Emily Provance, the Quaker who came to our retreat last fall is brimming with intriguing ways to use technology to keep Quakers in touch with each other. Currently, while traveling in Africa among Friends, she is using Facebook to have a book club. Called Quaker Open Book, we are currently discussing Quaker Process For Friends on the Benches by Mathilda Navias.

The readings are very manageable, one chapter every two weeks. While you do need to request to join the group, once you join, you can simply read what others say, comment on your own, or ask your own questions. The structure is completely open. There are no quizzes and Friends are encouraged to come and go as they need to. Emily posts queries for each chapter to get the conversation started. Currently there are 73 people signed up. The conversation so far has been interesting and I’ve learned about some different practices of other unprogrammed meetings.

I’m a participant and so far we have read the introduction and are working on Chapter 1. It encourages me to read a book that I wanted to read anyway and also gives me the opportunity to interact with Friends from all over. If you have a Facebook account, you can follow this link and ask to join. I hope to see some of you there, even if just to check it out.