INTRODUCTION :  WHO  ARE  THE  QUAKERS?  WHAT  DO THEY  BELIEVE?

      origins    ......    beliefs    ......      worship   

ORIGINS

"Quakers" is the name most generally used for members of the Religious Society of Friends  - rather a mouthful, that, and normally only used for formal or official purposes. However although Quakerism can be treated for many practical purposes as a religion or a "Church", the expression "religious society" is really a better way of describing what Quakers are about, as we shall see.

 The Society arose in England during the 1650's when Oliver Cromwell governed the country after executing King Charles and overthrowing the established political and religious order. It was a time of great unrest, not only in public life but also in terms of people's values and beliefs. New and radical ideas were being floated - some of them surprisingly advanced even by today's standards. Out of this atmosphere of enquiry and uncertainty emerged a Leicestershire man - George Fox - who received a direct experience of the presence of God, and realised that this was something which anyone could share, without the need for priests, Churches or theological systems.

Fox travelled the country preaching this faith, and his message attracted those who longed for a real spirituality in their lives but had so far failed to find it, or anyone who seemed to be able to guide them towards it. In a very few years the scattered congregations of his followers that Fox left in his wake were organised into a network of "Meetings" (as congregations of Quakers are still called to this day).

In those days, failing to conform to the established order - whether the King's or Cromwell's - led to persecution and imprisonment. The Quakers however refused to compromise and proved impossible to suppress, developing a technique of stubborn but non-violent resistance to the abuse of power, which has been an example to all the ages since. Soon Quakers were introducing their beliefs to lands beyond the British Isles, from Russia to Barbados. William Penn went so far as to establish a Quaker state in Pennsylvania which, during the century or so that Quakers retained control, was a beacon of enlightenment amid the narrow-minded intolerance of the neighbouring Puritan colonies in North America at that time. It was said that William Penn's agreement with the native people was the only treaty made between the white settlers and the American Indians that was never put in writing, and the only one that was never broken.

                  Artist Benjamin West's depiction of William Penn's meeting with American Indians

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QUAKER  BELIEFS

Quakers are different from most other religions in having no "creed" - there is no list of religious beliefs that members must subscribe to. As far as we are concerned, these are matters of opinion. What matters to us is the sort of person you are, and the way you live your life. The basis of Quakerism is simply that there is something which lives within all of us, which we call "that of God" or, more simply, “The Light” or “The Spirit”. The more we bring our lives consciously into the presence of this Light within us, the more we can experience the love and comfort, wisdom and guidance that comes with "living in The Light". As Luke's Gospel puts it, "the kingdom of God is within you". Quakers believe in a God who is available and accessible. Religion, for us, is not a question of having to believe things we are told by other people just because they say so.  Rather it is a matter of what we ourselves can experience on our own journeys of spiritual growth.

Unlike some religions, Quakers do not claim to be the “one true Church” or to have all the right answers. We are more interested in asking the right questions, especially the difficult questions. Quakerism is simply, as we put it, a “way”. It is a way of approaching God, a way of approaching spirituality and a way of approaching everyday life. It is not a way that necessarily suits everybody and we are the first to appreciate that. If you feel the need for someone to tell you what to think and what to believe, what is right and what is wrong, then Quakerism will not appeal to you.

Although the founders of Quakerism set it within the Christian tradition and culture of their time, Quakers always emphasised that The Light is to be found in everyone - not only among Quakers, and not only among Christians. In the words of John’s Gospel, “It is the true Light that enlightens everyone who comes into the World”. It cannot be contained or confined within creeds or religious dogmas. We do not for example insist that our Members take any specific view about the Bible or about Jesus Christ, although both are of great importance to our understanding of the world and of our purpose in it. Quakers consider that actions demonstrate better than words who are the real followers of Jesus ("by their fruits you shall know them") and indeed it seems to us on any reading of the Gospels that Jesus himself was much more interested in the way people behaved to each other, rather than in what religious theories they held.

However while Quakers have little time for abstract religious dogma, we do share certain basic and enduring values expressed in statements which we call "Testimonies". These are attempts to express the way in which our experience of God translates into practice - for Quakerism is above all a practical religion which affects how we actually live and act day by day, not just a set of theories to be recollected on Sundays!

 "PEACE"

Probably the best known of the Quaker Testimonies is the "Peace Testimony" rejecting the use of violence, both on a personal level and by society collectively. God is Love. And God is to be found in people - all people. Hurting or harming people takes us in the opposite direction from life, from love, and from God. George Fox advised his followers to "walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one." Nobody says this is easy: there are people in whom the Light of God seems obscure, if not invisible! Nevertheless however wrong some people seem to be, and however bad their actions may appear to us, the experience of Quakers is that violence never makes a problem better - as it says in the Epistle of James, "God's righteousness is not served by the anger of men".

On the other hand there is nothing "passive" about Quaker pacifism! Our peace testimony does not mean we should be silent and do nothing when faced with evil. Rather we seek to confront and speak out against evil, but reject the temptation of using evil means to overcome it. In times of war or crisis Quakers actively work to promote peace, and to find non-violent ways of resolving the problem, but in the meantime they will generally be found organising or supporting humanitarian relief work. During World War One, Quaker conscientious objectors founded the Friends' Ambulance Unit, and Quakers are also prominent in many campaigning organisations such as Ploughshares, CND, the Campaign Against Arms Trade etc.

"EQUALITY"

The principle that there is "that of God in everyone" leads to another obvious conclusion:  that we are all equal in the sight of God. This is almost a truism, and of course many religions have paid lip-service to the idea. What made Quakers different from the very beginning is that they behaved as though they really meant it! This is the reason why Quakers refused to respect titles and the trappings of power; it is why Quakers were among the first to demand the abolition of slavery. It explains why Quakers never had any problem with the idea that women should have as great a part to play as men in their worship, and in the conduct of their Meetings. It is also the reason why Quakers have no priests or clergy: for the Light of Christ is in everyone, and is not just confined to "experts" or "professionals".

In the earliest days of Quakerism, one way of demonstrating the testimony to equality was the Quakers' refusal to comply with the elaborate social rituals which were expected of well brought-up people in those days. Many a Quaker got into hot water for refusing "hat honour" - that is, refusing to doff their hats - to people who thought they were entitled to this kind of deference. However times change, and most people these days do not generally wear hats anyway. Nowadays, our way of expressing the Testimony to Equality is more likely to be in a concern for the disadvantaged and dispossessed, to try and ensure that those with wealth and position in the world do not take unfair advantage of their power. This includes not only speaking out against the obvious forms of such abuse, but also keeping an eye on our own lifestyle and the implications of the decisions we all make every day. When we go shopping for example, we do not have to go unthinkingly for the cheapest brands, or those which have been most persistently advertised: we need to consider also where they come from and how they are produced. Are we aware that we may be giving financial support to a multinational corporation which maintains sweatshops in Third World countries, or which causes serious pollution, or is destroying the rainforests?

"TRUTH  AND  INTEGRITY"

This leads on to the next Quaker testimony, which is the importance of complete honesty and personal integrity. We cannot claim to be seeking God in our lives if we have falsehood within us. Quakers therefore consciously strive to be faithful to the truth, and as always with Quakers, this means taking responsibility for actually doing it ourselves, not just thinking how nice it would be if everybody else did it! This does have practical advantages: many Quaker businesses grew and flourished because their trading partners could be confident that a Quaker's word could be relied upon. An interesting "by-product" of this Testimony is the Quakers' refusal, ever since the earliest days, to take oaths in any formal proceedings, such as in a Court of Law. The Quakers argued that they do not have double-standards of honesty, and that they tell the truth all the time, not just when they are officially requested to do so!

When it comes to public issues, Quakers have a tradition of "speaking Truth to Power" - in other words, telling our leaders where they are going wrong! In this context too we find that a reputation for truthfulness gives our words that little extra weight, and an influence out of all proportion to our numbers. It does mean however that Quakers have little time for diplomatic evasions, and can be disconcertingly direct if asked to express an opinion!

 "SIMPLICITY"

Quakers have always emphasised the value of a life of simplicity and moderation. How this works in practice is something that varies from age to age depending on which particular excesses happen to be in vogue at the time. For us today, the main emphasis is on avoiding excessive "getting and spending" and the conspicuous consumerism which is such a feature of modern industrialised societies. There is constant pressure these on all of us these days to consume more all the time - or, to put it in more traditional terms, to be greedy. This is good no doubt for the profits of the companies who supply the shops and who pay for the advertisements, but it is not good for us. We cannot truly live in the Spirit if we are addicted to the desire for material possessions - or as Jesus put it more succinctly, "You cannot serve God and mammon".

We saw the results of this kind of attitude all too clearly in the riots that took place in England's cities in August 2011: people under a constant bombardment of advertisements for new consumer gadgets, tormented by the knowledge that they could not afford them and unable to see any other way of getting them, decided they would just go out and take them! The only surprising thing really is that this did not happen a lot sooner.

An ever-increasing list of wants and needs will not make us happier or more contented: quite the contrary the more so-called "needs" we create for ourselves, the more insecure we will be if we fear that we may not be able to get all these things we crave, or that they might be taken away from us. That is why you will read, in our "Advices and Queries" (a small booklet of 42 Quaker insights) that "A simple lifestyle freely chosen is a source of strength."

The Quaker testimony to Simplicity also ties in closely here with our testimony to Equality incidentally, since only a few people can afford the kind of lifestyle that the fantasy-world of advertisements would have us aspire to, and those who do so are doing it at the expense of those who have to go without. Meanwhile the physical resources of the planet are being strained to their limits to support the luxuries demanded by the rich.

Quaker simplicity is not to be confused with being dull or boring, though. In "Quaker Faith & Practice" (the Quaker "manual", for want of a better word)  we are exhorted to "live adventurously", and the Quaker spirit of enquiry and involvement in the World led to many of them becoming well known pioneers in their various fields of activity  -  these include William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania; Jeremiah Dixon, one of the surveyors who drew the "Mason-Dixon line" in North America (and whose name is still commemorated in the expression "Dixieland"); the chemist John Dalton who discovered the atomic structure of the elements; Abraham Darby, whose invention of the blast-furnace started the industrial revolution; Elizabeth Fry, the prison reformer whose face now appears on the English £5 notes; and George Cadbury the chocolate manufacturer. Philip Noel-Baker, who as a young man won a silver medal in the 1920 Olympic Games, later served as a minister in Clement Attlee's post-war government, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959. 

More recently, well-known Quakers have included the cartoonist Gerard Hoffnung; the musician Donald Swann (famous through his comic partnership with Michael Flanders); the broadcaster Gerald Priestland; the song-writer Sydney Carter (best known for "Lord of the Dance"); the actor Paul Eddington (who played the part of Jerry in "The Good Life" and Jim Hacker in "Yes Minister") the actresses Judi Dench and Sheila Hancock, and the astronomers Arthur Eddington (who correctly predicted the discovery that stars are fuelled by nuclear reactions) and Jocelyn Bell Burnell (who discovered "pulsars" in 1967).

                Judi Dench                                                                Paul Eddington

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QUAKER  WORSHIP

Anyone is welcome to come to a Quaker "Meeting for Worship" (as our services are called). It is not restricted to Members, and there is no need to obtain permission or make any special arrangement beforehand. We are used to people just coming along to see what it is like. People who are not Members but who come regularly to share our Meeting for Worship are called "Attenders". If they wish, then once they feel ready to make a commitment to the Society and its values, Attenders may apply for Membership. However there is no pressure on them to do so, and some Attenders in fact worship with us for many years without ever feeling called to become Members of the Society at all.

Quaker worship is not quite like any other church service. There is no priest or minister to lead it, and no set form of words or prayers to follow. The Meeting is based around silence, in which we all seek to find the presence of God in our hearts and in the life of the Meeting. From time to time someone may feel moved by the Spirit to get up and say something to the Meeting. We call these utterances "Ministry". They are listened to with respectful attention, and then the silence resumes unless and until further Ministry is given. It is quite possible for a Meeting to pass in complete silence, which can be a very profound experience. It is worth going to a Quaker wedding, too, if you are ever invited. The couple - who face the congregation rather than having their backs to them - make their declarations and marry themselves, without any priest or minister being involved.

Local Quaker Meetings are mainly responsible for running their own affairs, and usually once a month there is a Business Meeting which is run along similar principles to all other Quaker activities. Everyone present participates on an equal footing. There is no "leader" with authority to make or impose decisions, only a "Clerk" who conducts the Meeting and records the decisions that are made. It is central to the Quaker business method is that nothing is ever put to a vote. Voting means in practice that a victorious Majority over-rides and imposes its will upon a defeated Minority, who are expected to grin and bear it. This is not the way Quakers like to do things. We do not want to have "winners" and "losers". Instead, everyone explores the issues and options together and seeks to discern the will of the Spirit as to the best way forward.

This idea of "discernment" is the key to the Quaker method. If necessary, decisions will be postponed to allow time for further reflection. It is not always the fastest way to reach a decision, but Quakers consider it more important to find a way forward that enables everyone to feel that their voice has been heard, and that their wishes and feelings are respected and valued even by those who may disagree with what they say .

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