Friends

"The testimony of simplicity is... that a person ought to live a simple life in order to focus on what is most important and ignore or play down what is least important.

Friends believe that a person’s spiritual life and character are more important... being more concerned with one’s inner condition than one’s outward appearance and with other people more than oneself."

Everyone is always welcome at a Quaker worship.
In worship Friends gather into silent, expectant waiting. We hold ourselves open to the Light and reach for the divine center of our being. We know the center to be a place of peace, love, and balance, where we are at one with the universe and with each other.

Quakers practice a religion of experience, a contemporary, simple, and radical faith.  Quakers are also called Friends.

Quakers believe . . .

• Every person is known by God and can know God in a direct relationship.
   
• The Quaker faith has deep Christian roots. Many Quakers consider themselves Christians, and some do not. Many Quakers find meaning and value in the teachings of many faiths.
   
• Quakers strive to live lives that are guided by a direct encounter with the Divine, more than by teachings about the Divine.  Quaker terms for the Holy include God, the Seed, the Light Within, and the Inward Teacher, among others.
   
• Testimonies are ways that Quakers have found to express our experience of the Divine in our lives.  Some of the best recognized testimonies include simplicity, integrity, equality, community, and peace.

Quaker worship . . .

Quakers gather in the silence and wait expectantly to come into the presence of the Divine and to be guided by the still, small voice by which God speaks to us from within. During the silence anyone—child, woman, or man—may feel moved to offer a simple spoken message (vocal ministry) that is inspired by this holy encounter.  Following the message, the silence resumes.  A period of worship may include several messages or none.

Quakers include . . .

There are Quakers of all ages, religious backgrounds, races and ethnicities, education, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, and classes.  You can find Quakers on all of the world’s continents. Approximately one-third live in the United States and Canada."

Photos - Whidbey Island Quakers