First Friends logo


What do you know about Quakerism?

The Quaker Oats man is what most people think of when they hear the word "Quaker".

The "Quaker State" of Pennsylvania is another. Many have heard of our "silent worship" and "peace testimony". However, few realize that....

Quakerism involves an immediate, inward, personal encounter with God.

God's Presence

As Quakers, we honor our traditional values, established philosophies, historical legacies, Biblical heritage and Christian faith. However, it is God's presence which truly distinguishes our priorities.

Silent Worship allows us to gather in waiting for a great occurrence, no less than to realize the Divine Presence and to create an atmosphere in which that Presence and Power can touch us into fuller life.

  • We seek a world free of war and the threat of war.
  • We seek a society with equality and justice for all
  • We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled.
  • We seek an earth restored....

Quaker Facts

First time visitors to a Quaker Meeting House may be unfamiliar with Quaker faith and practice. These facts may help.

Quakerism is a combination of insights, attitudes and practices which together form a way of worship rather than a doctrine or creed. It rests on the conviction that by looking within, we can have direct communication with our Creator.

Silence

Silence is an important element in Quaker worship. A key element of Quaker worship is time to wait upon the spirit in stillness, allowing us to communicate with the Living Christ, in Inner Light, unhampered by activity and noise, to feel that Presence in the midst of the gathered meeting.

Symbols

Because Quakers believe that the Living Christ is truly present and directly available, we hold that outward and visible signs are unnecessary. For this reason, the meeting room is simple and plain, unadorned by religious symbols.

Sacraments

A sacrament, like a symbol, points to a reality beyond itself. Persuaded that God is an abiding and living presence, Friends believe that any meal can be a holy communion, and every day is an immersion in God’s love. If communion with or baptism by the Spirit is real, then the outward forms pointing to this reality are unnecessary. Friends know experientially the real presence of God, without the elements of bread and wine. Becoming a member of Christ’s Body requires not a rite, but an inward transformation.

Some Notable Points

These observations will serve to give general understanding of the Friends (Quaker) faith.

  • We emphasize that true religion involves an immediate, inward, personal encounter with God and that this, rather than ritual and ceremony, is the essence of Christian faith.
  • We emphasize that each individual has worth, dignity, freedom and responsibility before God.
  • We emphasize that worship is a personal positive act of seeking rather than a performance; that communion is an inner spiritual experience rather than an outward observance.
  • We emphasize that moral purity, integrity, honesty, simplicity and humility are essential to the Christian life.
  • We emphasize Christ-like love through concern for suffering, unfortunate people; peace and equality must find expression in caring service and social justice.
  • We emphasize the Spirit of God grants us openings, insights, guidance and understanding of spiritual truth consistent with the Holy Bible.

Quakers have been sitting in silence for over 350 years. It’s a modern path to the heart.

Quaker silence is not an emptiness crying out to be filled, but a disciplined and contemplative openness to the spirit of God. Speaking, when there is any, arises from a deep religious experience and is preceded by the conviction that this experience must be shared. This is sometimes sensed as an upwelling of the spirit, sometimes as an insight following study, meditation and prayer. It is always humble, always a result of most earnest seeking. It is not casual, argumentative and seldom humorous.

 

 

Quakerism

A faith of 350 years based on a concept that is almost 2000 years old.

Like the early church, Friends begin with the experience of the presence and the power of the living Christ; the Christ who makes His will known and guides and directs you today. Christians are those who have been transformed by Him, who have passed from darkness into His glorious light. Friends seek to be “children of Light” in both personal and social morality.

Quaker worship, whether unprogrammed, (based on silent waiting and prophetic speaking out of the silence), or programmed, (with simple order of service and usually including a period of silent waiting), is a group experience of communication with Christ who is present in the midst of His gathered people. The Church is the company of the people in whom Christ dwells. Outward sacraments are not necessary since Christians follow Him who baptized “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16) and who is Himself “the bread of life” (John 6:35)

“I was to bring people off from their own ways to Christ, the new and living way... to know the spirit of Truth in the inward parts, and to be led thereby, that in it they might worship the Father of spirits... making melody in their hearts to the Lord who has sent his beloved Son to be their Saviour...”

George Fox, 1658