This is an episode of the Emerge podcast featuring a conversation between hosts David and Lee (from Radnor Meeting’s Climate Action Committee) and guest Keith Runyon, General Secretary of Quaker Earth Care Witness (QEW).
Key topics discussed:
Origin of QEW: Founded in 1987 as “Friends Committee on Unity with Nature,” inspired by Marshall Massey’s 1985 speech arguing that earth care must be central to Quaker values. Renamed to Quaker Earth Care Witness in 2003 to emphasize action.
Keith’s personal journey: A neuroscience major who shifted toward earth activism through outdoor education, podcasting, a 12-day hunger strike, and Quaker community involvement before becoming QEW’s youngest General Secretary at age 33. QEW’s mission: Helping humanity “grow up” as a species — combining practical action (UN work, mini-grants, community organizing, defending the Inflation Reduction Act) with deep spiritual grounding rooted in power, truth, and love. From stewardship to kinship: A philosophical shift from humans as managers of the earth to recognizing kinship and equality with all living beings, challenging the “peaceable kingdom” metaphor and the ethics of domestication.
Spiritual awakening: Drawing on Thich Nhat Hanh’s framework — awakening first to beauty, then to suffering — as the foundation for transformative action. Experiment with Light: A Quaker contemplative practice based on Rex Ambler’s research into early Quaker methods, used in QEW workshops to help participants sit with conscience, feel spiritual weight, and discern action. Resilience and hope: Keith encourages friends to cultivate “radical hope,” act locally and globally, not go it alone, and recognize that love outlasts hate — framing this as a prophetic, exciting time to be alive.
The episode closes with an invitation to visit quakerearthcare.org and join upcoming Emerge events.