Quakers share a way of life, not a set of beliefs. Our unity is based on silent worship, where we seek a communal stillness. Beginning with stillness, our faith becomes action. The Quaker commitment to peace, equality, simplicity, sustainability and truth arises from the conviction that love is at the heart of existence and that all human beings are unique and equal.
Welcome message of the Friends House, the home of Quakers in Britain
We believe that there is no difference between the sacred and the secular, there is no division; we believe in continuing revelation, which is why we don’t have a creed, because we might believe tomorrow something we didn’t believe yesterday; and that all life is sacramental, all humans are equal, and all life forms are connected.
Jennifer Kavanagh in the podcast “What Do Quakers Believe?”, 2024
We could achieve justice and peace without violence, and overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).
We are inspired by Sermon on the Mount, Evangelical commandments of Christ on perfect universal love to everyone, on refusing to kill or even to be angry (Matthew 5: 21-26, 43-48).
We love the Peace Testimony and are ready to uphold it as valiantly as it was upheld before by twelve Quakers in 1660, by George Fox in 1651, by early Christian martyr Maximilian of Tebessa, and many other good people.
We care about all life and live our lives as a holy experiment without any dogmas but seeking and working for truth and perfect love, worshipping in peace and walking cheerfully in the light.
We believe in the inner light of truth, love, dignity and conscience in every person, regardless of the spiritual or humanistic tradition in which a person grew up; everyone could tell truth and everyone should be heard.
We expect to preserve our hope that the prophecy will once come true that “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3).
Minutes of the worship of Quakers led by the spirit to establish Meeting of Friends of Ukraine, 2024
Our life is a travel, and friendly conversation is a cart that makes the journey easier for the traveler.
Do what you were born to do, be a just and peace-loving citizen, and that’s enough of you.
Hryhorii Skovoroda, “Primer of Peace”, 1775
There is no better cure for grief than to bring relief to others.
On a warm morning, on a clear evening, we went to the middle of the lake, threw our oars and listened to the silence all around. There were no waves, the boat stood calmly.
Nadiya Surovtsova, 1919
One true to conscience, not betrays, – God’s shoulders for the soul to rest.
O future, sweep grief and regret. The living will not kill the living.
Lina Kostenko, 1958
Holy Ukraine transcends the political and geographical boundaries of a traditional state and becomes a world nation. Holy Ukraine completely precludes for her spiritual citizens confrontation with other peoples, or even the very idea of war among humans. Holy Ukraine proclaims the primacy of spirit and reason, creativity and labour in human evolution. Human is a wonderful, intelligent, joyful being…
Oles Berdnyk, “An Open Friendly Message”, 1977
The war of ideologies gives rise to a senseless arms race, so the disarmament of hearts and souls is necessary. A common criterion of life is needed for all people beyond the divisions of races, nations and religions.
Oles Berdnyk, Levko Lukianenko, Myroslav Marynovych, Mykola Matusevych, Yuri Orlov, Bohdan Rebryk, Mykola Rudenko, Oleksa Tykhy, Danylo Shumuk, Anatoly Shcharansky, 1980
The essential experience of Friends is that of a direct, unmediated relationship with the Divine. Friends have used many terms or phrases to refer to the inner certainty of our faith: the Light Within, the Inner Light, the Christ Within, the Inward Teacher, the Divine Presence, Spirit, the Great Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, that of God in every person, and the Seed. In his journal, George Fox referred to “that Inward Light, Spirit, and Grace by which all might know their salvation” and to “that Divine Spirit which would lead them into all truth.”
“The Light Within”, chapter of the Faith and Practice of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, United States
A Friends meeting, however silent, is at the very lowest a witness that worship is something other and deeper than words, and that it is to the unseen and eternal things that we desire to give the first place in our lives. And when the meeting, whether silent or not, is awake, and looking upwards, there is much more in it than this. In the united stillness of a truly “gathered” meeting there is a power known only by experience, and mysterious even when most familiar. There are perhaps few things which more readily flow “from vessel to vessel” than quietness. The presence of fellow worshippers in some gently penetrating manner reveals to the spirit something of the nearness of the Divine Presence…And it is out of the depths of this stillness that there do arise at times spoken words which, springing from the very source of prayer, have something of the power of prayer — something of its quickening and melting and purifying effect. Such words as these have at least as much power as silence to gather into stillness.
Caroline E. Stephen, 1908, quoted in the Faith and Practice of Canadian Yearly Meeting
Adherence to the teachings of Christ should raise His followers to a plane where the boundaries of nationality do not exist, but where all who profess His name, to whatever nation they belong, have only one interest to serve — the promotion of the building of the City of God. With that supreme claim to our loyalty, the claim of no lesser loyalty can conflict — neither loyalty to family, nor friends, nor state.
General Meeting of the Society of Friends in New Zealand 1915
We are seized with the urgent need to do transformative work in the world. We are also called by that still small voice to pause, to listen deeply to one another and to creation… Our past and present reminds us of our capacity to be faithful, courageous changemakers. With radical hope, we trust in our collective ability to “recognise, repent, redeem and restore” and to work together in beautiful and transformative ways. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! We know that through Jesus’ invitation to new life, ‘All things are made new.’ God has no hands but ours, no feet but ours, no lips but ours, so we keep imagining a better world.
Epistle of the World Plenary Meeting 2024
Before we love others, we need to love ourselves. How do we treasure our own Light and gifts? How do we learn to share what we have to offer?
When we gather, we seek a unity of the people of God. We seek the opportunity to be open to and receive from one another. We seek the communion and companionship of people from all walks of life, young and old, men and women. How do we maintain friendships across different living conditions such as poverty, political instability? How do we respond to the challenge of sharing, caring and loving in these situations?
No matter how difficult the circumstances, look for the good and positive in everyday life. Face the reality of sorrow and hardship, but make a conscious choice to live with joy, encouraging those around you.
Do you work to get rid of all feelings of superiority for whatever reason? Do you listen carefully, ask questions, and realise that fresh and valuable insights may come from whom we expect it least?
Learn to live with ambiguity, recognising that it is very difficult to explain our own cultures, let alone someone else’s. Are we committed to seeking to understand one another’s languages, cultures and traditions? Do we set aside time and make opportunities to share in life experiences and to learn to communicate with one another?
Recognising the need for personal safety, you should nevertheless seek creative opportunities for engaging with neighbours and communities.
Are our lives whole? Do we divide our worlds into spiritual activities, family life, secular pursuits and political action, into good people and bad people, us and them, old ways and new ways? Let’s make them one. Let’s find the goodness in the other, the infinite in the humdrum, the wisdom in the ancestor, the eternal in the here-and-now. Let’s elicit these surprises to engage the powers of oppression, to set people free, to live creatively. May our lives ring with truth to the whole of our being, the whole of humankind, the whole of the earth.
Do you seek the positive in political developments which you feel you need to protest against? Do you listen with care to the arguments and seek points of agreement before putting an opposing point of view? Is your opposition based on spiritual convincement and can you articulate this?
Pray for the oppressor as well as the oppressed, that a way forward can be achieved based on hope and a vision of the peaceable kingdom. In situations where there is conflict, whether religious, ethnic, political or economic, are you a peacemaker? In situations where there is bribery or corruption, are you able to uphold your morals? A bribe breaks the other person’s morals and breaks your own doubly. Seek the courage to speak truth to power and uphold those working for peace and justice.
In these days of global warming and its potentially disastrous results, are we as meetings and as individuals taking care to be well-informed and aware of God’s presence, to base our decision-making not only on concerns for justice but also on our ecological responsibilities? We strive to create a climate of peace through the right sharing of resources. We rest in the knowledge that God always provides abundantly. Do we ensure that our neighbours’ basic necessities are met? Do we provide for orphans and the under-resourced in our communities? Do we respond to requests for help and assistance keeping in mind we are asked to love our neighbours as ourselves? Do we set aside time and make opportunities to share life experiences and learn to communicate with one another?
Do you walk with God in your working life? Have you considered whether your work meets real human needs? Do you seek approval from God or only from people? Do you do your work willingly and cheerfully? Whatever work you do, do it well and for its own sake, not for the sake of the rewards it may bring.
When at home attend meeting for worship regularly. This will sustain you when you travel to other regions or countries. When you are away from home, try to attend a meeting wherever you are. There are Quakers in many countries across the world. You will find the same fellowship and worship that you experience in your own meeting.
When you bring a ministry to meeting for worship, or an advice or query to read, do you bring one that is really just for yourself? Do you bring one that, consciously or sub-consciously, you wish to direct at someone else? Or do you choose one that you feel moved to share with the gathered meeting, one that will remind us of where we have come from or where we are going together?
Are you challenging yourself and your meeting to strengthen the Religious Society of Friends?
Do we strive to enable others also to find the peace of Friends’ experiences?
Open your hearts to those suffering. Pray for them, accept them and help in as many practical ways as possible.
Living Adventurously: Quaker Faith and Practice of Central and Southern Africa Yearly Meeting
Advices and queries are not a call to increased activity by each individual Friend but a reminder of the insights of the Society. Within the community there is a diversity of gifts. We are all therefore asked to consider how far the advices and queries affect us personally and where our own service lies. There will also be diversity of experience, of belief and of language. Friends maintain that expressions of faith must be related to personal experience. Some find traditional Christian language full of meaning; some do not. Our understanding of our own religious tradition may sometimes be enhanced by insights of other faiths. The deeper realities of our faith are beyond precise verbal formulation and our way of worship based on silent waiting testifies to this.
Our diversity invites us both to speak what we know to be true in our lives and to learn from others. Friends are encouraged to listen to each other in humility and understanding, trusting in the Spirit that goes beyond our human effort and comprehension. So it is for the comfort and discomfort of Friends that these advices and queries are offered, with the hope that we may all be more faithful and find deeper joy in God’s service.
Dearly beloved Friends, these things we do not lay upon you as a rule or form to walk by, but that all, with the measure of light which is pure and holy, may be guided; and so in the light walking and abiding, these may be fulfilled in the Spirit, not from the letter, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.
- 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.
- Bring the whole of your life under the ordering of the spirit of Christ. Are you open to the healing power of God’s love? Cherish that of God within you, so that this love may grow in you and guide you. Let your worship and your daily life enrich each other. Treasure your experience of God, however it comes to you. Remember that Christianity is not a notion but a way.
- Do you try to set aside times of quiet for openness to the Holy Spirit? All of us need to find a way into silence which allows us to deepen our awareness of the divine and to find the inward source of our strength. Seek to know an inward stillness, even amid the activities of daily life. Do you encourage in yourself and in others a habit of dependence on God’s guidance for each day? Hold yourself and others in the Light, knowing that all are cherished by God.
- The Religious Society of Friends is rooted in Christianity and has always found inspiration in the life and teachings of Jesus. How do you interpret your faith in the light of this heritage? How does Jesus speak to you today? Are you following Jesus’ example of love in action? Are you learning from his life the reality and cost of obedience to God? How does his relationship with God challenge and inspire you?
- Take time to learn about other people’s experiences of the Light. Remember the importance of the Bible, the writings of Friends and all writings which reveal the ways of God. As you learn from others, can you in turn give freely from what you have gained? While respecting the experiences and opinions of others, do not be afraid to say what you have found and what you value. Appreciate that doubt and questioning can also lead to spiritual growth and to a greater awareness of the Light that is in us all.
- Do you work gladly with other religious groups in the pursuit of common goals? While remaining faithful to Quaker insights, try to enter imaginatively into the life and witness of other communities of faith, creating together the bonds of friendship.
- Be aware of the spirit of God at work in the ordinary activities and experience of your daily life. Spiritual learning continues throughout life, and often in unexpected ways. There is inspiration to be found all around us, in the natural world, in the sciences and arts, in our work and friendships, in our sorrows as well as in our joys. Are you open to new light, from whatever source it may come? Do you approach new ideas with discernment?
- Worship is our response to an awareness of God. We can worship alone, but when we join with others in expectant waiting we may discover a deeper sense of God’s presence. We seek a gathered stillness in our meetings for worship so that all may feel the power of God’s love drawing us together and leading us.
- In worship we enter with reverence into communion with God and respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Come to meeting for worship with heart and mind prepared. Yield yourself and all your outward concerns to God’s guidance so that you may find ‘the evil weakening in you and the good raised up’.
- Come regularly to meeting for worship even when you are angry, depressed, tired or spiritually cold. In the silence ask for and accept the prayerful support of others joined with you in worship. Try to find a spiritual wholeness which encompasses suffering as well as thankfulness and joy. Prayer, springing from a deep place in the heart, may bring healing and unity as nothing else can. Let meeting for worship nourish your whole life.
- Be honest with yourself. What unpalatable truths might you be evading? When you recognise your shortcomings, do not let that discourage you. In worship together we can find the assurance of God’s love and the strength to go on with renewed courage.
- When you are preoccupied and distracted in meeting let wayward and disturbing thoughts give way quietly to your awareness of God’s presence among us and in the world. Receive the vocal ministry of others in a tender and creative spirit. Reach for the meaning deep within it, recognising that even if it is not God’s word for you, it may be so for others. Remember that we all share responsibility for the meeting for worship whether our ministry is in silence or through the spoken word.
- Do not assume that vocal ministry is never to be your part. Faithfulness and sincerity in speaking, even very briefly, may open the way to fuller ministry from others. When prompted to speak, wait patiently to know that the leading and the time are right, but do not let a sense of your own unworthiness hold you back. Pray that your ministry may arise from deep experience, and trust that words will be given to you. Try to speak audibly and distinctly, and with sensitivity to the needs of others. Beware of speaking predictably or too often, and of making additions towards the end of a meeting when it was well left before.
- 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.
- 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.
- Do you welcome the diversity of culture, language and expressions of faith in our yearly meeting and in the world community of Friends? Seek to increase your understanding and to gain from this rich heritage and wide range of spiritual insights. Uphold your own and other yearly meetings in your prayers.
- Do you respect that of God in everyone though it may be expressed in unfamiliar ways or be difficult to discern? Each of us has a particular experience of God and each must find the way to be true to it. When words are strange or disturbing to you, try to sense where they come from and what has nourished the lives of others. Listen patiently and seek the truth which other people’s opinions may contain for you. Avoid hurtful criticism and provocative language. Do not allow the strength of your convictions to betray you into making statements or allegations that are unfair or untrue. Think it possible that you may be mistaken.
- How can we make the meeting a community in which each person is accepted and nurtured, and strangers are welcome? Seek to know one another in the things which are eternal, bear the burden of each other’s failings and pray for one another. As we enter with tender sympathy into the joys and sorrows of each other’s lives, ready to give help and to receive it, our meeting can be a channel for God’s love and forgiveness.
- Rejoice in the presence of children and young people in your meeting and recognise the gifts they bring. Remember that the meeting as a whole shares a responsibility for every child in its care. Seek for them as for yourself a full development of God’s gifts and the abundant life Jesus tells us can be ours. How do you share your deepest beliefs with them, while leaving them free to develop as the spirit of God may lead them? Do you invite them to share their insights with you? Are you ready both to learn from them and to accept your responsibilities towards them?
- 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?
- Do you cherish your friendships, so that they grow in depth and understanding and mutual respect? In close relationships we may risk pain as well as finding joy. When experiencing great happiness or great hurt we may be more open to the working of the Spirit.
- Respect the wide diversity among us in our lives and relationships. Refrain from making prejudiced judgments about the life journeys of others. Do you foster the spirit of mutual understanding and forgiveness which our discipleship asks of us? Remember that each one of us is unique, precious, a child of God.
- Marriage has always been regarded by Friends as a religious commitment rather than a merely civil contract. Both partners should offer with God’s help an intention to cherish one another for life. Remember that happiness depends on an understanding and steadfast love on both sides. In times of difficulty remind yourself of the value of prayer, of perseverance and of a sense of humour.
- Children and young people need love and stability. Are we doing all we can to uphold and sustain parents and others who carry the responsibility for providing this care?
- A long-term relationship brings tensions as well as fulfilment. If your relationship with your partner is under strain, seek help in understanding the other’s point of view and in exploring your own feelings, which may be powerful and destructive. Consider the wishes and feelings of any children involved, and remember their enduring need for love and security. Seek God’s guidance. If you undergo the distress of separation or divorce, try to maintain some compassionate communication so that arrangements can be made with the minimum of bitterness.
- Do you recognise the needs and gifts of each member of your family and household, not forgetting your own? Try to make your home a place of loving friendship and enjoyment, where all who live or visit may find the peace and refreshment of God’s presence.
- Live adventurously. When choices arise, do you take the way that offers the fullest opportunity for the use of your gifts in the service of God and the community? Let your life speak. When decisions have to be made, are you ready to join with others in seeking clearness, asking for God’s guidance and offering counsel to one another?
- 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.
- Approach old age with courage and hope. As far as possible, make arrangements for your care in good time, so that an undue burden does not fall on others. Although old age may bring increasing disability and loneliness, it can also bring serenity, detachment and wisdom. Pray that in your final years you may be enabled to find new ways of receiving and reflecting God’s love.
- Are you able to contemplate your death and the death of those closest to you? Accepting the fact of death, we are freed to live more fully. In bereavement, give yourself time to grieve. When others mourn, let your love embrace them.
- We are called to live ‘in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars’. Do you faithfully maintain our testimony that war and the preparation for war are inconsistent with the spirit of Christ? Search out whatever in your own way of life may contain the seeds of war. Stand firm in our testimony, even when others commit or prepare to commit acts of violence, yet always remember that they too are children of God.
- Bring into God’s light those emotions, attitudes and prejudices in yourself which lie at the root of destructive conflict, acknowledging your need for forgiveness and grace. In what ways are you involved in the work of reconciliation between individuals, groups and nations?
- 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?
- Remember your responsibilities as a citizen for the conduct of local, national, and international affairs. Do not shrink from the time and effort your involvement may demand.
- Respect the laws of the state but let your first loyalty be to God’s purposes. If you feel impelled by strong conviction to break the law, search your conscience deeply. Ask your meeting for the prayerful support which will give you strength as a right way becomes clear.
- Do you uphold those who are acting under concern, even if their way is not yours? Can you lay aside your own wishes and prejudices while seeking with others to find God’s will for them?
- 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? Taking oaths implies a double standard of truth; in choosing to affirm instead, be aware of the claim to integrity that you are making.
- If pressure is brought upon you to lower your standard of integrity, are you prepared to resist it? Our responsibilities to God and our neighbour may involve us in taking unpopular stands. Do not let the desire to be sociable, or the fear of seeming peculiar, determine your decisions.
- Consider which of the ways to happiness offered by society are truly fulfilling and which are potentially corrupting and destructive. Be discriminating when choosing means of entertainment and information. Resist the desire to acquire possessions or income through unethical investment, speculation or games of chance.
- 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.
- Try to live simply. A simple lifestyle freely chosen is a source of strength. Do not be persuaded into buying what you do not need or cannot afford. Do you keep yourself informed about the effects your style of living is having on the global economy and environment?
- We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures, and seek to maintain the beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over nature is used responsibly, with reverence for life. Rejoice in the splendour of God’s continuing creation.
“Advices and Queries” in Quaker Faith and Practice, the book of Christian discipline of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, Fifth edition
The Truth is one and the same always, and though ages and generations pass away, and one generation goes and another comes, yet the word and power and spirit of the Living God endures for ever, and is the same and never changes.
And so, Reader, cleave to the blessed Light and Truth of the Living God, placed in your Heart, and believe in it; and you will come to be a Witness of the Living God and the Truth, which will be Peace and Comfort to your Soul.
Margaret Fell, 1653
Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one.
George Fox, 1656