- Every person is connected to a Divine Spirit and can experience that Spirit through a direct relationship with the Divine.
- Friends come together in meeting for silent worship. While Quakers often worship entirely without words, anyone who feels called to speak and express aloud what is present in the silence, may do so.
- The Quaker faith has deep Christian roots. Some Quakers consider themselves Christians, and some do not. Many Quakers find meaning and value in the teachings of many faiths.
- Quakers strive to live lives guided by a direct encounter with the Divine, more than by creeds or teachings about the Divine. Quaker terms for the Holy include God, the Seed, the Inner Light, the Divine Spirit and the Inward Teacher, among others.
- Testimonies are ways that Quakers have found to express our experience of the Divine in our lives. Quaker testimonies include simplicity, integrity, equality and social justice, community, stewardship, and peace.
- Quakers work to relieve the suffering of those caught up in conflicts, and pursue mediation, conflict resolution and quiet diplomacy as ways of reducing strife and bringing people to the table. Quakers recognize that the basis for lasting peace means that damage must be repaired, grievances heard, and injustices remedied so that passions cool and the cycle of violence is broken.
Adapted from Friends General Conference Website
Friends (Quakers) allow and encourage members to seek their own understanding and belief. You will not find a religious creed in the form of fixed core tenets for Friends. However most Friends believe some or all of the following statements.
- Friends believe there is something of God each of us, an inner light.
- Friends believe that if they wait silently, there will be times when God will speak to them in the heart.
- Friends try to live a simple lifestyle.
- Friends are pacifists, preferring to find peaceful, nonviolent solutions to conflict. An outcome of this belief led many Friends to became conscientious objectors during several wars.
- Friends try to treat others equally. From the beginning, Friends gave women and men equal status. Friends were involved in the abolition of slavery. Friends continue to support social justice for many disadvantaged peoples.
- Friends believe in telling the truth at all times. Generally, Friends do not swear oaths, even in courtrooms, believing that one must speak truth at all times.
- The Bible is an important part of Friends’ worship.
- Friends try be acceptant of other forms of Christianity and of other religions.