Quaker Testimonies

Quaker groups over time have evolved commonly held principles of living, based on our core beliefs, which we call Testimonies. As part of Pacific Yearly Meeting, our La Jolla Meeting recognizes the following testimonies. All excerpted quotes are taken from Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Fa ith and Practic e .

Simplicity

Focus on what is truly important

Simplicity is the right ordering of our lives, placing God at the center. When we shed possessions, activities, and behavior that distract us from that center, we can focus on what is important. Simplicity does not mean denying life’s pleasures, but being open to the promptings of the Spirit.We Friends seek to take no more than our share and to be sensitive to the needs of others, especially future generations.

Peace

Seek justice and end to violent conflicts

Based upon love and concern for the well-being of all, Friends work for reconciliation and active nonviolent resolutions of conflict. … Recognizing that violence and war typically arise from unjust circumstances, Friends address the causes of war by working to correct social injustice, and by strengthening communities, institutions and processes to provide nonviolent alternatives to military force

Integrity

Act on your beliefs and commitments

The testimony of integrity calls us to wholeness; it is the whole of life open to Truth. When lives are centered in the Spirit, beliefs and actions are congruent and words are dependable. As we achieve wholeness in ourselves, we are better able to heal the conflict and fragmentation in our community and in the world. Living with integrity requires living a life of reflection, living in consistency with our beliefs and testimonies, and doing so regardless of personal consequences.

Community

Share with and care for others

Friends’ testimonies on integrity, unity, equality, simplicity, and peace come together in our testimony on community, which calls us to sustain caring relationships for all. In today’s interconnected world, human survival depends more than ever on discerning and actualizing the truth of our corporate experience, on mutual regard and support, on nurturing our relationships with one another, with society, and with the environment as a whole.

Equality

Treat everyone as valuable

Friends testimony on equality is rooted in the holy expectation that there is that of God in everyone, including adversaries and people from widely different stations, life experiences, and religious persuasions. All must therefore be treated with integrity and respect. The conviction that each person is equally a child of God opened the way for women to be leaders in the Religious Society of Friends: both women and men ministered in Friends Meetings from earliest days.

Harmony with nature

Treat the earth with care

We humans belong to the whole interdependent community of life on earth. Rejoice in the beauty, complexity, and mystery of creation, with gratitude to be part of its unfolding. Take time to learn how this community of life is organized and how it interacts. … Be aware of the influence humans have on the health and viability of life on earth. Call attention to what fosters or harms earth’s exquisite beauty, balances and interdependencies.

Unity

Work towards ends inclusive of all

Friends believe that it is possible for the human spirit to be in direct communion with the Divine. Seeking God’s will together, we believe way will open and unity will emerge.

As a life long Quaker, Arthur Larrabee was frustrated that he couldn’t answer the question, “What do Quakers believe?” So he set out to do just that.