Indiana Trainwreck: The Separation Generation, Vol. 1: Divisions in Indiana Quaker Communities Over Inclusion of Homosexuals, Church Authority, Christ & The Bible 2008–2013 by Stephen W. Angell and Chuck Fager

Abstract

Reviewed by: Indiana Trainwreck: The Separation Generation, Vol. 1: Divisions in Indiana Quaker Communities Over Inclusion of Homosexuals, Church Authority, Christ & The Bible 2008–2013 by Stephen W. Angell and Chuck Fager Andrew S. Taylor Indiana Trainwreck: The Separation Generation, Vol. 1: Divisions in Indiana Quaker Communities Over Inclusion of Homosexuals, Church Authority, Christ & The Bible 2008–2013. By Stephen W. Angell and Chuck Fager. Durham, North Carolina: Quaker Theology 2020. xiv+ 252 pp. Notes, and index. Paper $13.95 This collection of articles, previously published in Quaker Theology, catalogues in almost real time the theological debates within Indiana Yearly Meeting that resulted in roughly a quarter of its meetings being released and ultimately forming the New Association of Friends. The first Quaker schism in Indiana since 1857 was sparked by West Richmond Meeting recording and posting to their website a minute “welcoming and affirming” gay members. Angell demonstrates that the fight over sexuality served as a proxy war for deeper disagreements over Biblical inerrancy and the authority of Yearly Meetings to define the policies and practices of Monthly Meetings, and the volume accordingly focuses less on the usual scriptural and theological debates surrounding gay marriage than the Quaker decision-making processes (or lack thereof) that culminated in the split. His opening essay that provides the historical and theological context for the debates over sexuality is one of the volume’s best. Angell proceeds to marshal documentary evidence supporting his thesis that the division represented less a gradual but necessary separation than a purge of non-conforming meetings by the fundamentalist leadership within IYM. Angell provides numerous instances in which both the letter and spirit of Quaker procedural processes were violated by the IYM and its superintendent David Shoemaker in particular—e.g., clerks claiming to discern a “sense” of meetings in which participants felt no sense was to be found, the use of voting to decide contentious issues, and the inconsistent concern for violations of the [End Page 94] body’s Faith and Practice along political lines. Though this broad thesis is discernable, the editing of the volume leaves much to be desired. Angell and Fager are listed as co-authors even though the vast majority of the articles are written by Angell, and Stephanie Crumley-Effinger contributed more words than Fager, who I assume is a co-editor rather than-author. The volume consists of a confusing mix of journal articles, editor’s introductions to previous issues of Quaker Theology, and primary sources that move chronologically but with no curation. A longer introduction that included a plan for the book could have solved many of these issues. The volume would have benefited immensely from even a basic proofread, as Wikipedia is often cited as a source, and typos and spelling errors abound. (At one point the reader is directed to “Error! Bookmark not defined.”) The titular reference to the outdated term “homosexuals” is similarly cringeworthy. A brief word on tone is also in order. Academics are likely to be uncomfortable with Angell’s explicit invocation of prayer for particular outcomes, and though this reviewer shares much of the theology and political agenda of the editors, their obvious sympathies with the New Association are likely to alienate theologically-conservative readers, even if their documentary evidence is undeniable. Similarly, the authors assume a familiarity with Quaker practices and organizations that will be no issue for folks who have encountered this review in Quaker History, but will present an insurmountable barrier for academics outside the field, limiting the volume’s potential use to specialists in Quakerism rather than historians of American religion or the gay rights movement. Indiana Trainwreck is a timely contribution, as similar splits are cropping up throughout Quaker and Christian communities across America, but its ultimate destiny is perhaps to serve as a collection of primary sources for future histories on denominational schisms over gay marriage. [End Page 95] Andrew S. Taylor University of Virginia Copyright © 2021 Friends Historical Association