Quaker Faith and Practice: The Book of Christian Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain

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Quaker Faith and Practice: The Book of Christian Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain

Quaker Faith and Practice: The Book of Christian Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain

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The committee has announced that it hopes to present the complete draft text to Yearly Meeting 2027. Read on for this story of how we got to this point. Are your meetings for church affairs held in a spirit of worship and in dependence on the guidance of God? Remember that we do not seek a majority decision nor even consensus. As we wait patiently for divine guidance our experience is that the right way will open and we shall be led into unity. Extract (number), CQP 40 refers to Extracts from Canadian Yearly Meeting Minutes 1955-1993 (Argenta, BC: Argenta Friends Press, 1994) 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. It also describes the current structures of Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.

We encourage the revision committee to be prayerful, joyful, creative and bold. We hope that this book will help us to be more resilient for an uncertain future and that the process of revision will act as a catalyst for renewal. A living tradition grows, however, retaining the best of its past while adapting to the needs of the present. The Yearly Meetings that were formed as time passed, in faraway lands settled by Friends as well as in Britain, felt it wise to provide written guidance for faithful living in new and unforeseen situations. They included not only advice about dealing with outward behaviour but also counsel aimed at nurturing the inner life and fostering spiritual growth. Are you alert to practices here and throughout the world which discriminate against people on the basis of who or what they are or because of their beliefs? Bear witness to the humanity of all people, including those who break society’s conventions or its laws. Try to discern new growing points in social and economic life. Seek to understand the causes of injustice, social unrest and fear. Are you working to bring about a just and compassionate society which allows everyone to develop their capacities and fosters the desire to serve? Advices and queries are not a call to increased activity by each individual Friend but a reminder of the insights of the Society. The Religious Society of Friends often looks upon itself as a family. A person who becomes a member of a Monthly Meeting thereby becomes also a member of the Yearly Meeting and the worldwide Society of Friends. The sense of belonging within the Society is a treasured heritage.I am convinced it is a great art to know how to grow old gracefully, and I am determined to practice it…I always thought I should love to grow old, and I find it even more delightful than I thought. It is so delicious to be done with things, and to feel no need any longer to concern myself much about earthly affairs…I am tremendously content to let one activity after another go, and to await quietly and happily the opening of the door at the end of the passage way, that will let me in to my real abiding place. Our Advices and Queries caution us to avoid provocative or hurtful language. Friends today have recognized that this admonition has relevance for words relating to gender, especially when used in religious writing. In this Faith and Practice book, a product of the twenty-first century, effort has been made to select extracts that avoid gender-exclusive language or, where necessary, provide clearly indicated modifications. However, it would be distorting the honest intentions of Friends living in past centuries to alter their words in quotations that have become well known and loved. In a similar spirit, the decision was occasionally made to retain an unusual language usage where it was clearly the product of an author’s deeply held conviction. I feel hurt if a Friend misunderstands my claiming of Christianity and thinks I must mean that I am closed to all further revelation.

The amount of solitude which is attainable or would be wholesome in the case of any individual life is a matter which each of us must judge for himself…A due proportion of solitude is one of the most important conditions of mental health. Therefore if it be our lot to stand apart from those close natural ties by which life is for most people shaped and filled, let us not be in haste to fill the gap; let us not carelessly or rashly throw away the opportunity of entering into that deeper and more continual acquaintance with the unseen and eternal things which is the natural and great compensation for the loss of easier joys. The loneliness which we rightly dread is not the absence of human faces and voices — it is the absence of love…Our wisdom therefore must lie in learning not to shrink from anything that may lie in store for us, but so to grasp the master key of life as to be able to turn everything to good and fruitful account. Seventy-five years ago, the work of Friends on issues of peace, social justice and humanitarian relief led to the formation of the Canadian Friends Service Committee. Since its founding this service arm of Friends in Canada has extended its concerns to include solidarity with aboriginal peoples, support for refugees, international concerns of development and peace and abolition of the death penalty.Rappelle-toi tes responsabilités en tant que citoyen pour la conduite des affaires locales, nationales et internationales. Ne recule pas devant le temps et l’effort que ton engagement peut demander.

Do you give sufficient time to sharing with others in the meeting, both newcomers and long-time members, your understanding of worship, of service, and of commitment to the Society’s witness? Do you give a right proportion of your money to support Quaker work? To Quakers, the visible mark of being a ‘church’ is not conformity to a particular creed, or liturgical or sacramental practice, but the quality of communal life which reveals the extent of the community’s willingness to seek and follow the Spirit’s call to loving fellowship… We support the right of religious groups (including individual Quaker Meetings) and clergy, to consent to or to refuse to perform same-sex marriages. We also support the right of same sex couples to a civil marriage and the extension of the legal definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. This is the comfort of Friends, that though they may be said to die, yet their friendship and society are, in the best sense, ever present, because immortal. In view of the harm done by the use of alcohol, tobacco and other habit-forming drugs, consider whether you should limit your use of them or refrain from using them altogether. Remember that any use of alcohol or drugs may impair judgment and put both the user and others in danger.Every stage of our lives offers fresh opportunities. Responding to divine guidance, try to discern the right time to undertake or relinquish responsibilities without undue pride or guilt. Attend to what love requires of you, which may not be great busyness. That if any be called to serve the Commonwealth in any public service which is for the public wealth and good, that with cheerfulness it be undertaken and in faithfulness discharged unto God, that therein patterns and examples in the thing that is righteous yet may be to those that are without.” The Peace Testimony is probably the best known of the Quaker Testimonies. The roots lie in the personal experience of the love and power of Christ which marked the founders of the Quaker movement. We agree that the time is right to start revising our book of discipline. We embrace and rejoice in this decision. Regular revision is an intrinsic part of who we are as a Religious Society of Friends.

The Meeting Community is that place where each of us is supported in the life of the Spirit. More than a place or a group of people, it is a state of possibility and an experience of community that underlies our religious life together. Arnold Ranneris, “The Creative Word: Some Thoughts on the Meeting Library,” The CF 67, no. 6 (December 1971-January 1972), 4-5. Friends have always found difficulty with outward forms and written creeds. The Testimonies of our Religious Society have played a significant and uniting role in helping Friends experience the beloved community and a living faith.

Durant ces réunions de recueillement, nous entrons avec respect en communion avec le divin et nous nous efforçons de répondre aux inspirations de l’Esprit. Viens au culte le coeur et l’esprit préparés. Remets-toi et toutes tes préoccupations dans la Lumière et sous la direction du divin, afin que tu puisses trouver « le mal en toi s’affaiblir et le bien croître ». (Barclay) Do you take part as often as you can in meetings for church affairs? Are you familiar enough with our church government to contribute to its disciplined processes? Do you consider difficult questions with an informed mind as well as a generous and loving spirit? Are you prepared to let your insights and personal wishes take their place alongside those of others or be set aside as the meeting seeks the right way forward? If you cannot attend, uphold the meeting prayerfully. Ministers to speak the word of the Lord from the mouth of the Lord, without adding or diminishing. If anything is spoken out of the light so that the “seed of God” comes to be burdened, it is to be dealt with in private and not in the public meetings, “except there be a special moving to do so.” The 12th day of the 6th month [the first day] of the week being a rainy day we continued in our Tent and here I was led to think on the nature of the exercise which hath attended me. Love was the first motion, and then a Concern arose to spend some time with the Indians, that I might feel and understand their life, and the Spirit they live in, if haply I might receive some instruction from them, or they be in any degree helped forward by my following the Leadings of Truth amongst them, and as it pleased the Lord to make way for my going at a time when the troubles of war were increasing, and when by reason of much wet weather travelling was more difficult than usual at that Season, I looked upon it as a favourable Opportunity to season my mind, and bring me into a nearer sympathy with them. And as mine eye was to the great Father of Mercies, humbly desiring to learn what his will was concerning me, I was made quiet and content. In the small room where I meet inmates face to face one afternoon each week, the Spirit is constantly challenging me to leave behind the perceptions and apprehensions that I carry about with me on the outside.



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