What Do Quakers Believe?
The Religious Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers, has no creed to dictate what its members must believe, and no formal initiation ritual like baptism. There is no set of beliefs that all Quakers must agree on, and no hierarchy of clergy to insist that they do so.
That being said, there are a number of guiding principles that unite Friends throughout the world.
One of the most important is that every person may communicate directly with God without having to have ordained ministers or sacramental rituals to mediate that contact. Quakers believe that “there is that of God” within each person, in fact. We worship in silence, clearing our minds of the clutter of thoughts and expectations that might prevent our perceiving authentic revelation from God, and “wait upon the Lord,” “seeking the Light.” We do this individually, but more importantly, we do it as a gathered people of God during our weekly meeting for worship. Although our experience may vary from week to week, our gathered meeting may at times experience a profound sense of the presence of God in our midst through this communal silence. At times a person may feel strongly moved to stand and share something they feel has been revealed to them during this experience. This “vocal ministry” may be offered by anyone in attendance at a meeting, and no one comes to meeting with a prepared intention to speak (nor to remain silent). We study the Bible as a record of God’s revelation to people throughout history, but we do not believe that such revelation stopped 2000 years ago, nor do we believe that the scriptures of other faiths have no authentic revelation in them.
This direct communication with God and lack of ministers means that all Quakers share in the tasks done by clergy in other faiths, and means we also gather to seek God’s guidance in the decisions we make as a meeting. Once monthly, we meet after meeting for worship to tend to the business of the meeting. Topics include everything from finances to writing letters expressing our heartfelt concern on matters concerning the community and world at large. We make decisions by coming to unity as a gathered people seeking guidance from God; we do not take votes and override the minority opinion. If even a single member feels led to oppose a decision, the meeting will not consider itself in unity and will not go forward with that decision until unity may be reached at a later date. Visitors are welcome to attend meeting for business.
Quaker Testimonies
Believing that “there is that of God in everyone” means our actions in daily life are guided by the fact that we are interacting with God when we interact with other people. This leads to a number of Quaker testimonies. The exact enumeration of testimonies is not fixed; the following is one way of listing them:
Simplicity: Friends try to avoid ostentatious displays of wealth and try to reduce our use of natural resources, especially since the drive to acquire such goods often leads nations to engage in military action or to abuse the environment.
Peace: All people deserve our caring: the world cannot be divided into those who must be defended and those who can be killed to do so. When this principle guides us, we carry out other activities differently, knowing we will not resort to violence to extricate ourselves from the problems we may create.
Integrity: We deal honestly with all people. We do not have a different standard for truth under oath in court and so do not feel these oaths are appropriate. The practice of setting fixed prices when selling goods originated with Quakers who felt haggling over prices required dishonesty by trying to obtain higher prices than goods were worth.
Community: We take an active part in the world and feel responsible for addressing injustice and suffering wherever it exists. We follow Jesus’s instructions to care for all people, including those who might attract less attention from other members of society, such as prisoners and the mentally ill. We believe there is indeed that of God in everyone.
Equality: Quakers have historically been ahead of their time in recognizing the rights of women, racial minorities, foreigners, and all those who might be dismissed as less important in society.
Although Quakers do not subscribe to a creed, we do formulate “Queries,” sets of questions we ask ourselves to examine how well we are living up to our testimonies.
What Will You Experience
During Quaker Meeting for Worship?An “unprogrammed” Quaker meeting, such as Merion Friends Meeting, has no defined set of rituals, but we do have familiar customs we share. We enter the meetinghouse and may converse before the time meeting begins. At the scheduled time, we sit down quietly without any announcement or call to order, and we begin to “center ourselves.” That means we clear our minds to be open to wherever God may lead us during our worship together.
You will see a few people seated in the front on the “facing bench;” they are members of various committees who rotate from week to week. The meeting may be silent the entire time, or else someone may feel led to stand and speak. After such vocal ministry, we settle back in silence; people rise in response to leadings from God rather than in answer to a previous speaker.
Young people who have been attending First Day School (Sunday School) may enter toward the end of the meeting to share part of the silent worship with the adults. At the end of the hour, members on the facing bench will signal the end of worship by shaking hands, then everyone else will greet those around them as well. After meeting for worship there may be announcements and sharing, then informal conversation and sometimes refreshments.
During the socializing afterwards is a good time to approach any member of the meeting with questions you may wish to ask about Quakerism and Merion Meeting. Please feel free to sign out books from our library in the back of the meetinghouse, especially Faith and Practice, a more extensive summary of Quakerism formulated by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (the collective members of monthly meetings throughout the Philadelphia area).
-- Eileen Carpenter