Syllabus: Quakerism 101

Green Street Monthly Meeting - Winter 2003

Classes will be held at Green Street Meeting Sunday afternoon, 1:00-3:00, on the first, second and fourth Sunday in February and March.

The instructor will be Gene Hillman (click here for bio), Coordinator of Adult Religious Education for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. He can normally be reached Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (during office hours) at 215-241-7182, or by e-mail at geneh@pym.org. The Meeting coordinator is Doris Clinkscale who can be reached at (215) 242-1450.

Basic readings will be from Friends for 350 Years by Howard H. Brinton (Wallingford, Pa: Pendle Hill, 2002, $16.00) and Faith & Practice of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (1997, available on line at http://www.pym.org/pm/faith_practice.php for those who do not own a copy). Other readings will be from The Bible, handouts, and a Pendle Hill (or similar) pamphlet each week (4@$3.00 and 1@$2.50). These materials are being ordered by the coordinator. The pamphlets are to be:

  • Cronk, Sandra. "Gospel Order" (Pendle Hill Pamphlet #297)
  • Lacey, Paul "Leading and Being Led" (Pendle Hill Pamphlet #264)
  • Taber, Bill "Four Doors to Meeting for Worship" (Pendle Hill Pamphlet #306)
  • Nuhn, Ferner . "The Shape of Quakerism in North America" (FWCC/SA)
  • Caldwell, Sam. "The Inward Light" (handout).

At a minimum please read the selections from Brinton and as much of Faith & Practice (F&P) as possible. You are strongly urged to also read the Bible selections (brief) and the pamphlet and/or handout. Please try to read the specified extracts from F&P (and any of the others that speak to you), and the selections from the Bible devotionally, reading the selections one at a time and sitting with each in silence and listening for the Holy Spirit speak to you through their words. The suggestions for further reading are for those who wish to delve further into the subject, and list first an early work, then two or more recent works. I suggest getting Pendle Hill Publications directly from their bookstore, and Friends United Press books from the Quaker Hill Bookstore at www.quakerhillbooks.org or 800-537-8838. Other works can be obtained form The FGC Bookstore at 800-966-4556 or www.quakerbooks.org.

Queries are also designed to speak to you at this deeper level. Note that each of the queries (on pages 206-214 of F&P) has two sections. First, in plain type, are the queries for the meeting. Following are queries for individual consideration in italics.

Week One (Second month, 2nd) - Quaker Roots: The early Quaker movement, the religious (English Reformation; Seekers - mystical, anabaptist, puritan influences) and social (civil war, diggers, levelers) context out of which it developed, the establishment of meetings, quietism

Please read

  • Brinton, Introduction and chapter 1
  • F&P p.1-15, 30-33, 215-221.
  • The Bible: Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5; John 12:35-36, 15:12-17

Suggestions for further reading

  • The Journal of George Fox edited by John L. Nickalls.
  • Apocalypse of the Word by Douglas Gwyn, Friends United Press 1986.
  • The Light in their Consciences by Rosemary Moore. Penn State Press, 2000.
  • A good general history, going well beyond early Friends, is The Quakers By Barbour and Frost, Friends United Press, 1988.

Week Two (Second month, 9th) - Quaker Beliefs: Christ Centered, liberal, universalist, evangelical. Theology of the Inward Light, "that of God"

Please read

  • Brinton, chapters 2 and 3
  • F&P page 16-17, Extracts 1-44 (p.86-99) in particular #4, #6, #10, #16.
  • The Bible: John 1:1-18, 3:19-21, F&P p.16-17
  • Caldwell (handout).

Suggestions for further reading

  • An Apology for the True Christian Divinity by Robert Barclay
  • A Living Faith by Wilmer Cooper, Friends United Press, 1990.
  • Listening to the Light by Jim Pym, Rider, 1999.

Week Three (second month, 23rd) - Meeting for Worship and Vocal Ministry

Please read

  • Brinton p. 73-120
  • F&P p. 17-20, Extracts 45-125 (p.100-121) in particular #49, #53, #66, #79, #99; Query one (p.206)
  • Bible: Acts 2
  • Taber.

Suggestions for further reading

  • A Description of the Qualifications Necessary to a Gospel Minister by Samuel Bownas. Pendle Hill Publications, 1989.
  • The Amazing Fact of Quaker Worship by George Gorman. Quaker Home Service, 1973.
  • Encounter with Silence by John Punshon. Friends United Press
  • A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly

Week four (third month, 2nd) - The Meeting Community and Meeting for Business

Readings from
  • Brinton chapters VI & VII
  • F&P p.21-29, 34-43, Extracts 126-150(p.121-128) in particular #126, #129, #133, #149; Query 4 (p.208).
  • Bible Matthew 18
  • Cronk

Suggestions for further reading

  • I know of no work by early Friends on business meeting. Fox's epistles, particularly the pastoral epistles are excellent on gospel order, for which I recommend Power of the Lord Is Over All: The Pastoral Letters of George Fox edited by T. Canby Jones.
  • Beyond Majority Rule by Michael Sheeran
  • "Beyond Consensus: Salvaging Sense of the Meeting" by Barry Morley. Pendle Hill Pamphlet #307, 1993.
  • Out of the Silence: Quaker Perspectives on Pastoral Care and Counseling
    by J. Bill Ratliff. (Pendle Hill, 2002).

Week Five (third month, 9th) - Testimonies and Concerns

Readings from

  • Brinton chapter 8
  • F&P 65-81, Extracts 195-297 (p.145-174) in particular #203, #215, #234, #239, #255, #260, #265; Queries 7, 8, 10 and 12 (p. 210 ff).
  • Bible, Isaiah 20, Matthew 5-7, James 4-5;
  • Lacey

Suggestions for further reading

  • The Journal and Major Essays by John Woolman edited by Phillips Moulton. Friends United Press, 1971. In addition to his work on slavery, personal witness to simplicity, love of creatures, and commitment to truth, Woolman raised the concern of war taxes in PYM.
  • Faith in Action: Quaker Social Testimony essays By Jonathan Dale and others. Quaker Home Service, 2000.
  • There are many books on peace, on gender and racial equality, and on simplicity from a Quaker perspective, but not many on "The Testimonies."

Week Six (third month, 23rd) - Friends Beyond PYM: AFSC, FCNL, FCUN, also FGC, EFI, FUM, FWCC, Friends in Bolivia, Jamaica, Cuba, Kenya, China

Readings from

  • Brinton chapter 9-10, the Historical Update pp. 269-281.
  • F&P p. 56-57
  • Nuhn
  • several handouts.

Suggestions for further reading

  • Quaker Worship in North America edited by Francis Hall. Friends United Press, 1977.