The Quaking Meeting: transforming our selves, our Meetings and the more-than-human world. Once, Quakers quaked. Some of us still do. I discuss individual and communal practices of Waiting Worship. My theology and practice, like that of first generation Friends, is mystical. In centring down we can directly experience God's presence: loving, divine energy sensed in our bodies, which can cause physical manifestations like quaking. Such practice transforms our lives, gradually leading us into a life of holy obedience to the Divine. I have learned from the teachings of early Friends, both directly, and mediated through Rex Ambler's Experiment with Light. Yoga and Buddhism have also inspired me. My findings are illustrated with stories, mostly drawn from my own life, and with Max Raupach's drawings. In Meetings for Worship we may sense a mystical communion with God through each other. This is the gift of the 'gathered meeting'. The 'power of the Lord' made first generation Friends quake and filled them with power. We, too, can open ourselves to the loving divine energy, and to the naturally arising miracles that become possible for those who live such lives. Transformation may flow through us to others, in an everwidening spiral, embracing the more-than-human world.

Drawn from the rich archives of Friends Journal, this book illuminates the many aspects of Friends' most central and most public spiritual testimony: a search for peace. This book is an invaluable resource for those who wish to explore the Quaker peace experience and to better understand and develop their own personal calling for peace. With a careful selection of material approaching peace from many philosophical and practical angles, Quakers and the Search for Peace will serve as a guide not only for Quakers and their meetings and churches, but for readers of all faith traditions who yearn for a more peaceful world. Students and newcomers to Quakerism will find a diverse and compelling introduction to the Quaker religion in modern practice.

When Americans today think of the Religious Society of Friends, better known as Quakers, they may picture the smiling figure on boxes of oatmeal. But since their arrival in the American colonies in the 1650s, Quakers' spiritual values and social habits have set them apart from other Americans. And their example--whether real or imagined--has served as a religious conscience for an expanding nation.
Portrayals of Quakers--from dangerous and anarchic figures in seventeenth-century theological debates to moral exemplars in twentieth-century theater and film (Grace Kelly in "High Noon," for example)--reflected attempts by writers, speechmakers, and dramatists to grapple with the troubling social issues of the day. As foils to more widely held religious, political, and moral values, members of the Society of Friends became touchstones in national discussions about pacifism, abolition, gender equality, consumer culture, and modernity.
Spanning four centuries, "Imaginary Friends" takes readers through the shifting representations of Quaker life in a wide range of literary and visual genres, from theological debates, missionary work records, political theory, and biography to fiction, poetry, theater, and film. It illustrates the ways that, during the long history of Quakerism in the United States, these "imaginary" Friends have offered a radical model of morality, piety, and anti-modernity against which the evolving culture has measured itself.
Winner, CHOICE Outstanding Academic Book Award

From her picture on the British 5 pound note to the numerous Elizabeth Fry Societies worldwide, Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) is well known for her work for prison reform. But less well known is how her Quaker faith inspired that work, leading her to see the light within the impoverished and imprisoned. With Elizabeth Fry: A Quaker Life, noted Quaker historian Gil Skidmore has brought together Fry's essential writings-some previously unpublished-from her journals,letters, and more general works. The result is a rich portrait of the struggles and anxieties behind the public persona of this "Quaker saint." Gil Skidmore, herself a Quaker, has spent many years researching the lives and writings of the early Quakers. She is currently research collections coordinator at the the library of the University of Reading.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Fifty Quakers across the West share their stories through art, poetry, fiction, and essays in this testament to the breadth of spiritual experience in the Religious Society of Friends.

Blue Laws Of New York, Maryland, Virginia, And South Carolina. First Record Of Connecticut.

Margaret Fell was one of the early converts of George Fox-a woman who more clearly understood Fox's dynamic experience and understanding of the original Christian gospel than anyone else. It was Margaret who quickly turned her estate into a key communication and support node for the growing Quaker movement. It was she who fostered a Quaker community on her estate at Swarthmore Hall. And it was she who, twenty years after her convincement and fifteen after her widowhood, became Fox's helpmate in marriage and co-partner in ministry. To dismiss her would be to dismiss one of the key female founders of early Quakerism.

Classic Quaker arguments why Christians should neither fight in wars nor pay others to fight in their place by paying taxes that sustain the military.

Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Quaker meetings in Britain today encounter unprecedented diversity of belief and religious language. How do we better understand - and work creatively with - the tension between traditional Christian faith and emerging expressions of Quakerism? The two authors developed the 'Rooted in Christianity, Open to New Light' project for Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre. This is the book they have written from the project, in which they explore the issues that spiritual diversity raises for Quakers individually and corporately, and the challenges and rewards of being a diverse, inclusive community of faith.

Specialist historians have long known the usefulness of this 1869 book, now more easily available for anyone interested in the history of London, its buildings, and its religious and social world, in an enhanced edition. William Beck was a Quaker architect, and Frederick Ball grew up in the rambling old Devonshire House building, centre of British Quakerism at the time. Their survey of London Quaker history was part of a mid-19th century awakening of Friends to the significance of their own past. This facsimile reprint contains a new introduction, by Simon Dixon PhD, author of the thesis "Quaker Communities in London 1667-c1714," and Quaker writer and editor Peter Daniels. Where possible, illustrations have been inserted of the buildings described in the book, and there is a comprehensive new index.

For 175 years, the prevailing image of Elias Hicks has been a false one. His opponents in the Religious Society of Friends have successfully misrepresented him as denying Christ and the scriptures. In his last year of life, Hicks reluctantly penned a reply to these charges, recounting in his journal how God had ordered his life. But the published Journal was edited into a bland portrayal of one of the most dynamic figures in Quaker history. Paul Buckley has meticulously compiled a new edition of The Journal of Elias Hicks from the original manuscripts - most in Hicks' own handwriting - that restores more than 100 pages of missing material.

Blue Laws Of New York, Maryland, Virginia, And South Carolina. First Record Of Connecticut.

Written 100 Years Ago - Now Released to the Public for the First Time!
The letterhead on the manuscript read, "Looking forward to the Future, 1911." I carefully turned the yellow tattered pages. I was quickly swept into the world of the Holiness People, the Rowdies, and the "Old Quaker" that stood in the gap. Enjoy your journey guided by the "Old Quakers" own words written nearly 100 years ago Education was at low ebb; the young man graduated at the age of 12 or 14 with little knowledge of real life and no knowledge of business methods.
The girl soon followed the boy from school and the marriage was not long postponed. A log house was built down back of the "old mans" and another Rooseveltian family was started. Things had jogged along thus for two or three generations, when a change came. The monotony of the scene was broken by the advent of a Quaker evangelist into their neighborhood.

"A mystic is one who has had the experience that the divine Ultimate and the essence of the individual Self are fundamentally one and the same." In his maturity George Fox dictated a vivid account of his profound mystical experience, which transformed him from an unhappy questing youth into a charismatic spiritual giant. Unlike some other mystics he resolved to share his experience with others. This became his life s work, and resulted in establishing the community known today as the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers. He did this by travelling widely, addressing crowds, and by an amazing output of documents. Hugh McGregor Ross made an intensive study of these documents in the majestic Quaker Library in London. He there identified that Fox s record of his spiritual awakening, which involved what in the seventeenth century was regarded as a blasphemy, had been tampered with. Here it is restored to its original form. It is followed by a great number of the documents Fox created to guide and support hisfollowers, all given in his own words but edited sensitively for the modern reader. This is a unique record of the awakening of a mystic in the Christian tradition, and of living out that experience in his way of life.

Quakers are chary of doctrine, feeling that it seeks to limit our understanding of God and to shut people out rather than bring them in. In his 1982 Swarthmore Lecture book, the late Gerald Priestland drew upon his experience in exploring the doctrines of the churches for his broadcast series Priestland's Progress. In his talks with more than a hundred thoughtful churchpeople he found doctrine to be far more flexible and useful than many of us suppose. In his own words 'It is not a set of unreasonable certainties, but of reasonable uncertainties. It is a way of packaging and passing on information. It is a set of tools to work with, not a row of idols to worship'. Quakers do not need to hammer out doctrines of their own, but they can be an authentic part of the One Great Church only if they are prepared to come to terms with doctrinal thinking and see what it means.

Christopher Holdsworth's own experience led him to become interested in the monastic tradition, and to spend much of his life in learning more about it as a mediaeval historian. In this book he presents aspects of that tradition which may be useful for Quakers. Starting from outward things, like stability, humility, obedience and the regular attendance at public worship, the author moves towards other sides of what the tradition calls the exploration of the heart, which he calls inner space: namely attentive reading of the Bible, and prayer. 'We, like Benedict's monks, need to let the whole of ourselves be irradiated with the Spirit, so that, in George Fox's memorable phrase, our lives preach.'

William Shewen was an early-convinced and prominent member of the Religious Society of Friends in London in the mid to late seventeenth century; he was also the author of a number of tracts and books. His Counsel to the Christian-Traveller: also Meditations and Experiences was first published in 1683 and frequently reprinted up to 1838. In this new edition, published by Inner Light Books, this early and important dissertation on Quaker Faith and Practice is made available to those who desire a deeper understanding of the traditional beliefs of the Religious Society of Friends.

Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911) was a lay speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. She was also active in the Women's suffrage movement and the Temperance movement.

Born in Philadelphia, Smith was from a long line of prominent and influential Quakers in New Jersey. Hannah Tatum Whitall was the daughter of John Mickle Whitall and Mary Tatum Whitall. Her most famous ancestor was Ann Cooper Whitall.

Robert Barclay (1648-1690) is most widely known for writing the Apology for the True Christian Divinity. But this was not his first important Quaker work. A Catechism and Confession of Faith was written in 1673, about seven years after his "convincement" of the truth, and when he was only 24 years old. Paul Anderson: .,."An excellent discussion resource and study guide for young people and adults alike seeking to be deepened in Quaker beliefs and perspectives..."

Those years forming the transition period between childhood and womanhood are filled with wonderful interest and attractiveness, for there is nothing of more beauty and grace than the budding and blossoming of girlhood. But the young feet that travel this way are often fearful and uncertain, or willful and bold. Each and all have need of guidance; they need a helping hand along the way. This book is sent forth with a sencere desire to be a blessing.