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You will say, Christ saith this, and the apostles say this: but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of Light and hast thou walked in the Light, and what thou speakest, is it inwardly from God? —George Fox

What Canst Thou Say? is an independent publication cooperatively produced by Friends who have felt the movement of the Spirit and wish to deepen their understanding of it by interacting with others who also have had experiences of the Divine. Issues contain stories of mystical experience and the growth that comes through contemplative practice. WCTS has been produced since 1994 and is published quarterly in February, May, August, and November. The current editorial team is Judy Lumb, Michael Resman, and Earl Smith. Members of the production team include Lissa Field, George Hebben, Lieselotte Heil, Grayce Mesner, Janice Stensrude, and Eleanor Warnock.

WCTS began in 1994, so 2024 is the 30th Anniversary. A committee is working on a 30th anniversary anthology book. We did the same for the 10th and 20th anniversaries. Mariellen Gilpin was central to the production of both of those books, so we are dedicating the 30th anniversary book to Mariellen.

What Canst Thou Say? has two blogs: Quaker Mystics: Gathering for Discernment of God’s Guidance was created to support gatherings sponsored by What Canst Thou Say, but is now being used to share writings from our community, especially poetry by Michael Resman. The Worship Sharing in Print blog was created to publish essays between quarterly issues, or those that didn’t fit in the journal. If you would like to contribute to either of these blogs, contact Judy Lumb <judylumb43@gmail.com>.

What Canst Thou Say? sponsors an email discussion group on mystical experience and contemplative practice. Click here to see the guidelines and join the email discussion.

What Canst Thou Say? is in crisis due to a problem the new Treasurer had in establishing a bank account in Michigan, so Michael Resman, the former Treasurer, has resumed that position temporarily to reestablish financial security. The other serious problem is that we have several positions open and do not have the team needed to continue producing the quarterly publication. Efforts are underway to recruit more volunteers, but we agreed if we do not find volunteers to take up the positions, we will lay down WCTS. The August issue on the theme of the “Spirit of What Canst Thou Say?” will be produced in the usual print version. The deadline has been extended to June 15, 2024.

The entire WCTS team has been meeting by Zoom to address this crisis. on the 28th of May, 2024, we discussed changing WCTS to a monitored blog, discontinuing the printed edition. Our current blogs could be used, but with organized monitoring. If you are motivated to volunteer to join this team, please contact us <judylumb43@gmail.com>.