An interesting sign of the times, the Quakers are considering dropping "God" from their meetings.
The Quakers (or Friends) are members of a historically Christian group called 'the Religious Society of Friends' or Friends Church that started in mid-17th-century England. The movement arose from dissenting Protestant groups who wanted to break away from the established Church of England. Many of the early Quaker ministers were women. Their message stressed the importance of a direct relationship with God and the universal priesthood of all believers, they emphasized a personal and direct religious experience of God.
Persecuted by the Establishment, they became a highly positive and progressively liberal community that valued human rights, education, social reform and the arts.
The articles goes on to say that only a dwindling 40% of Britons claim to believe in some form of God, while a third say they are atheists, leaving over a quarter in a state of vaguely agnostic “spirituality” ... the BKs' targetted marketplace.
Part of the Quaker practise is the experience of standing up and expressing doubts, fears and joys amid a company of “friends”, who respond only with their private silence. The therapy is that of shared experience.
The Quakers (or Friends) are members of a historically Christian group called 'the Religious Society of Friends' or Friends Church that started in mid-17th-century England. The movement arose from dissenting Protestant groups who wanted to break away from the established Church of England. Many of the early Quaker ministers were women. Their message stressed the importance of a direct relationship with God and the universal priesthood of all believers, they emphasized a personal and direct religious experience of God.
Persecuted by the Establishment, they became a highly positive and progressively liberal community that valued human rights, education, social reform and the arts.
The Quakers are right. We don’t need God by Simon Jenkins.
At their annual get-together this weekend Quaker religious leaders are reportedly thinking of dropping God from their “guidance to meetings”. The reason, said one of them, is because the term “makes some Quakers feel uncomfortable”.
Atheists, according to a Birmingham University academic, comprise a rising 14% of professed Quakers, while a full 43% felt “unable to profess a belief in God”. They come to meetings for fellowship, rather than for higher guidance.
The articles goes on to say that only a dwindling 40% of Britons claim to believe in some form of God, while a third say they are atheists, leaving over a quarter in a state of vaguely agnostic “spirituality” ... the BKs' targetted marketplace.
Part of the Quaker practise is the experience of standing up and expressing doubts, fears and joys amid a company of “friends”, who respond only with their private silence. The therapy is that of shared experience.
Clear God from the room, and the Quakers are indeed on to something.