Julia Ryberg was born and raised in an American Quaker family before coming to live in the UK.  She has a Master of Divinity degree and now works at Woodbrooke on Travelling Ministry and Outreach programmes.  Earlier this year she gave an inspired talk to Britain Yearly Meeting entitled Creating Connections. She says of herself "I continue to explore how I can reclaim the heart of the Christian message and feel connected to that tradition, while remaining healthily critical of so much of the 'wrapping paper around God'".