Quaker Faith And Practice

This book of Quaker faith and practice is an attempt to express Truth through the vital personal and corporate experience of Friends. It is largely composed of extracts: a fitting way of expressing the breadth of Quaker theology. It also describes the current structures of Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends.--Back cover.

An illuminating collection of work by members of the Religious Society of Friends. Covering nearly three centuries of religious development, this comprehensive anthology brings together writings from prominent Friends that illustrate the development of Quakerism, show the nature of Quaker spiritual life, discuss Quaker contributions to European and American civilization, and introduce the diverse community of Friends, some of whom are little remembered even among Quakers today. It gives a balanced overview of Quaker history, spanning the globe from its origins to missionary work, and explores daily life, beliefs, perspectives, movements within the community, and activism throughout the world. It is an exceptional contribution to contemporary understanding of religious thought. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

A well-known Quaker historian explores the qualities of Quaker faith and practice that contribute to living sustainably in the world today. He explores such paradoxes as equality and community, unity and differentiation, integrity and personal discernment, and other aspects of life that Quakers have worked to bring into balance through their 350-year history. How have Quakers learned to create the kind of individual and community life that can prepare us to live fully and responsibly into a time of social and planetary change?

Advices and queries designed to challenge and inspire Australian Quakers in their personal lives and in their life as a religious community.

Quakerism: The Basics is an accessible and engaging introduction to the history and diverse approaches and ideas associated with the Religious Society of Friends. This small religion incorporates a wide geographic spread and varied beliefs that range from evangelical Christians to non-theists. Topics covered include: Quaker values in action The first generations of Quakerism Quakerism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Belief and activism Worship and practice Quakerism around the world The future of Quakerism. With helpful features including suggested readings, timelines, a glossary, and a guide to Quakers in fiction, this book is an ideal starting point for students and scholars approaching Quakerism for the first time as well as those interested in deepening their understanding.

Money and Soul explores our troubled relationship with money, with finance, and with the economic system in which we are all entangled. It invites readers to consider how childhood experiences with money can shape attitudes, and how attention to individual conscience and shared Quaker values can illuminate big finance and economics questions that lie in the shadows, but cry out for more light. The pamphlet offers a brief sketch of how our political economy has shifted since the late 1970s from a concern for common welfare to a focus on private gain, and offers suggestions, using the framework of the testimonies, for ways that Friends can bring personal practices around money and personal witness around the economy into closer alignment with faith values. This is an invitation to those for whom finance and economics may seem like a closed book to find new openings for discernment and action.

"The most valuable aspect of religion," writes Robert Lawrence Smith, "is that it provides us with a framework for living. I have always felt that the beauty and power of Quakerism is that it exhorts us to live more simply, more truthfully, more charitably." Taking his inspiration from the teaching of the first Quaker, George Fox, and from his own nine generations of Quaker forebears, Smith speaks to all of us who are seeking a way to make our lives simpler, more meaningful, and more useful. Beginning with the Quaker belief that "There is that of God in every person," Smith explores the ways in which we can harness the inner light of God that dwells in each of us to guide the personal choices and challenges we face every day. How to live and speak truthfully. How to listen for, trust, and act on our conscience. How to make our work an expression of the best that is in us. Using vivid examples from his own life, Smith writes eloquently of Quaker Meeting, his decision to fight in World War II, and later to oppose the Vietnam War. From his work as an educator and headmaster to his role as a husband and father, Smith quietly convinces that the lofty ideals of Quakerism offer all of us practical tools for leading a more meaningful life. His book culminates with a moving letter to his grandchildren which imparts ten lessons for "letting your life speak."

In this revised and expanded edition of Faith & Play(TM) Quaker Stories for Friends Trained in the Godly Play(R) Method, stories published before 2015 have been revised based on experience and feedback, and new stories have been added along with additional supplementary materials developed to support storytellers. Faith & Play(TM) is a story-based curriculum focused on building spiritual community with children and offering them images and language to express their wonder and experience of the Divine. Faith & Play(TM) grew out of Friends' work with the Godly Play(R) story curriculum, which embodies the Montessori belief that play is children's work and has dignity. These curricula support continuing revelation; multiple perspectives on a story; silence, reflection, and corporate sharing as valuable components of the spiritual life; and the diversity of ways the Spirit works within each person. While the Godly Play stories used by Friends are based on the Bible, Faith & Play stories include Quaker faith, practice and witness, as well as some Bible content told in ways that reflect Quaker sensibilities. Faith & Play stories are meant to be used in conjunction with Godly Play and we do not recommend using either resource without adequate training.