Religious Society of Friends
(QUAKERS) |
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Who are the Quakers?
'Quakers' started as a nickname - our real name is the Religious Society of Friends - but we are quite happy to be called either Friends or Quakers.
The Religious Society of Friends is a small group (about 28000 members and attenders in Britain, much larger numbers in the Americas and Africa) with a special view of what religion means. Anyone is welcome at the local Quaker Meeting for Worship. After a while if they find they share Friends' outlook, they can become members and take a bigger part in the Society's life.
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What do Friends believe?
Friends have always questioned anything we are told to believe!
This is part of our 'seeking for truth', in the old phrase. It is based on the experience that there is a real and direct relationship between each person and God - though Quakers will use a variety of words and ways to try to do the impossible in describing 'God'. Ultimately, though, all individuals have to find their own way to religious truth, being aware of God in our own lives, learning from the wisdom of the past as expressed in a variety of religious writings, and comparing our experiences with others in our Meeting.
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Is Quakerism a religion or an approach to religion?
It is the job of religion to help us find meaning in our lives, to reach the underlying reality, the inexpressible truth and to bring people together into community. Throughout time, churches and faiths have struggled to help people recognise the extraordinary in the ordinary, or as Quakers would put it, to find something of God in their daily lives. So Quakers recognise all the great faiths as ways to spiritual fulfillment, and they are willing to learn from other faiths and churches. But for Quakers, there is something uniquely helpful and inspiring in the Quaker approach to religion.
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Quakers and Christianity
Quakerism started in England in the 1650s, at a time of great religious upheaval when George Fox gathered groups of 'seekers' or dissidents together. They felt the Churches over the centuries had led people right away from the real aims of Christianity, and got bogged down with traditions and ritual and power politics.
Quakers were trying to lead a renewal - to see how they could live life more simply and truthfully, following Jesus' example closely. So there's no doubt that Quakerism is rooted in Christianity, and many Quakers centre their faith on Jesus.
On the other hand, some Quakers find that traditional religious language doesn't describe their inner experiences, and they look both within Christianity and beyond. The Society appears very different from any other Christian group, without the usual priests, services or creeds.
Quakers share a way of life rather than a set of beliefs. We seek to experience God directly within ourselves and in our relationships with others and the world around us. These direct encounters with the Divine are where Quakers find meaning and purpose.
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Jesus and the Bible
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Quakers have many beliefs and many attitudes in common, but no formal creed. Friends like to talk of an 'inward light' within every human being. Some would call this 'conscience' or 'moral sense', but Friends feel it something more: part of a spiritual or religious experience, which gives you a sense of direction in your search for the right way to live.
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Meeting for Worship
It's hard being a 'seeker' on your own. In the Meeting for Worship, Friends share with each other what they have found for themselves, and gain from each other in this way. If everyone can have a direct relationship, or 'communion' with God, then no priest is needed to act as a go-between, and so Friends have no paid ministers but all minister to one another. The tasks carried out by priests in other Churches are shared between us; everyone has their own contribution to make.
Friends find that this 'communion' can best be experienced if they meet in silence, with nothing pre-planned, Meeting for Worship couldn't be simpler: you go in and sit down in a room and settle in silence which can become very deep and powerful, a direct relationship between each person and God.
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No communion, no service?
If there is something of God in every person - and every time and place and thing - then there is no need for special feast days, ceremonies and sacraments such as baptism or holy communion. In the same way, the Meeting House is not a consecrated building: it can just as well be used for music, eating, discussion or fun as for worship. For Quakers there should be no split between religion and daily life. Everything including joy and suffering and the good and the bad things we do, are part of living and growing and learning. But the effect of Quaker worship was described by an early Friend: 'I felt the evil weakening in me and the good raised up.'
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The things Friends aim at - and often miss
Because we feel there is 'something of God' in every one, Quakers aim to find that 'something' in all our dealings with nice people and not-so-nice, with old and young, with black and white, with rich and poor, with men and women, gay and straight. We take this to be the meaning of 'love God and love one another'. We try to live a fairly simple life: try not get too involved with money, or possessions, or status, so as not to lose sight of what is really important. Quakers get a lot of fun and enjoyment out of life but not from gambling, excessive drinking or drug abuse.
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The things Friends actually do
We understand that unless a belief is experienced inwardly as true and valuable it won't influence our lives. It's no good having a faith if you don't put it into practice. Quakers have always tried to be honest at work (which for many Quaker businesses has proved to be the best policy). They aim at truthfulness at all times, which is why, for example, a Quaker won't swear an oath in court - it would suggest that the rest of the time you can have a different standard of truth.
From the start, Quakers have felt strong concerns to improve social conditions and the environment. Help for slaves, prisoners, mental patients, refugees, old people, war casualties - many charities and campaigns for reform have started as the concern of a Quaker.
Above all, Quakers say that if you follow the teaching and life of Jesus, you must rule out war and violence as a way of solving problems. They try never to give up on getting in touch with that of God in every person. So Friends have always worked for peace, refusing to contribute to war and military action. There are Quaker Centres bringing diplomats into contact in various cities around the world, and international projects that bring young people together.
William Penn, the founder of a state that lasted for 75 years without military force, said that true godliness shouldn't turn people out of this world, but should make them more able to live in it. Is this an impossible aim? Quakers believe it is possible - and in today's situation it is vital.
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To find out more:-
Contact Quaker Home Service's Outreach Page. You can order an Enquirers Pack from them.
You can also find out where your nearest meeting is.
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