In the material above, I have sought to be as objective as possible. Now I will offer some perspectives of my own. These perspectives will be particularly applicable to North American Friends and, to some degree, British Friends - the two historic heartlands of Quakerism. The situation is probably quite different in the newer areas of Quakerism developed out of mission efforts of the last 120 years.
I think there is a lot of truth in the charges both sides make against the other. Unprogrammed Friends have held to the outward form of historic Quakerism, but that form was only a means of facilitating union with Christ. Many unprogrammed meetings are no longer even clear whether they are Christian, and it is difficult to find any common faith among them.
Too many programmed Friends have fallen into the temptation to overly rely upon pastors as channels for Christ to speak to them. Many Friends have become laity. The idea of a laity is fundamentally contrary to Quakerism, and incompatible with scripture. Pastoral Friends often have come to place more emphasis in practice on the written and spoken word than on the actual experience of the Living Christ.
This is not to say that all spiritual vitality has gone out of Friends. The above criticisms represent tendencies among Friends, and not all have fallen victim to the temptations of which I have written. And there are stirrings of renewal among both unprogrammed and programmed Friends. Furthermore, probably most Friends in the newer areas of Quakerism outside the historic Quaker strongholds have much more vivid experience of the reality of Christ than many in North America and Europe.
Also, small worship groups seeking to break out of the negative patterns seen in many established congregations are forming in many places. Some of them try to emulate both the principles and practices of early Friends. Others seek to be true to the essential truths of early Friends but feel practice needs to be more open to meet their time and environment. Good examples of the latter are the Creamore Fellowship in Great Britain, and Friends in Christ in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA (with which I am associated).
I have created a special page of links related to this subject for your use. |
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