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What is Quaker faith? It is not a tidy package of words which you can capture at any given time and then repeat weekly at a worship service. It is an experience of discovery which starts the discoverer on a journey which is life long. The discovery in itself is not uniquely a property of Quakers, It is as old as Christianity and considerably older if you share the belief that many have known Christ who have not known His name.
What is unique to the Religious Society of Friends is its insistence that the discovery must be made by each man for himself.
No one is allowed to get it second hand by accepting an aready made creed. Furthermore, the discovery points a path and demands a journey and gives you the power to make the journey. (Elise Boulding 1954)
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
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If you have never before attended an unprogrammed Friends (Quaker) meeting for worship, your first meeting may surprise you. While all Quakers meet for worship to hear more clearly God's "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12), Friends in the unprogrammed tradition base our worship entirely on expectant waiting. We take the Psalmist's advice literally: "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
We meet in plain, unadorned rooms because we feel that, in such places, we will be less distracted from that small still voice. Our chairs face each other because we all are equal before God. There are no pulpits in our meeting rooms because we all minister to each other. We have no prearranged readings, sermons, hymns, or musical orchestrations because we wait for God's leadings (guidance and direction) and power in our lives.
Occasionally, during meeting for worship, someone is moved to speak out of the silence. Although Friends value spoken messages which come from the heart and are prompted by the Spirit of God, we also value the silence and find that expectant worship may bring profound leadings. Friends have found that some leadings are for sharing immediately, some are for sharing on another occasion, and some are for our personal reflection. The meeting ends when one Friend, designated in advance, stands and holds hands with his or her neighbors. Then everyone holds hands in a circle. No two meetings are ever the same.
Like our style of worship, Quaker theology also differs from other religions. Because creeds could never fully represent all revelation and could limit or confine our perceptions of truth, Friends write no creeds. Instead, we write queries which help us reflect on our beliefs and actions.
Without creeds, Friends have become diverse in our beliefs about God. Nonetheless, Friends' common experience of God's presence within and among us has led us to realize that there is that of God, or something of the Divine, in everyone. This realization is central to Quakerism. It is confirmed in the Bible. As Friends have attempted to respond to that of God in everyone, some common values have arisen that unite us.
Friends try to manifest our common values: life is sacred; God's inward presence is experienced universally; revelation is continuous; simplicity, integrity, community and diversity are essential in the search for truth; truth and unity are goals for worship and business; and way opens, making the ideal attainable. These values follow from our relization that there is that of God in everyone.
Because there is that of God in everyone, Friends try to avoid all violence. We try to find nonviolent solutions to conflicts and differences and to help others through service, the promotion of social and economic justice, kindness in daily living, and the support of each other's search for that of God within.
To be more receptive to revelation, Friends practice simplicity and integrity. For Friends, simplicity is putting God first in one's life. Simplicity requires clear priorities and often inspires plainness and lack of clutter.
Simplicity and integrity bring us closer to the truth, and truth is of such importance to us that, originally, our name was "The Religious Society of the Friends of Truth". This search for truth inspired George Fox, one of our founders, to refuse to swear in court to tell the truth, in part because of the Biblical admonition against swearing, but also because swearing to tell the truth on one occasion implies that there are other occasions when one would not tell the truth.
In our corporate search for truth, Friends use the worshipful Quaker process of decision making, a process for finding unity in all decisions which affect our communities. For Friends, unity is not usually unanimity, rather it is more often agreement with dissent, staying together despite differences and moving forward with guidance from our common values.
Friends value actions which reflect our ideals. Not only do Friends expect that we can live Divinely inspired lives, we expect that, with Divine power and guidance, we can attain social justice and peace on earth.
(Paraphrased from a pamphlet by Marsha Holliday, member of Langley Hill Friends Meeting.)
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