However, there are two common guidelines about entering worship :. From time to time, an individual may be moved to offer a "message" or "spoken ministry" to the group. Spoken messages may occur many times during a meeting, or there may be none at all. Such a message is delivered by an individual, but is understood to be coming through that person from God.
When such a message is delivered, no outward response is expected from you--in fact, it is not Friends' practice to offer vocal approvals, or even turn around in one's seat to look at the speaker. It is more customary to laugh at humor. If a message is given in the form of song, others may join in the singing if the singer invites it. Try to make yourself receptive to the message and let it reach you, even if you find yourself resisting it.
There may be a kernel of truth in it that will speak to you. If that does not happen, trust that the message was meant for others, and return to your own worship. If you find yourself "prompted" to offer a message , the first step is to ask yourself whether it is a genuine leading of the Spirit. Does the urge to speak seem to arise from a deeply spiritual motion, rather than simply being a desire to share your own active thoughts?
Does it seem that the message is intended to be given to the assembly, rather than being personal guidance just for you, or something you may feel called to say to an individual later? Is your inclination to speak free of personal motives or "hidden agendas"? Does it seem that now is the moment that you are called to speak? These are not easy things to discern, and it takes practice, including trial and error, to become confident.
Do not be afraid to be wrong! At the close of worship , someone will signal the end by shaking hands with a neighbor. Then everyone shakes hands with those around them. Customs vary from this point, but in many meetings, someone will stand and invite visitors to introduce themselves and there may be announcements before people rise from their seats.
NOTE : Every single "rule" and practice described above is sometimes ignored. Use these guidelines as a way to know a little about "Quaker culture," but don't take them too seriously, and don't be surprised when you see a lifelong Quaker do something quite different!
Churches were either unnecessary to get to God, or an obstruction Fox often referred to churches unkindly as "steeple-houses". Since believers should have a direct relationship with God, no one priests, for example and nothing like sacraments should come in between. Not surprisingly, these views infuriated the mainstream churches, and Quakers were persecuted in Britain on a large scale until Quaker missionaries arrived in the USA in They were persecuted at first, and four were executed.
However the movement appealed to many Americans, and it grew in strength, most famously in Pennsylvania which was founded in by William Penn as a community based on the principles of pacifism and religious tolerance. The origins of Christian abolitionism can be traced to the late 17th Century and the Quakers. Several of their founders, including George Fox and Benjamin Lay, encouraged fellow congregants to stop owning slaves. By , Quakers in Pennsylvania officially declared their opposition to the importation of enslaved Africans into North America.
Along with the Anglican Granville Sharp, Quakers established the first recognised anti-slavery movement in Britain in In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions.
Quakers do not celebrate Christian festivals such as Easter and Christmas although Quaker families may mark Christmas as the secular festival it has largely become. They believe the events celebrated at such festivals e. Although Quaker meetings for worship generally take place on a Sunday, this is purely for convenience and not because Sunday is the Sabbath or a particularly holy day. Take heed, dear Friends, to the promptings of love and truth in your hearts. Trust them as the leadings of God whose Light shows us our darkness and brings us to new life.
Are you honest and truthful in all you say and do? Do you maintain strict integrity in business transactions and in your dealings with individuals and organisations? Do you use money and information entrusted to you with discretion and responsibility? Quakers avoid working for companies that manufacture weapons or other harmful products nor will they invest in such companies.
They prefer to choose work that has positive benefits for the community. They maintain strict integrity in business transactions and in workplace dealings with individuals. Quakers have always treated men and women as equals, and were pioneers in the movement for female equality. Quakers oppose blood sports, and do not approve of businesses that exploit animals , such as circuses or zoos, or the fur trade. They object to experiments on animals for trivial purposes such as cosmetics, and are divided as to whether animal experimentation should be allowed for medical research.
Quakers are not forbidden from using alcohol or tobacco although these substances are banned from Quaker Meeting Houses , but most Quakers avoid them, or consume them moderately. Quakers are non-judgemental about sex, which they see as a gift of God. Their attention is focused on the way in which it is used in human relationships. Sexual activity is essentially neither good nor evil; it is a normal biological activity which, like most other human activities, can be indulged in destructively or creatively.
An act which for example expresses true affection between two individuals and gives pleasure to them both, does not seem to us to be sinful by reason alone of the fact that it is homosexual.
Quakers were one of the first churches to talk openly about sexuality. Since we try to live our lives respecting 'that of God' in everyone we would want to treat all people equally. We feel that the quality and depth of feeling between two people is the most important part of a loving relationship, not their gender or sexual orientation. Quakers don't have a united view on abortion but regard it as a matter of individual conscience.
Philosophically there is no Quaker doctrine of when a person becomes a person. The movement has difficulty reconciling the principle of non-violence, which could argue against abortion, and the wish that women should be able to play a full part in society, which might sometimes justify abortion. Quakers don't have a collective view on the rightness or wrongness of contraception.
Many Quakers do use artificial methods of birth control. Quakers don't have a united view on euthanasia. Some Quakers make 'living wills', requesting that if they become ill to the point of being incapable of living without artificial life support systems or inappropriate medical intervention, they be allowed to die naturally and with dignity.
This comes partly from their belief that there is something of God in every human being, and that they should respect the worth and dignity of each person, and partly from following Christ's own example of social activism. At the centre of Friends' religious experience is the repeatedly and consistently expressed belief in the fundamental equality of all members of the human race.
Our common humanity transcends our differences. The duty of the Society of Friends is to be the voice of the oppressed but [also] to be conscious that we ourselves are part of that oppression. Quakers believe that war and conflict are against God's wishes and so they are dedicated to pacifism and non-violence. And from a practical point of view they think that force nearly always creates more problems than it solves.
We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end or under any pretence whatsoever, and this is our testimony to the whole world.
War, in our view, involves the surrender of the Christian ideal and the denial of human brotherhood. Christ demands of us that we adhere, without swerving, to the methods of love, and therefore, if a seeming conflict should arise between the claims of His service and those of the State, it is to Christ that our supreme loyalty must be given, whatever the consequences. Many conscientious objectors those who refuse to join the armed forces are Quakers, but Quaker pacifism is not simply the refusal to fight: it includes working actively to bring about or preserve peace, by removing the causes of conflict.
Quakers, like other pacifists, are sometimes accused of being willing to give in to evil regimes rather than fight against them. They disagree, and say that they fight by non-violent means. All forms of non-violent resistance are certainly much better than appeasement, which has come to mean the avoidance of violence by a surrender to injustice at the expense of the sufferings of others and not of one's self, by the giving away of something that is not ours to give.
Quakers are not just opposed to war, but to all forms of violence. George Fox was personally opposed to the use of violence. He refused to defend himself when he was attacked and often, when the violence was over, had kind words or actions for his attackers. Quakers believe that human beings are stewards of the earth, and should care for it to ensure that each generation passes on to the next generation a world as good as or better than it received. Quakers think that the environmental crisis is a spiritual and religious crisis as well as a practical one.
Quakers say that environmental issues are also a matter of social justice: they acknowledge that those living in Britain or the USA are largely insulated from the effects of environmental problems and that such issues have a much more serious effect on the world's poor. The produce of the earth is a gift from our gracious creator to the inhabitants, and to impoverish the earth to support outward greatness appears to be an injury to the succeeding age.
Try to live simply. A simple lifestyle freely chosen is a source of great strength. Do not be persuaded into buying what you do not need or cannot afford. Do you keep yourself informed about the effect your style of living is having on the global economy and environment? Quakers strongly believe in the sanctity of marriage but also recognise the value of non-marital relationships and the single life.
Their weddings are very informal compared to those from other traditions and there is no priest or minister to lead the couple as they make their vows. When a Quaker couple decide to marry, they make a commitment to each other in the presence of God, their family and friends. Quakers believe that no one but God can join a couple in matrimony.
They see marriage as more than a legal contract - it is a religious commitment. The meeting actually begins when the first person enters the meeting room.
When you are seated, it helps to try to relax in mind and body. If you know a relaxation technique, feel free to use it. Otherwise, most of us find it suf- ficient simply to sit upright with legs uncrossed and hands loosely in the lap, close our eyes and breathe deeply a few times.
There are no set rules about what to do next. A generally quiet and receptive attitude is far more important than any beliefs or doctrines or religious background.
If pressed to say what they are actually doing in a meeting for worship, many Quakers would probably say they are waiting-waiting in their utmost hearts for the touch of something beyond their everyday selves. Notwithstanding the variety of strange and paradoxical phrases they might use about their meetings, however, most Quakers would agree that you can only enter fully into the silence if you can quiet the busy, anxious, thinking part of your mind and become not merely outwardly but inwardly silent.
In this troubled life that state is not always easy to come by, but when it is attained, even in a small degree, it opens the way into the shared silence of the meeting. Some look at the thoughts and images arising in their minds and then put them aside. Some begin by holding up others in their mental arms, so to speak, desiring that all should be well with them. Others recall an event or encounter that has meant much to them, or a peaceful scene or a loved painting or piece of music.
Admittedly, there are times when no methods of centering down seem to work. The meeting seems cold and lifeless; or quite often, trivial and irrelevant thoughts dash around in your mind like flies- feeling sore about an argument with somebody, planning what to do next week, or wondering whether you have turned off the oven-whatever it is comes demanding your attention.
We all experience them. Just put them gently aside, return to the gate by which you set out on the inward journey, and start again. Moreover, you may benefit in other ways- almost without realizing it. If you are carrying with you a yearning for forgiveness, or a need for healing in body and mind, sitting in the meeting may help you to see things in a new light, an important decision may click into place, or a deep worry about someone dear to you may become more bearable.
Whatever your particular path, and whatever obstacles you may encounter, you ultimately come to an inward place where all images and thoughts and words, however lovely or sublime, fall away and your inner being becomes quiet and peaceful.
The silence deepens to a stillness, and as you wait in fellowship with the others, you enter a state not only of peace, but of inspiration. We each respond in our own way, but our responses are drawn together into a unity. In some deeply gathered meetings nothing is spoken at all-those present seem to feel that the silence is ministry enough for them; but more often than not, one or more people will rise and speak.
Speaking is an equally important part of the meeting. Spoken ministry is naturally a serious and responsible undertaking. Those who speak feel themselves to be in a presence which, however they may name it or avoid naming it, commands their reverence.
They feel, too, that they are not merely speaking to all present, but in a sense speaking for them-for their seekings and their needs. Care and sensitivity are therefore needed, and the few conventions that govern the spoken ministry reflect this. As to just how ministry arises, no precise account is possible. Many Friends who speak say that quite often, when they have centered down, a thought or feeling presents itself to them.
It sits there, so to speak, and seems important. If that happens, you ask yourself whether it is a contribution to be shared with the meeting, or only a bright idea, or a subject for debate, or something just for yourself.
Learn more. Why Do Quakers Worship in Silence? Passing Through the Stillness From the exterior, there may not appear to be very much different between a group of individuals doing individual meditation or individual contemplation in the same room and a group of Quaker worshiping together. Discussion Questions: How was Quaker meeting for worship explained to you? What impact did that have on your first experience? How has your understanding changed over time?
How do you know what to listen for? Previous Article Next Article. Subscribe To Our Newsletter.
0コメント