Uploaded November 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
As a lifelong musician, Anna Fritz has played a lot of gigs. But when she sang in Quaker worship, Friends in her community started treating her music as something more than performance.
LISTEN to more of Anna's music: annafritz.com/listen
KEEP IN TOUCH with Jon! jonwatts.com
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Find out how young adults are transforming their lives through a year of service at Quaker Voluntary Service:
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Find out how Quakers are taking spirit-led action to address the ecological and social crises of the world at Quaker Earthcare Witness:
https://fdsj.nl/earthcare
Filmed and Edited by Jon Watts
JonWatts.com
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Transcript:
I think that one of the most powerful gifts that Quakers have to offer the world is an understanding of discernment, and a practice around discernment, and an understanding that there is something larger than us guiding us, and that there is a practice of listening and discerning that can help us know our right path. I think that if we are to realize the kingdom of God here on Earth, it has to involve each of us following our deepest leadings from moment to moment, and we need to support each other in doing that, and we need to teach people how to do that from a very young age.
Exploring Music as a Quaker Ministry
I’m Anna Fritz. I’m a member at Multnomah Monthly Meeting and I’m a cellist and folksinger and songwriter and composer. I’ve been a professional musician for most of my adult life, and in 2013-14 I was coming back to Quakerism after the thing that a lot of young adults do—kind of meandering away—and I was attending this meeting, Multnomah, and really connecting here and starting to put down roots. I went to the Pacific Northwest Women’s Theology Conference and had my first experience there of performing my songs out of worship, and that was really transformative for me, as was the reaction from Friends, which was: “Do you have support for this ministry?” And I was like, “This what?”
More: https://fdsj.nl/music
___
The views expressed in this video are of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends Journal or its collaborators.
As a lifelong musician, Anna Fritz has played a lot of gigs. But when she sang in Quaker worship, Friends in her community started treating her music as something more than performance.
LISTEN to more of Anna's music: annafritz.com/listen
KEEP IN TOUCH with Jon! jonwatts.com
SUBSCRIBE for a new video every week! http://fdsj.nl/QS-Subscribe
WATCH all our videos: http://fdsj.nl/qs-all-videos
___
Become a Friends Journal subscriber for only $28
http://fdsj.nl/FJ-Subscribe
Find out how young adults are transforming their lives through a year of service at Quaker Voluntary Service:
https://fdsj.nl/qvs
Find out how Quakers are taking spirit-led action to address the ecological and social crises of the world at Quaker Earthcare Witness:
https://fdsj.nl/earthcare
Filmed and Edited by Jon Watts
JonWatts.com
___
Transcript:
I think that one of the most powerful gifts that Quakers have to offer the world is an understanding of discernment, and a practice around discernment, and an understanding that there is something larger than us guiding us, and that there is a practice of listening and discerning that can help us know our right path. I think that if we are to realize the kingdom of God here on Earth, it has to involve each of us following our deepest leadings from moment to moment, and we need to support each other in doing that, and we need to teach people how to do that from a very young age.
Exploring Music as a Quaker Ministry
I’m Anna Fritz. I’m a member at Multnomah Monthly Meeting and I’m a cellist and folksinger and songwriter and composer. I’ve been a professional musician for most of my adult life, and in 2013-14 I was coming back to Quakerism after the thing that a lot of young adults do—kind of meandering away—and I was attending this meeting, Multnomah, and really connecting here and starting to put down roots. I went to the Pacific Northwest Women’s Theology Conference and had my first experience there of performing my songs out of worship, and that was really transformative for me, as was the reaction from Friends, which was: “Do you have support for this ministry?” And I was like, “This what?”
More: https://fdsj.nl/music
___
The views expressed in this video are of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends Journal or its collaborators.
