Ditchling Quaker Meeting
East Gardens, Ditchling, Sussex BN6 8ST
E-mail: ditchlingquakers
Quaker Values
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Ditchling Quaker MeetingEast Gardens, Ditchling, Sussex BN6 8STE-mail: ditchlingquakers |
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Quaker Values
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| "That of God in every person" | There is that
of God in every person but the reality is that there
is also the potenital for evil and it is 'that of
God' 'aka' the 'Inner Light' that
enables us to make those choices. |
| Silent worship | not a passive
silence but an active waiting upon the Spirit |
| Personal Experience of the Divine | No priests "It
is not so much that Quakers have abolished the
priesthood but that, in believing in the "priesthood
of all believers", Quakers have abolished the laity."
All Quakers have and share the responsibility of
maintaining the life of the Meeting in the way that a
priest would. |
| Spiritual Values | must be tested
against experience even or especially those found in
the Bible |
| Internal Spiritual Values | should be
matched by a visible transformation of the outward
life |
| No bread & wine | Some Quakers
say that Meeting for Worship is a time of communion
with God. Others say that the whole of life is a
sacrament. Quakers make no distinction between the
sacred and the secular, stressing the importance of
serving God in everyday life. To a Quaker, no time,
place, action or person is more - or less - sacred
than any other. |
| Quaker Faith & Practice | A book that
collects together writings about the history and
practice of Quakers. (It used to be called Christian
Faith & Practice until it was recognised that many
Quakers did not regard themselves as being Christian
or Christ centred).At the heart of Quaker Faith &
Practice are the Advices
& Queries, which are thought provoking
but gentle reminders of the things in life to think
about. They are not rules but guidance and nothing describes their character better than the Elders of Balby who sent this note with them in 1656: "Dearly beloved Friends, these things we do not lay upon you as a rule or form to walk by; but that, with a measure of the light, which is pure and holy, all may be guided: and so in the light walking and abiding, these things may be fulfilled in the Spirit, not in the letter, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." |
"Walking cheerfully over the world answering that of God in every person."
"Let your life speak."
"Speaking Truth to Power."
"The bible sayeth this, the disciples sayeth that but...What canst thou say?"
"Wear it as long as thou canst"
George Fox's response
to William Penn when he asked whether he should continue to
wear a sword.
Ditchling
Preparative Meeting ©
Copyright 2006
Email: Webseer