 07/09/2026

"We call on political leaders of every party to condemn this intimidation and violence without qualification, and on the public to reject the politics of blame." Quakers in Britain statement following intimidation and violence in Dover and Portsmouth: www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...

quaker.org.uk

Quakers in Britain statement following intimidation and violence in Dover and Portsmouth

Quakers are calling on political leaders of every party to condemn the intimidation and violence seen in Dover and Portsmouth this weekend.

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Nadia Whittome MP @nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The far-right, whether in suits or balaclavas, threatens all of our hard-won rights and protections. We must resist their violence and hatred in every way we can. [2/2]

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Nadia Whittome MP @nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

When blackshirts are marching through the streets of Dover and Portsmouth, the focus shouldn’t be on the disruption they cause, but on their fascist ideology and deliberate intimidation of migrants and people of colour. [1/2]

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Stephen Lingwood @sjlingwood.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

"Continuing to do pioneering sacred work in a world as crazy and painful as ours without constantly grounding yourself in sacred practice would be like running into a forest fire dressed only in a paper tutu." Marion Woodman

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Woodbrooke @woodbrooke.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

This course explores historical and theological research undertaken by Woodbrooke in response to the 2022 Britain Yearly Meeting minute, which invited Friends to reflect on Quaker involvement in enslavement and trafficking and consider possible reparations. ow.ly/6JRW50ZIEvv

Examining Our Past: Historical Quaker Theologies of Enslavement 3 December - 17 December Pay as Led with Lily Chadwick and Ben Wood

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Watching "9 to 5" for the first time in honour of Dolly, and it is NOT what I was expecting. And they did Jane Fonda dirty with that wig.

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Stuart Masters @stuartkmasters.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

A solid...introduction to and survey of the whole history and theological range of the Quaker faith... The author's summation of what the different types of Friends can offer to Christianity today in the conclusion is particularly valuable. Dr Russell Fox - Friends University, Wichita, KS

The image includes the quotation below, along with a picture of "The Quaker Faith" book cover:

A solid, succinct, and--to me, anyway--sometimes surprising introduction to and survey of the whole history and theological range of the Quaker faith... The author's summation of what the different types of Friends (Conservative, Evangelical, and Liberal) can offer to Christianity today in the conclusion is particularly valuable.

Dr Russell Fox - Friends University, Wichita, Kansas (Goodreads review, 24th December 2025).

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Quakers in Britain @quaker.org.uk · 05/09/2026

"Learn something from everything that happens" As September begins, Rhiannon Grant reflects on the possibilities that might lie ahead. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0p7djkp

bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 2 - Pause For Thought, Rhiannon Grant: "Learn something from everything that happens"

Rhiannon Grant on this week's theme 'My First Day'.

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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It took a lot: the threat of an IPSO investigation, insults and rank hypocrisy from Michael Gove, refusal to publish a right to reply & a last minute excision without consultation, but at last I got The Spectator to publish a counter to its propaganda war against Project Spire.

Letter published in The Spectator correcting some of its misinformation about Project Spire’s historical basis.

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Thee Quaker @theequaker.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Less busy work. More inner work.

Black and white drawn portrait of George Fox with hands up, eyes looking skyward, mouth slightly open.

Text: "This email could have been a meeting... for worship." -- George Fox

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Stephen Lingwood @sjlingwood.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

This is what happens now. Process as punishment. They crack down on protesters by raiding their homes and stealing their stuff before they have been found guilty. It causes massive inconvenience, makes it harder to do things like banking. It's police process as revenge and punishment.

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I've got a new website with details of everything I offer as a writer, speaker, teacher, facilitator, and spiritual accompanier, plus ways you can support my ministry. markdruss.wordpress.com #queer #quaker #theology #LGBT+ #Christian #spirituality

markdruss.wordpress.com

Mark D Russ

Queer Quaker-shaped Christian Theologian

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Today I passed my PhD viva with minor corrections. I had the honour of being supervised by Michael Burdett and Patrice Haynes (pictured) and Ben Wood, and the honour of being examined by Rachel Muers and Selina Stone. I'm elated , relieved, and exhausted. #PhDsky

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Chester Quaker Meeting @chesterquakers.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Chester Quakers are excited to extend our range of times for Meetings for Worship as of September 2026. Come and join us at Chester Quaker Meeting House, at any of the above times. #quakers #quaker #quakermeeting #chester

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Fortress Press @fortresspress.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

“With great erudition, beautiful prose, and womanist genius, Smith has produced the most sophisticated account of Howard Thurman’s interpretive practice to date.” —Willie James Jennings, Yale Divinity School >> bit.ly/4zriKNG

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Penn State University Press @psupress.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

New in paperback! Take 30% off THE CREATION OF MODERN QUAKER DIVERSITY, 1830–1937 with promo code 036NR. www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0…

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

My viva is in 2 days, and I'm feeling grateful for the scholars whose ideas have nourished my thesis, folk like Willie Jennings, Lauren Winner, Sara Ahmed and Jenny Daggers. They're a cloud of witnesses who'll be accompanying me into the examination room. I hope I do them justice! #PhDsky #theology

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I think the same can be said of loving God as well as loving other people. Prayer can sometimes feel like a dull indubitable duty.

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Woodbrooke @woodbrooke.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

True love is proven when the loved one begins to be not only the mysterious beckoner of destiny, but becomes also the occasion of dull indubitable duty... 1959 Quaker Faith and Practice 22.48

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Quake It Up @quakeitup.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

📣 New Video! Today, we're exploring one of my favourite Quaker episodes in history, the meeting of Sultan Mehmed IV with Mary Fisher, a Quaker from Selby in Yorkshire. How on earth did this situation come about? What did they talk about? Let's find out! #quakerism youtu.be/AOHqcLOmzOQ

Ollie and Mary Fisher on either side with the Hagia Sophia in background. Text reads Why did she go?

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Taking a break from the viva prep (oh my goodness why is this PhD not over yet!?) to write another Pause for Thought for BBC Radio 2. It's so nice to be invited back to a few brief words sprinkled with a little Quaker wisdom.

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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Right now the government is putting our communities, our water security and our climate ambitions second to the demands of tech giants. It's time to slam the brakes on water-guzzling, energy hungry datacentres.

Greens call for temporary ban on new data centres

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Quakers in Britain Peace Team @peace-campaigns.quaker.org.uk · 26/08/2026

If you'll be at @greenbeltfestival.bsky.social this weekend - look forward to seeing you on Sunday. We'll be running a workshop with @forpeacemaker.bsky.social Whispers of Peace: How to act for peace as the war drums beat loudly?

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Finding myself tearing up at the news of Dolly's death. It's sad, and at the same time it feels good to mourn the end of a truly virtuous life. What a gift she was and continues to be.

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Mark D Russ @markdruss.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

"Is what we're offering really good news?" is such an important question for Quakers to ask themselves.

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Woodbrooke @woodbrooke.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Can Liberal Quakers, and other religious liberals, do evangelism? Do we have any "good news"? Is it ethical to evangelise in a diverse society? This talk and discussion will explore what it might mean to do evangelism with a liberal theology and practice. Visit ow.ly/eLL650ZBOPc

Silhouette of a person speaking into a megaphone against a blue background with text
Good News? Reclaiming Evangelism for Religious Liberals with Stephen Lingwood, Tuesday 20 October 19:00-21:00 (UK time) Pay as Led

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