Quakerism 101

Offered at Horsham Meeting

Winter 2004

Classes will be Sundays from 1:00 to 3:00 pm

Facilitator: Gene Hillman, Coordinator of Adult Religious Education for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. He can be reached at 215-241-7182 or e-mail: geneh (at) pym.org. His background is available at www.homepage.villanova.edu/gene.hillman

Meeting contact is Christine Greenland who can be reached at 215-332-4105

The primary text will be Friends for 350 Years by Howard Brinton (Pendle Hill, 2003).

Supplementary readings will be from A Certain Kind of Perfection by Margery Post Abbott (Pendle Hill, 1977), short passages from the Bible and extracts in our own Faith and Practice (F&P), and several Pendle Hill pamphlets (PHP):

• "Leading and Being Led" by Paul Lacey. PHP #264
• Gospel Order: A Quaker Understanding of Faithful Church Communityä Sandra Cronk. PHP #297
• "Four Doors to Meeting for Worship" Bill Taber. PHP #306
• "The Shape of Quakerism in North America" Ferner Nuhn. FWCC/SA

Further readings are for those who wish to continue beyond what the class covers

- Week I - Jan 11 - Quaker Roots (history to 1800)

Readings:

Brinton, Introduction and first two chapters

Abbott, pages 3-54, 189-211

F&P extract 14, 16

Further reading: An excellent history is The Quakers by Barbour and Frost (get the paperback Friends United Press edition). It has excellent thumbnail biographies of many Friends.

- Week II - Jan 18 - Quaker Beliefs Evolve (history 1826-) Hicks, Wilber v Gurney, evangelicals, universalists, mystics

Brinton, chapters three and nine

Abbott, pages 55-105, 212-237

F&P extract 41

Further reading would still be Barbour and Frost

- Week III - Feb 1 - Meeting for Worship and Vocal Ministry

Brinton, chapters four and five

Taber PHP #306

F&P extract 49, 62, 90, 93

Bible: Luke, chapter two, I Corinthians 14:33 (if you want to read a little further we can talk about that too)

Further reading might start with John Punshon's Encounter with Silence. (FUP & QHS, 1987).or George Gorman's The Amazing Fact of Quaker Worship. (Swarthmore Lecture, 1973)

- Week IV - Feb 8 - Community and business meeting

Brinton, chapter six and seven

Cronk. PHP #297

Bible: Matthew 18

Further reading would start with Beyond Majority Rule by Michael Sheeran

- Week V - Feb 22 - Testimonies

Readings:

Brinton, chapter eight

F&P, extract 215

Abbott, pages 111-182

Lacey. PHP #264ã

The Bible: Isaiah chapter 20; Matthew chapter 5; Romans 12:14-21; James, chapters 4 and 5 (why read Isaiah 20? In extract 215, why did Fox cite James and not Jesus or Paul?)

Further reading might be from Jonathan Dale, Faith in Action: Quaker Social Testimony. (QHS, 2000).

- Week VI - Mar 7 - Friends today and alphabet soup (AFSC, EFI, FCNL, FGC, FUM, etc.)

Readings:

Brinton, chapter ten, Historical Update by Margaret Hope Bacon

Abbott, pages 239-270

Nuhn