TOP DOG PRESS

Skian's Quaker Links 

 From Quaker Beliefs

http://www.quakerinfo.org/beliefs.html

 “The lack of a creed or clear description of Quaker beliefs has
sometimes led to the misconception that Friends do not have beliefs or that one can believe anything and be a Friend. Most Quakers take the absence of a creed as an invitation and encouragement to exercise an extra measure of personal responsibility for the understanding and articulation of Quaker faith. Rather than rely on priests or professional theologians,
each believer is encouraged to take seriously the personal disciplines associated with spiritual growth. Out of lives of reflection, prayer, faithfulness, and service flow the statements of belief, both in word and in deed.

--from Pacific Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice”

 From Meeting the Spirit

http://emes.quaker.eu.org/documents/files/meeting-the-spirit.html

“Meeting for worship

Quaker worship happens when two or more people feel the need to be still together and seek God's presence. This can happen anywhere and anytime, but Friends usually refer to a 'meeting for worship' to indicate the meeting which takes place regularly at a meeting house or another fixed place. In attentive waiting together in silence, Friends can find peace of mind and a renewed sense of purpose for living and joy in wonder at God's creation.

Silence is greatly valued by Friends. In removing pressure and hurry, it helps them to be aware of the inner and deeper meaning of their individual and corporate lives. It enables them to begin to accept themselves as they are and to find some release from fear, anxiety, emotional confusion and selfishness. This silence is more than an absence of sound: one can be aware of external sounds, such as a dog barking, a car passing, or a child calling. But these sounds are not distractions. They are absorbed, often unconsciously, as Friends try to be open to that of God within. An early Friend, Robert Barclay, described his experience during a meeting for worship as follows: "I found the evil in me weakening and the good raised up".

The seating for a meeting for worship is usually arranged in a circle or a square to help people to be aware of one another, to be conscious of the fact that they are worshipping together. Those present settle quietly, and by corporately seeking God's will, become open to one another. This may happen quickly, or it may take most of the meeting, usually an hour long.

The silence is different from that experienced in traditional, solitary meditation, which normally takes place deep inside oneself, as a devotional exercise for one's own spiritual development. The listening and waiting in a meeting for worship is a shared experience in which worshippers seek to meet God.

Friends may worship entirely without words, but usually there will be some brief spoken contributions. This 'ministry' is intended to express aloud what is already present in the silence. Anyone may feel the call to speak, man, woman or child, Friend or first time visitor. There is a very wide variety of sources of spoken ministry and the acceptance of them is an important part of Quaker worship. Since the Religious Society of Friends is part of the Christian tradition, people may speak of the life and teachings of Jesus, use words from other sources, or refer to events in daily life. Friends try to receive positively what is said and to look for the underlying truth, regardless of the words in which it is expressed. If Friends are impelled to respond to vocal ministry, they should be very cautious and try to build positively on what has gone before.”

"QUAKERS in BRIEF" or "QUAKERISM made EASY"

(An over-view of the Quaker movement from 1650 to 1990)

David M Murray-Rust

 http://people.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/~ubcg09q/dmr/intro.htm

 An informative, easy-to-read history of the Religious Society of Friends

 Finding a Friends Meeting

 http://www.quaker.org/meetings.html

 ( http://www.quaker.org  is the most comprehensive Quaker site I’ve found.)

A place to buy Quaker Books

http://www.quakerbooks.org/get/222003

 A little Quaker humor

http://westernquaker.net/quaker_humor.htm 

	

 

Ó Skian McGuire 2005