John Woolman was a 18th century Quaker born in New Jersey who advocated for social reform, especially abolitionism. He struggled with contradictions between Quaker values and practices involving slavery. This led him to make choices aligning his work with his values, like refusing to write legal documents involving slave sales. Through prayer, meditation and journaling, Woolman sought to harmonize his inward and outward life. He worked to end oppression through personal choices, conversations and ministry. Woolman's legacy includes promoting nonviolence, sustainability, and starting reform from within the self and community through respectful action. His influence continues through his emphasis on experiencing and understanding others' conditions in order to work for justice.

1. Living Testimony

2.  Part A – Biographical Sketch
 Part B – Woolman’s Inward/Outward Life
 Part C – Woolman’s Legacy

3. Born October 1720 in West New Jersey,
a Quaker colony in the Americas

4.  From Lord Berkeley
 From the native peoples

5.  A thoughtful and meditative child, with a
“wild period” in his youth
 Capacity for self-criticism and sensitive to
contradictions between stated values and some
practices among Friends
 Early experience with troubled conscience and
regret
 Began series of choices to harmonize work and
values

6.  Let go of profitable retail operation to allow
more time for reflection and travel
 Refused to write any more documents or wills
involving sale or transfer of slaves

7.  war tax and armed resistance
 billeting soldiers
The Death of General Wolfe, Benjamin West 1770

8. “conduct is
more convincing
than language”

9. Concern for “oppressors”
as well as “oppressed”

10. is about relationships
among people
and with Creation

11. • dyed clothing
• sugar

12. • using land wisely
• care of beasts

13. Many slaves on this
continent are oppressed, and
their cries have reached the
ears of the Most High. Such
are the purity and certainty of
his judgments, that he
cannot be partial in our favor.
Anti-slavery work:
laboring with Friends
• with his yearly meeting
• in Southern Colonies
• London Yearly Meeting

14.  voyage over
 London Yearly Meeting epistle
 death in York

15. The Inward/Outward Life:
how John Woolman stayed grounded
•abolitionist
• mystic
•gentle radical
•social reformer

16. Prayer and action
To love and reverence God
is to love and reverence God
“in all his manifestations
in the visible world”

17. but puts a claim on the faithful to
work for justice, however unpopular

18. one can speak plainly
without being self-righteous

19. Inward Practices
Corporate Worship
• find a way forward without ego or pride
• connect with the condition of others
• be challenged and supported
Meditative Reading
• Scripture “and other good books”
• Read Bible as mirror
• Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah
Journal Keeping – an “inner laboratory”

20. Outward Practices
Witness through Personal Choice
• livelihood
• dress
• travel
Witness through conversation
• ministry
• travel among Friends
• an invitation to greater sympathy with others

21. Seeking harmony and integration of inward and outward
Prayer as “inward activism” and witness as “outward
prayer” Dan Snyder 2008
Integration of all the testimonies – springing from one
source i.e. simplicity and peace

22. Woolman’s Legacy

23.  The impact of our economic choices on peace
and justice
 The rights of people, animals and the
environment – harmony and sustainability
 War tax resistance
 Xenophobia

24.  Starting with self, then nearest community,
then wider community
 Grounding work in personal experience;
seeking to understand the condition of others
 Not enough to talk about issues, but to take
action, however small the steps
 Positive action more effective than negative

25.  Speaking with respect, even when offering
criticism; offering an invitation to grow
 Recognizing the imperfections of humanity –
don’t expect miracles, but don’t be satisfied
with the status quo
 Even oppressors need redemption
 Doing the fair thing, even at personal cost

26. The journal of John Woolman
has never been out of print
since it was first published
over 200 years ago.
Its influence extends beyond
the world of Friends.