The Quaker Journey and the Framing of Corporate and Personal Belief

Abstract

The British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) illustrates the management of personal and corporate belief and experience without the use of creedal statements or centralized religious authority. This builds on the work of anthropologists like James Fernandez and Peter Stromberg who introduce forms of consensus responsible for maintaining unity in religious communities. While their work expanded anthropological understanding on diverse interpretations of common symbols, this article builds on their observations to show how the use of tropes also encourages unity. Quakers incorporate diversity and a notion of continuing revelation into their communal belief system, and individual participants are encouraged to explore personal belief. Since the Quaker corporate belief model accommodates change, tensions shift to maintaining identity among the theologically diverse interpretations of truth. To accomplish some homogeneity Friends also employ a journey trope to frame diversity and manage the potential tension between corporate and personal understanding.

Spiritual Practice and Management Education Pedagogy: Exploring the Philosophical Foundations of Three Spiritual Traditions

“…Discernment approaches ethical decision making as “the call of God as it comes to us in the midst of daily life” (Delbecq et al, 2003, p. 147). Once a group practicing discernment enters into silence, anyone in the group may then feel led to contribute to the matter at hand which “reveal[s] their attempts at understanding and forming their belief” (Kline, 2012, p. 286). Quakers’ recognize that members of a group have “different experience, different kinds of knowledge” (Ambler, 2013, p. 69) and as contributions are heard, periods of silence and spoken contributions are interwoven until eventually a position of unity emerges—Quakers call this finding the “sense of the meeting” (Burton, 2017).…”

Mindful reflexivity: Unpacking the process of transformative learning in mindfulness and discernment

“…The initial entering into silence—what Quakers call “centering down”—encourages each person to connect with self, the Light within, and with others in the Quaker meeting, triggering a self-reflexive and transformative process. During the silence, anyone may then experience “inward leadings” (Anderson, 2006) and feel led to offer spoken ministry, “revealing their attempts at understanding and forming their belief” (Kline, 2012: 286). As meeting proceeds, periods of silence and spoken ministry are interwoven, as those present offer contributions to the discernment process, and the group aims to achieve unity around an issue of concern to the group—Quakers call this finding the “sense of the meeting”.…”

A Quiet Faith: Quakers in Post-Christian Britain

“…Quakers in Europe are nearly all Liberal Quakers, placing authority on individual spiritual seeking and allowing a pluralism of theological views (Dandelion 1996(Dandelion , 2004Plüss 1998). Thus, the scholarship on Quakerism has sometimes constructed it in opposition to religious belief (Kline 2012;Dandelion 2008;Pilgrim 2008;Vincett 2008;Bourke 2003). Dandelion (1996) argued that the fundamental character of Quakerism today is of prescriptive pluralism, where 'truth' can be known only "personally, partially, or provisionally."…”