As part of Friends World News, Ruby Cumming of Friends World Committee for Consultation reflects on Quaker co-founder Margaret Fell:
In the World Office, as International Women’s Day approaches (8 March), we’ve been reflecting on women’s ministry and its deep roots in Quakerism.
On a recent visit to the library at Friends House, I had the privilege of holding an original copy of Women’s Speaking Justified. Written in 1666 by Quaker co-founder Margaret Fell, the pamphlet methodically explains how women’s ministry is found throughout scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Just a handful of pages, it felt light in weight but weighty in significance.
Calling Christians to embrace female leadership, Quakers have republished Women’s Speaking Justified in an updated edition from Barclay Press. Translated into modern English by Professor Paul Anderson of George Fox University, it includes a foreword from FWCC. Find out more.
This story has drawn welcome public attention: news outlets local to where Fell lived including Lancashire Post and Westmoreland Gazette published articles, as did the faith publication Insights Magazine in Australia, and a newspaper for people in prison in the UK, Inside Time. A photo of the original pamphlet accompanied by a summary of her argument shared on Facebook reached 10,000 people within 36 hours!
You can find out more about Margaret Fell on the new podcast from the Silver Wattle Quaker Centre and Quakers Australia.
A woman of ‘firsts’, Margaret Fell was also the first Quaker to be described as a recording clerk, and her home of Swarthmoor Hall could be considered the first Friends World Office. On that note, I’m pleased to announce that FWCC now has an all-female clerking team, with Clare Scott Booth as clerk, Esther Mombo as assistant clerk, and Annie Janssen as recording clerk.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Clare and Esther about their journeys and female faith leadership. You can read Clare’s Q&A, Esther’s is coming soon, and we plan to meet Annie at the next CEC meeting at Swarthmoor Hall in May.
I leave you with Margaret Fell’s own words, written 360 years ago but still relevant today:
“And what hath God wrought by and through women… let them that have ears to hear, hear.”
May we continue to make space for every voice that carries the Light.
You can sign up to a monthly email Friends World News – the article above is from the March edition, which also included news of the the 2026 Africa Section and YQCA Triennial Meeting; and of new programme representatives at QUNO Geneva.