Friends, like some other religious organizations, have over time built up a rather large lexicon of terminology, some of which may not make sense to an outsider. Below, please find a short listing of common Quaker terms and their definitions.
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A person who attends meeting for worship and perhaps participates in other parts of the life of a meeting, but who has not become a member.
A Meeting for Worship for Business called by its Clerk at a non-regular time, usually for the purpose of considering a particular issue or item of business.
Another name for Centre Friends Meeting. Monthly Meeting (defined below) is sometimes used in place of Friends Meeting.
A group of Friends appointed or selected to assist a person or the meeting to clarify a decision or concern.
The clerk of a meeting performs an administrative function in a way that also provides spiritual leadership. Clerks act in a capacity similar to the chairperson during and between business meetings. Among Unprogrammed Friends, in the absence of a pastor, the clerk is the meeting's representative to the community. Programmed Friends usually have both a pastor and a clerk. Usually, a clerk is nominated by a committee, approved by the full body, and serves a specified term, after which another clerk is appointed.
Abbreviation for Centre Monthly Meeting, another name for Centre Friends Meeting.
A decision or opinion to which no one in the decision-making body dissents, as distinct from Unity and Sense of the Meeting, though often used erroneously by Friends as a synonym for these terms.
Also called "Disciplines." Each Yearly Meeting creates or adopts its own book of discipline describing "good order used among us." Typically, contents include the practices and procedures used in the yearly meeting, inspirational extracts from Quaker literature, and "advices" and "queries" (guidance and questions to help Friends examine themselves and their lives as they strive to live more fully in the Light). An online version of Faith and Practice for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (of which Centre resides within) can be found at https://www.pym.org/faith-and-practice/. Links to other Yearly Meetings' Books of Faith and Practice can be found at https://www.quakerinfo.com/fandp.shtml.
Traditionally, and in days past, Quakers spoke in Simple English and used the terms First (1st), Second (2nd), etc. To describe the days of the week and months of the year as opposed to the more commonly used names of Sunday, Monday, January, February, etc. [Definition by Tom Shipman, remove annotation from final version]
To ask for God's presence to illumine a person, situation, or problem, whether in concern or thanksgiving.
A term that represents the direct, unmediated experience of the Divine. Similar terms used in Quaker writings include Christ Within, Light of Christ, Inward Light, Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth, Divine Principle, Seed, Guide, Inward Teacher, and that of God in every person.
This refers to the power and inspiration of God or Christ coming inwardly to us to show us our true motivations, guide us, lead us, and give us strength to act on this guidance--thus bringing us into unity with the Spirit. This concept differs from "conscience," which is a developed awareness of the merits or faults of our conduct, intentions, or character and the sense of obligation to do right. The "Inward Light" is also called the "Light Within," the "Christ Within, the "LIght of Christ," the "Holy Spirit," and "The Seed." Often, the term is written "Inner Light," implying that the light comes from each of us, but that is not part of early Friends' concept.
To terminate a committee or concern when its work is completed or no longer felt necessary. A monthly meeting may be laid down when it is no longer functioning.
Among many Friends, the word "church" is not used, and the word "meeting" often serves the same function. A meeting may be the body of people who constitute a congregation, or it may be an event in which Friends come together to worship or to attend to other matters in the context of a spiritual encounter with God and one another. [The word "church" is used in the Evangelical branch of Friends and by some other programmed Friends.]
Also termed Meeting for Worship for Workship with Attention to Business, Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business, or Meeting for Worship for Business. In a business meeting, decisions are made together through worshipful attention to the Spirit and deep listening to one another in a shared search to discern the truth (see SENSE OF THE MEETING).
A statement of an item of business approved by those in attendance at a given meeting for worship with a concern for business.
A group of people who have established a community that generally meets every week for meeting for worship and once a month for meeting for business. Generally, the monthly meeting is considered the foundation of Quaker life.
An experience, in the quietness of the meeting, of feeling led by God to speak.
A Meeting for Worship is usually conducted by a pastor with a prearranged program that includes music, readings, a sermon, and an offering. It may also include periods of silence and waiting when Friends may be moved to speak from the body of the meeting.
The unofficial name of a member of the Religious Society of Friends. Originally, the use was pejorative, but the word was reclaimed by Friends in recognition of the physical sensation that many feel when being moved by the Spirit.
A collection of monthly meetings and worship groups that are near each other geographically and that meet together four times a year for worship and business. Some groupings that meet on a different time cycle may be termed Regional Meetings or Half-Yearly Meetings. Centre Friends Meeting falls under the care of Western Quarter Meeting (WQM), which covers southwestern Pennsylvania and Northern Delaware. For more information, please visit WQM's website (https://westernquarterquakers.org/)
Formally, the Queries are a set of open-ended questions that Friends use to examine both the individual life and the life of the meeting in the light of God's wish for us. Many meetings read the Advices and Queries periodically from our book of Faith and Practice as a recurring exercise in spiritual self-examination. Informally, Friends often use queries that have been crafted ad hoc to address a specific concern. We then pose these questions to ourselves in meetings for worship, in committees, in conferences and workshops, or any group gathered to consider a concern, and then seek to answer them in a spirit of worship.
The recording clerk records the minutes of the meeting for business in worship.
A process to ensure that decisions are truly grounded in God's will. Seasoning usually requires taking extra time to hold a decision in prayer to make sure that it stands the test of time.
The purpose of a meeting for business is for the membership to achieve unity in its discernment of a decision. Both the practice and the end result are called "sense of the meeting" (as in: "We make decisions by sense of the meeting" and "It is the sense of the meeting that we will take the Harleyville Worship Group under our care"). Unity is not to be confused with unanimity. It is not necessary for every member to fully agree with a decision, but rather for Friends to discern that as a body they are called in a particular direction. Some Friends use the secular and more modern term "consensus" to describe Friends' decision making practice, since no voting occurs, but many adhere to this older term, which emphasizes that it is a religious exercise.
Worship that has part unprogrammed worship (with silence and space for those to speak who feel moved to) and a part structured worship through song, readings, or a sermon.
The withdrawal of opposition by a member not able to unite with a proposed minute, thus freeing the meeting to proceed.
The spiritual oneness and harmony whose realization is a primary objective of a Meeting for Worship for Business; within a gathered group of Friends, the state of finding and recognizing a unified sense (often referred to as God’s will) about a concern or item of business
A meeting for worship which has no pre-determined order of service. The gathered Friends sit in silence, waiting upon God and "leadings of the Spirit" which may give rise to vocal messages to share with the meeting. Some meetings for worship can pass without any vocal message and still be occasions of great inspiration.
A collection of monthly and regional meetings that organize together to share witness and resources. It generally meets at least once a year to conduct business. Centre Friends Meeting falls under the care of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM), which covers eastern Maryland, Delaware, central and southern New Jersey, and central and eastern Pennsylvania. Annual & Continuing Sessions are held each year. Please visit PYM's website (https://www.pym.org/) for more information.
To find the information for the bibliography for this list can be found here.