Article topics

1. The primary purpose of BeFriending Creation is to serve as vehicle for Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) in furthering its stated goals.

2. The ultimate objective of QEW is to follow Quaker process in reaching a sense of unity within the Religious Society of Friends on the proposition that the global environmental crisis is largely a spiritual matter, that Spirit calls us to witness for an earth restored, similar to the way Friends in previous times witnessed for abolition of slavery, civil rights and prison reform, etc.

3. It follows from the above that the editor of BeFriending Creation should give highest priority to submissions dealing with the following types of subjects (the order should not be considered a ranking):

• Activities of the QEW Steering Committee, its standing committees, and ad-hoc committees that would be of interest to the general reader.
• Accounts of QEW committees’ dealings with other organizations, such as the United Nations, Native organizations, population organization, etc. in the course of their committee work, if such would be of interest to the general reader.
• Interesting stories of how individual Friends have transformed their lives/lifestyles as a result of a spiritual awakening to the environmental crisis (changes in material consumption, reproduction choices, occupation choices, Meeting activities, community witness, speaking truth to power, etc.) One of the aims is to let BeFriending Creation readers know they are not alone, providing examples and inspiration to others.
• Interesting stories of how spirit-led Friends are becoming involved in activities where courage, patience, love, understanding, etc. are important to the outcome. Stories should focus on their personal leadings, reflections, struggles, openings, etc.
• News of what Friends Meetings and their Unity with Nature Groups/Peace & Social Concerns Committees are doing in accord with QEW goals and objectives.
• News of what Yearly Meetings and Quarterly Meetings are doing in accord with QEW goals and objectives. Examples of minutes, support, commitments, Yearly Meeting activities, Unity with Nature Committees, etc.
• News of what other Friends organizations — FCNL, FAHE, AFSC, FWCC, EWG, etc. are doing and saying in accord with QEW goals and objectives.
• Interesting stories that show the interrelationships among the different Quaker testimonies, for example the environmental implications of work for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
• Current environmental issues or events in which QEW members and other Friends are playing leading roles, especially when it is evident that their Quaker spirituality is finding expression in their work.

4. Since QEW is not narrowly focused enough to be called an environmental organization, the editor of BeFriending Creation, should give the following types of subjects lower priority, although they might be deemed suitable as space permits:

• News of what other spiritually-based religious organizations are doing and saying in accord with QEW goals and objectives.
• News or reflections about related movements, such as eco-justice, eco-feminism, deep ecology, creation spirituality, the new cosmology, etc...
• Factual reports on current environmental issues — global warming, deforestation, legislation with environmental implications, etc...
• News of what other environment-related organizations (Greenpeace, Audubon, Worldwatch, etc.) are doing.
• Lists of various resources that readers might want to follow up on, while not calling for  direct coverage in BeFriending Creation
• “Straight” reviews of books, without reflection or analysis.
• Poetry
• Cartoons
• Imaginative artwork.

Article length

The current BeFriending Creation format requires a mix of short (250-300 words), medium (300 to 450 words), and full-page (650 words) articles—to facilitate page layouts and to appeal to the varying amounts of time readers may have to devote to articles during a given reading session. In any given issue there may be two or three full-page articles and no more than one that exceeds one page. As a guideline to writers of particular articles, however, the best advice is to stop writing when it stops being interesting. Keep in mind what most of our readers need and want to know!

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