SRQ is an unmoderated usenet group in the soc.religion hierarchy.
SRQ as initially created in 1992 was intended to:
"Be an avenue for communication of some literature regarding the life of members of Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). This would mainly include publication of American Friends Service Committee media spec. Quaker Service Bulletin, AFSC Resources, regional office notes, Annual Report, electronic and standard contacts, local meeting minutes, Right Sharing of World Resources, Criminal Justice and Prison Reform, and guides to travelling friends."
http://www.faqs.org/ftp/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/soc/soc.religion.quaker
SRQ evolved into a forum where individuals of many different faiths could converse on spiritual and friendly matters. Quakers have a long history of being tolerant and respectful of different faiths, and participated in these discussions.
SRQ has similar issues to any other unmoderated Usenet group dedicated to the discussion of religious belief. It has no affiliation with the Religious Society of Friends and is not an electronic 'Meeting for Worship'.
Those posting here may or may not practice Quakerism, and may or not post material that has any relevance to the RSoF. Some of the posts on this forum may be confused, repetitive, inaccurate or misleading.
While opinion varies there is some opposition to cross-posting to or from SRQ. This is because cross-posts tend to snowball into large numbers of posts of at best only tangential relevance to SRQ. The consequence of this is that cross-posts increase the noise on SRQ at the expense of signal.
The primary role of SRQ as of 2010 is to permit entirely unmoderated discussion on issues of relevance to those present, in what might be hoped is a gentle, respectful fashion. However, as consequence of being entirely unmoderated, those who participate here may or may not find the material posted here gentle, respectful, or relevant to themselves or to others here. They are of course free to be selective in what they read.
Information on several Quaker mailing lists is available at http://www.quakerinfo.com/qeu.shtml.
(See also: Bibliography)
The term "Quaker" refers to a member of the Religious Society of Friends, which is the proper name of the sect. One suggested origin for this term relates to people "quaking" or trembling when feeling moved by the Holy Spirit to speak in Meetings for Worship. The other according to Elfrida Vipont Brown, is:
George Fox was arrested in Derby in October 1650 and charged with blasphemy. The magistrates who tried him were Gervase Bennett and Colonel Nathaniel Barton. George Fox was questioned intermittently over an eight hour period, during which at one point George Fox told the magistrates "Tremble at the word of the Lord". It was Justice Bennett who coined the name "Quakers" for the followers of George Fox.
cf: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Quaker
The "Quakers" are occasionally confused with the "Shakers"; the Shakers were to some extent a "spin-off" of the Quakers, a group started by a Manchester, England woman, Ann Lee, who was born Quaker. She formed a "celibate order" which started communities throughout the United States. The Shakers are quite interesting in their own right, adding speaking in tongues and free-form dancing to the end of a Quaker-style silent meeting. There are fewer than 10 Shakers left in the last remaining Shaker community in Maine, but several of their communities are preserved as museums.
The Plymouth Brethren are not an offshoot of Quakerism.
Since the city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania in the United States were started by Quakers, many businesses and towns originating in that area mention Quakers in their names. In fact these names are particularly common in places like Quakertown, PA.
This leads many to the incorrect conclusion that members of the Religious Society of Friends still are in the habit of wearing the late 1600's period clothing of the person pictured on the Quaker Oats(tm) box; this perhaps contributes to the confusion between Quakers and the Amish (who really *do* wear clothing styles standardized in the 1600's).
The Religious Society of Friends was started in England around 1650, by many people, the most famous being George Fox. They in fact intended to start a movement to unify the splintered Christian churches, rather than to start a separate sect. Many radical groups were formed in England about this time as a result of the turmoil, economic injustice, and starvation caused by the English Revolution and Civil War, and the repeated changes between Catholicism and Anglicism in England; however most of these groups disappeared soon after the restoration of the monarchy.
Friends were active in New England almost from the beginning of the Quaker movement, as early as 1654. The Puritans of Massachusetts, found Quaker ideas unacceptable and exiled Friends on pain of death. Between 1659 and 1661 one woman and three men were hanged for returning after such banishment. George Fox spent over a year in America in 1672. The Quaker population increased greatly after 1682 when William Penn (who was a Friend) set about the foundation of Pennsylvania and started the city of Philadelphia. Friends in general showed an enlightened attitude to Native Americans, and were also active in the movement against the slave trade. Later, they helped escaped slaves and worked for the abolition of slavery, due in part to the work and ministry of John Woolman (See "Bibliography").
During the Revival movement in the later 1800's many Friends Meetings were influenced by Revival preachers. Many of these later hired preachers and hold more "conventional" services, with a preacher, choir, etc. These meetings often call themselves "Quaker Churches" or "Friend's Churches" rather than "Quaker Meetings" or "Friends Meetings." Some such branches of Quakerism refer to themselves as "Evangelical Friends", and some have gone so far as to hold baptisms and communion, which many consider an extreme departure from early Quakerism.
There are considered to have been quite a few "schisms" in Quakerism over the years; the overall history is far too complicated to describe here.
Many of the Friends outside of Britain, Europe, and America are more inclined towards "Programmed" meetings. There are large numbers of Friends in various countries around the world, especially Kenya.
One of the best places to look is in your local telephone directory; look for: Localtown Fellowship of Friends Localtown Friends Meeting/Church Friends Fellowship of Localtown Friends House Friends Meeting/Church of Localtown Friends, Religious Society of Quaker Meeting of Localtown Localtown Quaker Meeting Religious Society of Friends Society of Friends (with local town names) in your local white pages, or in the yellow pages under "Churches".
FGC has http://www.quakerfinder.org/ to help people find unprogrammed meetings in the U.S. and Canada. It includes not only FGC-affiliated monthly meetings, but also those in Conservative and Independent yearly meetings, as well as potentially other meetings.
FWCC also provides lists of meetings at http://fwccworld.org/find_friends/index.php .
As a last resort try contacting:
The Director
Quaker Information Center
1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA
+1 215-241-7024
http://www.quakerinfo.org/
or in the UK, try first:
which has a postal-code search for local Meetings, or paper mail or e-mail to:
Quaker Life
Friends House
Euston Road
London NW1 2BJ
(See [ql at quaker dot org uk])
Or drop a note to
Friends World Committee
1506 Race Street
Philadelphia PA 19102 USA
and ask them for a contact at your nearest Yearly Meeting, who can probably point you to a nearby Monthly Meeting.
Silent Meetings for Worship are quite a bit different from most organized religious services. Basically those attending the meeting sit silently, trying to listen to the (Holy) Spirit , until someone is moved by the Spirit to speak. The person so moved generally stands, says what they have to say, and sits down. Meetings like this generally run for about an hour, and it is not out of the ordinary for a meeting to be silent the whole hour.
It is customary to wait a few minutes between speakers to allow time for consideration of what they have said.
It is considered bad form to "debate" a topic or otherwise argue a point at Meeting for Worship. More subtle forms of disagreement, such as telling a related story and how it made you feel bad, etc. are occasionally employed.
A Quaker Church service is very similar in format to most Methodist or Baptist services, if a little more mellow. However, while it is uncommon for members of the congregation to rise to speak, this is not unheard of, and there are often periods of silence.
Many visitors to meeting, especially those to unprogrammed or silent meetings, worry a lot about their children and whether the children are being quiet enough. While it would be appropriate to take your child out of meeting if the child is screaming or being noisy for long periods, the occasional noises of small children are generally welcomed. Some paper and crayons, or a book to read for older children is often helpful, too.
Most children, especially those of visitors, have a tough time sitting silently for a full hour. Fortunately most Meetings have some sort of "First Day School" or "Sunday school" for children. If you see an adult rising after the start of Meeting and all the children filing out, they're probably headed for the First Day School.
Friends are generally quite tolerant of babies and their noises. It should be considered normal at most unprogrammed meetings to breast feed babies during meeting.
"Quakers are peculiar, and our organizational arrangements are too. We do not fit easily into any worldly model of governance, not even simple democracy."
Jim Nichols
Groups of Friends who conduct business as a group are generally named by how often they meet, and the period between meetings is generally proportional to the size of the group. (i.e. a group that meets monthly is a "Monthly Meeting," a group that meets quarterly is a "Quarterly Meeting," etc.)
Meetings for business (or more properly Meetings for Worship with a Concern for Business) are held in the manner of a silent meeting for worship, although there is a Clerk who attempts to find and record the collectively acquired insight of the Meeting. All decisions are made by finding the "Sense of the Meeting," which is a statement that feels right to everyone in the meeting at that time. These are generally recorded in the minutes of the meeting, after being approved.
The Glasgow Quaker Meeting has a good writeup on this at http://quakerscotland.gn.apc.org/business.htm)
Local meetings that hold Meetings for Worship generally hold meetings for business once a month, and are called "Monthly Meetings." The Monthly Meeting usually deals with membership, marriages, paying rent, etc for the meeting facilities and/or real estate, etc. Monthly meetings sometimes have one or more "Preparative Meetings", which do business with the monthly meeting, but meet elsewhere.
Since most Unprogrammed Friends' meetings don't have a paid staff of any kind most activities are performed by various Committees of the membership. Most larger meetings have at least 10 committees of varying description to maintain the building, make or organize food, watch the finances, send out a newsletter, etc.
Committees often recommend items to the Monthly meeting for action, and are generally required to meet (at least) annually.
Larger regional groups of Friends are usually groups of Monthly Meetings, which meet quarterly, and are often referred to as Quarterly Meetings or General Meetings. Representatives from the various Monthly Meetings generally attend such meetings. Quarterly meetings are often places to discuss issues in preparation for Yearly Meetings.
Even larger groups of Friends are also usually groups of Monthly Meetings representing several regions, and are referred to as Yearly or General Meetings. Representatives from the various Monthly Meetings generally attend such meetings.
Some meetings are members of more than one Yearly Meeting.
There is no overall central organization which claims all Friends as members, although several organizations (e.g. Friends World Committee on Consultation) do provide services worldwide.
Friends' beliefs are a little hard to quantify, since Friends do not believe in having a fixed Creed or Dogma, but rather in seeking for the leadings of God within ourselves. However, some generalizations are possible.
It is interesting to note that many of these positions have evolved over time, and while they seem like fairly straightforward extensions of basic Quaker belief, they involved much discussion and soul-searching in the past.
Some issues are still evolving, and you will find that issues like same-gender relationships, abortion, etc. are topics on which it is very difficult to achieve unity. You can find Friends Meetings with nearly any viewpoint in the spectrum of possibilities on these issues, and that any official position is very carefully worded.
The Religious Society of Friends is a Christian organization, in the sense that it is originally based on the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament. You will in general find some disagreement among Friends about whether there was a Virgin Birth, whether various miracles were supernatural occurances or religious embellishments, whether Jesus was The Son of God, or just one of God's children etc. You will in general find agreement that those differences are not important :-).
"It's hard to love the questions when you live in a society obsessed with answers. A believer takes a great risk in affirming the questions and doubts of others because to be a good Christian is to have all the answers and to never admit you have any questions. Consequently, we have a lot of people living out a spirituality they can hardly claim to be their own. On the surface they look good. They can sing all the right hymns and say all the right prayers. They quote all the right verses and support all the appropriate groups. They have even overcome great tragedy and despair and give claim to a testimony of great victory. But deep within their being, they are torn apart by this 'spiritual schizophrenia.' They have doubts....But the Christian culture 'code of silence' has forced them on a journey of 'Jesus is the answer' without ever having been allowed to ask the questions." Scott Waggoner, (1993).
http://www.religioustolerance.org/quaker2.htm
We *can* all agree that certain things "feel Right," that there is a part of us that knows what right and wrong are, and that that part of us is the "Inner Light", or in some sense God.
Friends have our own traditional Universalism, which is quite different from Unitarian Universalism. One may find many expressions of our traditional Quaker Universalism in the writings of George Fox, Isaac Penington, Robert Barclay, William Penn, John Richardson, and other first- and second-generation Friends -- and in the writings of John Woolman, etc. -- and yes, in the writings of Joseph John Gurney too.
This traditional Quaker Universalism does not say that all religions are completely true, let alone that they are equally true. But it affirms that, as all people have the Light (John 1:9), so they have it whether they consider themselves Christians or not; and people of all faiths and upbringings may give expression to the promptings of that Light in their words and deeds, so that, as a result, one finds the Light expressing itself from time to time through religious leaders within *all* faiths. Thus in a religion which overall contains many errors -- be it Buddhism or Hinduism or Protestantism or Catholicism -- there will nevertheless be some genuine and wonderful expressions of the Light. One who knows Christ will recognize and honor these expressions of the Light, even as she recognizes and avoids the errors elsewhere in those religions.
This is why, at Quaker Meetings, people occasionally refer to the _Tao Te Ching_, the _Koran_, etc. at Meetings as well as various translations of the _Bible_. More generally any book that inspires or invites worship of God may potentially be read in meeting.
Friends generally have held that people are people; no one is more "holy" than anyone else, (except *maybe* Christ, (See "Christianity")) and that everyone has equal access to the part of God in all of us. Thus Friends have traditionally refused to use honorifics like "Your Honor," "Your Eminence," etc.
The only authority a Meeting has is that its members all agree that its actions are in keeping with that of God of each of its members. This is of course the Highest Form of authority to a Friend.
These beliefs about authority have a lot to do with Friends' beliefs about Marriage, War, etc. (below) and the reason Friends do not have "priests" that perform blessings, marriages, etc.
Friends have also traditionally refused to use terms of royalty, or of office, like "Your Highness" or "Your Honor". As Barclay writes (from Dean Freiday's edition, on p. 391):
2. It is not lawful for Christians to kneel before or prostrate themselves to any man, or to bow the body or uncover the head.
The previous point also makes the same point as to "word honor" in court, specifically the use of terms including "Your Honor."
On p. 402 there is a more extensive discussion of Kneeling, Bowing, and Removing the Hat, with some Biblical references. A footnote quotes George Fox's Journal, as follows:
"When the Lord sent me forth into the world, he forbade me to put off my hat to any, high or low...neither might I bow or scrape with my leg to any one." G. Fox, Journal, Bi-Centenary Edition, London, Headley, 1902, v. 1, p. 38.
Finally, p. 404 remarks,
"Many of us have been badly beaten and buffeted about, and we have even been imprisoned for several months for no other reason except that we would not uncover our heads or bow our bodies to satisfy the proud and unreasonable whims of egotistical men. Certainly the innocent practice of standing still and erect without taking off our hats any more than our shoes does not show as much rudeness as the beatings and knocking about we have had because of our practice."
Officially, two Friends marry each other under the care of the meeting, but no person "marries" them, God does. Most meetings reserve the right to refuse to take a marriage under their care if they feel the couple is not "clear" about their intention to marry. Generally all present at the ceremony sign the wedding certificate.
In the USA there have been meetings which have performed same-gender marriages; which may or may not have been recognised by the state. This is a topic of discussion in many meetings, within which individuals may hold very different opinions.
Friends have generally refused to fight in wars, in particular refused the draft, since the mid to late 1600's. As the "George Fox Song" says:
If we give you a rifle
will you fight for the Lord?
But you can't kill the Devil
with a gun or a sword."
Friends groups like the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) lobby heavily against military involvement and military spending along with their other priorities.
Friends are also concerned about finding causes of war in our daily lives -- do you own something that someone else would kill to have?
Friends organizations (like the Friends Ambulance Unit in both World Wars) have attempted to reduce the suffering of wars, and Quaker House near the United Nations is active in various diplomatic efforts, allowing "off the record" discussions between parties who don't officially recognize one another, etc.
Friends traditionally refuse to take oaths of any kind, including oaths of fealty, pledges of allegiance, etc.
Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5 (New International Version)
"Judge not, lest ye be judged," "Let that person among you who is without sin cast the first stone," ...
While early Friends (as in early Pennsylvania law) had a death penalty for some crimes, most modern Friends organizations are very active in anti- death-penalty and prison reform/abolition groups, as much for pragmatic reasons as for moral ones.
Friends generally conduct very simple weddings and memorial services and do not outwardly observe baptism or the Lord's Supper. Friends seek to experience the sacraments in an inward and continuing manner without symbols. The general feeling is that rituals tend to become more important than the meaning they are intended to convey.
Many people, are under the impression that Quakers have rules about clothing, hats, bonnets, etc. similar to the standards among the Amish, the Old Order Mennonites, and certain Orthodox Jewish sects. One explanation for this confusion is the image on the Quaker Oats(tm) logo(See Oatmeal, Motor Oil...); another is the traditional refusal of Friends to rise or doff their hats to figures considered to be in authority. (See Authority)
While most Friends dress less ostentatiously than the average, this is more a reflection of the overall Quaker emphasis on the inner spirit rather than outward appearances, not any sort of enforced restriction on clothing.
Among early Quakers it was traditional to call everyone and anyone thee and thou, including royalty and church officials, who were to be referred to in the plural in deference to their official Holier than Thou position. This practice continued for some time after English speakers started calling *everyone* "you" rather than "thou."
Only a few (usually older) Friends use thee and thou any more.
Is the traditional method of bringing up an issue to a Meeting for business. A much stronger statement than it sounds like, since one unsettled concern about something will stop it from being done. Usage: "I have a concern that replacing this mailbox will hurt the baby birds nesting in the current one..."
Early Friends thought it important to remove the names of mythological figures (eg. Greek, Roman, and Norse Gods) from their speech. Thus the days of the week are referred to as "First Day" through "Seventh Day" instead of Sunday through Saturday, and "First Month" through "Twelfth Month" instead of January through December. This notation is common in writings like _The Journal of John Woolman_ and other classic Friends writings.
Modern Friends are often not so picky, but Minutes of business meetings, etc. often still refer to the days numerically, and "First Day School" is often used in preference to the more widely understood concept of "Sunday School".
This can lead to some tricky phrasing when talking about the second Sunday of May, which is of course the second First Day of Fifth Month...
Refers to the general concept of the child asking the Emperor "why aren't you wearing any clothes?" that is, that the truth often helps those in power stop deluding themselves.
Thinking of someone or something while worshipping, in effect praying for them silently.
Here are some bookstores that specialize in Quaker publications. The numbers are mainly listed as dialed from the USA/Canada.
For things hard to find, Quakers Uniting in Publications (See: http://www.quaker.org/quip) has a Quaker books in print database.
The original creator of http://www.faqs.org/faqs/Quaker-faq/ was Marc Mengel [mengel at fnal dot gov].
Changes to this current FAQ located at http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~ijdavis/SRQ.FAQ should be submitted to SRQ for discussion.