EFCI’s liberal Barclay Press: Why does the EFC-ER continue ties with this publisher?

The EFCI (Evangelical Friends Church International) claims to be a born again, biblically sound denomination. Yet its publisher, Barclay Press, publishes and/or distributes many, many titles which can hardly be considered “born again Christian.” On the contrary, most of its items would be considered theologically liberal. (I’m sure both evangelical and non-evangelical Quakers would agree on this, after perusing the titles.) The following are just a sampling of the titles available. These cover Spiritual Formation, the Emerging/Emergent Church movements, Quaker ecumenism, etc. – all issues that born again, biblically sound Christians strongly oppose:

Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller
Celebration of Discipline, by Richard J. Foster
Contemplative Compassion, by Sarah Butler Berlin (published by Renovare)
Counterfeit Gods, by Timothy Keller
Culture Making, by Andy Couch
Drops Like Stars, by Rob Bell
Everything Must Change, by Brian McLaren
God of Intimacy and Action, by Tony Campolo and Mary Albert Darling
The Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne
Jesus Wants to Save Christians, by Rob Bell and Don Golden
Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would, by Chad W. Thompson
Sex God, by Rob Bell
A Year With God, by Richard J. Foster & Julia L. Roller

And the liberal books go on and on, ad nauseum.

Here is the link to the Barclay Press online bookstore, where I located the above titles: http://www.barclaypress.com/bookstore/home.php

Also check out this long list of Barclay Press reviews of books they publish and/or distribute.

Bottom line –  Barclay Press seems to have forgotten the “non-liberal”  Friends in its customer base – primarily the EFC-ER (Evangelical Friends Church-Eastern Region). So where should EFC-ER Friends turn for “born again” resources?

My parents pastored in the EFC-ER from approximately 1955 to 2000 (off and on). How many of the books in my above “sample list” would they use – or even approve of? NONE!! Many pastors, church leaders, and attenders in the EFC-ER would disapprove of all of these as well.

The following excerpt provides some clues as to how and why Barclay Press has become so liberal.

Info Desk
About Barclay Press
A Rich History

The Barclay Press office is located in Newberg, Oregon, near the campus of
George Fox University. Since 1959, Barclay Press has served the Friends
Church through the publication of books, pamphlets, curriculum, and
periodicals. For its first 42 years Barclay Press was owned and
operated by Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends. In 2001 the curriculum
publication ministry of Evangelical Friends International (operating as
George Fox Press) merged with Barclay Press. The reorganized Barclay
Press is governed by a board of directors with broad geographic
representation from evangelical Friends.

Source: http://www.barclaypress.com/infodesk.php/about-barclay-press

I assume that this “broad geographic representation” includes individuals from the EFC-ER. Have any of these EFC-ER individuals objected to the liberal items published and/or distributed by Barclay Press? If not, what is their reasoning for not objecting?

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