Book of Discipline
Washington DC: Friends Meeting of Washington of the Religious Society of Friends, 1977. Second reprinting, with Further Minor Corrections and Additions in Part II. Wraps, Staplebound. Format is approximately 6 inches by 9 inches. 40 pages. Illustrated front cover and title page. Cover has some wear, soiling and discoloration. Chapters cover Faith and Practice, as well as Organization and Procedures. Also includes information on Nature and Purpose of the Discipline; Quaker Origins: George Fox and the Period of Religious Openings; The Period of Readjustment; Form and Conduct of the Meeting of the Meeting for Worship; The Testimonies; The Queries; Condition of Membership; Transfers; New Members, Committee of Welcome; Separation by Disownment; The Meeting for Business; Officers and Committees; Duties of Officers; Duties of Standing Committees; and Marriages; Deaths, Funerals, and Memorial Meetings. This was originally published in 1938 and reprinted with minor corrections in 1950. Quakers belong to a historically Christian (Protestant) set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of the various Quaker movements are generally united by a belief in the ability of each human being to experience and access the light within or to see "that of God in every one". Some profess the priesthood of all believers, a doctrine derived from the First Epistle of Peter. They include those with evangelical, holiness, liberal, and traditional Quaker understandings of Christianity. There are also Nontheist Quakers whose spiritual practice is not reliant on the existence of God. To differing extents, the movements making up the Religious Society of Friends/Friends avoid creeds and hierarchical structures. In 2007, there were about 359,000 adult Quakers worldwide. In 2017, there were 377,557 adult Quakers, 49 per cent of them being in Africa. Some 89 percent of Quakers worldwide belong to "evangelical" and "programmed" branches of Quakerism, which worship in services with singing and a prepared message from the Bible, coordinated by a pastor. Some 11 per cent practice waiting worship, or unprogrammed worship (more commonly known today as Meeting for Worship), where the order of service is not planned in advance, is predominantly silent, and may include unprepared vocal ministry from those present. Some meetings of both types have Recorded Ministers present – Friends recognized for their gift of vocal ministry. The first Quakers lived in mid-17th-century England. The movement arose from the Legatine-Arians and other dissenting Protestant groups, breaking away from the established Church of England. The Quakers, especially the ones known as the Valiant Sixty, attempted to convert others to their understanding of Christianity, traveling both throughout Great Britain and overseas, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of these early Quaker ministers were women. They based their message on the religious belief that "Christ has come to teach his people himself", stressing the importance of a direct relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and a direct religious belief in the universal priesthood of all believers. They emphasized a personal and direct religious experience of Christ, acquired through both direct religious experience and the reading and studying of the Bible. Quakers focused their private lives on developing behavior and speech reflecting emotional purity and the light of God, with the goal of Christian perfection. In the past, Quakers were known for their use of thee as an ordinary pronoun, refusal to participate in war, plain dress, refusal to swear oaths, opposition to slavery, and teetotalism. Most yearly meetings make a public statement of faith in their own Book of Discipline, expressing Christian discipleship within the experience of Friends in that yearly meeting. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Society of Friends, Quakers, Faith, Testimonies, Membership, George Fox, Meetings, Membership, Committees, Religion, Peace, Race Relations, Marriage, Remarriage, Rituals
[Book #82478]
Price: $25.00