Quaker faith and practice

The Book of Discipline Revision Preparation Group invites you to join with us, and other Quakers across the country, in reading and getting to know our current Book of Discipline.

A Book of Discipline may refer to one of the various books issued by a Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends , setting out what it means to be a Quaker in that Yearly Meeting. Each Book of Discipline is updated periodically by each Yearly Meeting according to the usual practice of decision making within the Religious Society of Friends. The contents of each book of discipline is agreed on by seeking unity among members of the authoring yearly meeting. Instead of voting or seeking an earthly consensus, the Meeting attempts to gain a sense of God's will for the community. Each member of the meeting is expected to listen to that of God within themselves and, if led, to contribute it to the group for reflection and consideration.

Quaker faith and practice

Friends find that faith becomes inseparable from daily life. It infuses and guides our practice at home, on the job, in the community. All of these were outgrowths of an awareness of the equality of all people, who are created in the image of God, as well as a sympathy for those living at the margins. Over the years, we find those also shape our responses to ecological and environmental issues, education, racial and sexual rights, the economy and politics, the arts and leisure, and so on. In our sessions to conduct meeting business, our practice means we never take a vote; instead, we try to listen closely to each other, to arrive at unity. Sometimes this leads us to a more original and creative solution than any of us would have anticipated at the outset. Pursuing another practice, rather than being told what we ought to believe, we turn to sets of questions, or queries, which ask us to examine ourselves individually and then as a faith community for our fidelity to our spiritual values. Again, sometimes we find answers leading into the unexpected. Woolman Hill Quaker Retreat Center. Friends United Meeting. Dover Meeting supports organizations whose work exemplifies putting faith into practice, locally and worldwide. They help Dover families avoid eviction, prevent utility shut-offs, and keep families from having to choose between food on the table or needed medical care.

Various Yearly Meetings were founded in what is now the United States from the early days of Quakerism. The earliest statement of Christian discipline was the Epistle from the meeting of Elders at Balbyin

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The Book of Discipline Revision Preparation Group invites you to join with us, and other Quakers across the country, in reading and getting to know our current Book of Discipline. This book of Quaker faith and practice is an attempt to express Truth through the vital personal and corporate experience of Friends. It is largely composed of extracts: a fitting way of expressing the breadth of Quaker theology. This website contains the most up-to-date version of the text. Chapter Changes to chapter 16 — Quaker marriage procedure — were approved by Yearly Meeting The changes to this chapter reflect legislation permitting same-sex marriage in England and Wales from March and in Scotland from December Friends understand marriage to be equally available to same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

Quaker faith and practice

Discipline is not now a popular word. It has overtones of enforcement and correction but its roots lie in ideas of learning and discipleship. Discipline in our yearly meeting consists for the most part of advice and counsel, the encouragement of self-questioning, of hearing each other in humility and love. Words must not become barriers between us, for no one of us can ever adequately understand or express the truth about God. Yet words are our tools and we must not be afraid to express the truth we know in the best words we can.

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Friends United Meeting. Feeling the call to preach he met a group of former Baptists, and together they called themselves "The Children of Light". Quaker Faith and Practice 3rd ed. It is largely composed of extracts: a fitting way of expressing the breadth of Quaker theology. Conferences of Yearly Meetings in the later part of the nineteenth century, between the Guerneyite Yearly Meetings, who had accepted the Richmond Declaration of Faith , proposed formulating a Uniform Discipline for all the Guerneyite Yearly Meetings in the United States. Pursuing another practice, rather than being told what we ought to believe, we turn to sets of questions, or queries, which ask us to examine ourselves individually and then as a faith community for our fidelity to our spiritual values. Putting Faith into Practice. Toggle limited content width. This volume is almost entirely made up of an anthology of extracts from other sources, unlike earlier editions. The Gathering. The changes to this chapter reflect legislation permitting same-sex marriage in England and Wales from March and in Scotland from December Friends find that faith becomes inseparable from daily life. William Allen Susan B.

Members of the different Quaker factions are all commonly united in the belief that the presence of God lives in every human being. Discover 7 things to know about the fascinating history and theology of the Quakers in the list below! George Fox was unhappy with the doctrine of both the Church of England and non-conformists.

Since then, each Yearly Meeting has revised their own books of discipline, and no longer use a Uniform Discipline. This chapter is published as a separate free booklet and is published in both English and Welsh. The changes to this chapter reflect legislation permitting same-sex marriage in England and Wales from March and in Scotland from December This was revised in and and the last revision resulting in another change in title to Rules of Discipline. There are currently over 30 different versions in print, each by a different yearly meeting, some also available to be viewed on-line. The Quakers are today almost the only survivors from the many religious groups that sprang up in the religious and social ferment of the English Civil War — The rock on which he stood is referred to as Fox's Pulpit. Philadelphia Yearly Meeting published their Rules of Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of Friends held in Philadelphia in , [7] with paragraphs on each of the main practices and testimonies of Friends in that Yearly Meeting arranged in alphabetical order. Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association. Faith and Practice [22]. Each of these produced their own book of discipline, although each was based on the earlier disciplines of London Yearly Meeting.