He loved church. He said he loved to hear men sing out of tune. He was like that about the Bible too. While I read the Bible because of a desire for guidance and a sense of duty, Rich read it because he thought it contained the most entertaining stories in the world. Next to the Bible, Rich's favorite book was the spiritual classic Orthodoxy, by G. K. Chesterton.
Many Friends have no idea.
However, we can claim him in part as one of our own, since Friends' teachings and testimonies for peace and social justice are consistently interwoven throughout his lyrics. I was trying hard to figure out what it was they was trying to say. Stories like that make a boy grow bold. Stories like that make a man walk straight. Joyce Hill taught Rich in her first-ever Sunday School class at Arba Friends Meeting.