Clothe Yourself in Righteousness music album

Clothe Yourself in Righteousness, a 2011 music album by Quaker Songwriter and podcaster Jon Watts, is a modern example of music as ministry.

Personal faith and public witness

Jon Watt is not a typical singer-songwriter. A modern Quaker, spoken word artist, and video storyteller, his work sits at a compelling intersection of personal faith and public witness. With his 2011 album Clothe Yourself in Righteousness, Watts explores what it means to be a Quaker — not just in theology, but in practice, tradition, and lived experience. It's an album that weaves history, critique, worship, and vulnerability into a new kind of spiritual soundscape.

For a faith that often values silence over song, Watts’ musical offering is both surprising and deeply resonant. It asks: What does it mean to express Quaker spirituality through rhythm, rhyme, and raw honesty And what might music reveal that silence alone cannot?

Clothing The Spirit in sound

The title Clothe Yourself in Righteousness is drawn from the writings of James Nayler, a 17th-century Quaker who, like many early Friends, believed that true righteousness was not an external show, but something inward — a clothing of The Spirit in divine light and truth. Watts channels this lineage into an album that questions performative piety and turns inward toward sincerity, courage, and spiritual nakedness.

Across the album, Watts blends acoustic instrumentation, loops, poetry, and vocal layering to create something meditative and urgent. Tracks like “Friend Speaks My Mind” and “Let’s Dance” oscillate between reverence and rebellion — challenging listeners to consider what Quakerism means in today’s world of climate crisis, systemic racism, and spiritual fatigue.

Music as modern ministry

In the Quaker tradition, music has often taken a quiet back seat to silence. Traditional Friends worship involves gathering in stillness, waiting upon The Spirit to move someone to speak. Yet throughout history — and especially in recent decades — Quakers have found new ways to express that same Spirit through music.

Jon Watts stands in this emerging space: a minister of sound, using song and spoken word to offer vocal ministry to a broader world. His work is not for entertainment alone, but for deep spiritual engagement. Like early Quaker tracts or prophetic testimonies, his songs are meant to be wrestled with. They are full of questions, challenges, and calls to action — just as much as they are expressions of praise.

In doing so, Watts helps expand the idea of worship itself. If The Spirit moves through silence, it can also move through rhythm. If God can be encountered in stillness, God can also be encountered in a verse that cuts deep and heals at the same time.

The Testimony of vulnerability

One of the most powerful elements of Clothe Yourself in Righteousness is its honesty. Watts does not shy away from discomfort. He reflects on his own disillusionment with shallow spirituality, the tensions within modern Quakerism, and his longing for authenticity. This vulnerability becomes a kind of testimony — a declaration that faith is not about having answers, but being faithful to the search.

For many Quakers, this speaks to the heart of their experience: a daily walking in the Light, even when that Light is dim or distant. Watts gives voice to the struggle to live with integrity, to hold space for silence and sound, for peace and protest, for doubt and devotion.

A soundtrack for a new Quaker generation

As younger generations of Friends explore how to live their faith in a changing world, Clothe Yourself in Righteousness becomes more than an album — it’s a cultural artifact of Quaker renewal. It offers a musical language for spiritual seekers who long for justice, connection, and divine intimacy in a fragmented age.

Watts' work affirms that music, when guided by the Inner Light, can be a form of ministry, testimony, and communal discernment. His songs are queries in themselves — not answers, but doors to deeper listening.

Clothe Yourself in Righteousness is not just a musical project — it’s a lived expression of Quaker faith, channeled through the body, voice, and The Spirit. It reminds us that righteousness is not about outward forms, but about inward transformation. And that music, like silence, can be a powerful path to the Inner Light.

Image(s) from Jon Watts