A Radical Disciple You May Not Have Heard Of

The quiet discipleship of John Woolman and what his example offers us in our time of climate emergency

Welcome! I am Jessica Hetherington, and this newsletter is about faith and climate action. You can subscribe by clicking here:

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A Radical Disciple You May Not Have Heard Of

I am drawn to the stories of Christians who, in their own contexts of time and place, lived lives of radical discipleship. They are the stories of people of faith who responded to the call of God in transformational and uncompromising ways. They offer inspiring and motivating examples of what it means to pick up the cross and follow Jesus, to ‘lose our lives in order to gain them’ (Matthew 16:25), and to respond to God and the cries of the world through bold action. These Christians, through their stories, challenge and inspire me in my own discipleship as I seek to respond to God in light of the climate crisis. Here, I want to share with you one of those stories.

John Woolman

Have you heard of John Woolman?

Maybe not. Woolman was a Quaker (Society of Friends) who lived in the United States in the 18^th century (1720-1772). He wore several hats: he was a tailor, itinerant minister, and social reformer who had a devout faith in God from an early age. In his autobiography, The Journal of John Woolman and A Plea for the Poor (published shortly after his death), he describes how he concerned himself with how to live a Christian life. How this manifested concretely was shaped by two formative experiences.