- A Brief Guide to Using this Book of Faith and Practice
- Meeting for Worship
- The Light Within and its Religious Implications
- Testimonies
- Religious Education
- Friends’ Manner of Decision-Making
- Clearness and Support Committees
- Membership
- Marriage
- Recognizing Spiritual Gifts and Leadings
- Pastoral Care
- Preparing for and Responding to Injury, Illness, Death, and Bereavement
- Sexuality and Gender Identity
- Addiction, Substance Abuse, and Gambling
- Abuse and Exploitation in the Meeting Community
- Friends and the State
- Organization and Structure of Meetings
- History of Illinois Yearly Meeting
- Appendix 1: Sample Membership Record
- Appendix 2: Sample Certificate of Transfer and Acceptance of Transfer
- Appendix 3: Sample Traveling Minutes
- Appendix 4: Memorial Meeting Preparation Checklist
- Sources for Quotes
- Glossary
- Concerning this Book of Faith and Practice
- Faith and Practice
As the name “Faith and Practice” suggests, this book is both a spiritual and a practical document. It articulates the historical and continuing faith of Friends; it also outlines recommended procedures regarding a wide variety of matters that local Quaker meetings are likely, and in many cases certain, to face.
A book of Faith and Practice serves as a resource guide for practical matters. Any individual or committee wishing to discover how Illinois Yearly Meeting Friends are expected or encouraged to handle a given issue—establishing clearness committees, handling requests for marriage under the care of the meeting, setting up a religious education program, or any other of the myriad of matters typically encountered by Quaker meetings—can expect to find help within these pages. The Table of Contents (pp. iii–vii) and the Index (pp. 227–236) will inform Friends where they may learn more about any issue with which they are concerned. The Glossary offers definitions of many terms used by Quakers, including some that will likely be unfamiliar to newcomers to the Religious Society of Friends.
The Quaker religious service is discussed extensively in the next section, Meeting for Worship, which is followed by an account of the spiritual basis of Friends’ faith. Those sections are placed early in the book because the practical issues discussed afterwards are best understood within the framework of the religious beliefs and traditions that form the foundation of Quakerism. Therefore, while Friends are welcome to read this book piecemeal, in accordance with their specific needs and interests, its contents will be most appreciated by those who take the time to read these opening sections. A mere perusal of any particular section, while useful in itself, will not provide as much depth and guidance as will a grasp of the principles and practices that inform the content of that section, indeed of the entire volume.
This Faith and Practice includes a rich selection of queries and quotations. Queries—questions intended to guide self-examination and spiritual discernment—are provided within most of the sections and many of the subsections. Quotations on a number of spiritual and practical matters are also included. Those quotations, authored by Quakers of varying races, sexes, ethnicities, and historical periods, have been carefully selected for their relevance to contemporary Illinois Yearly Meeting Friends. They are intended to be read and savored for advice, inspiration, and reflection.
As will be explained elsewhere in this volume, this Faith and Practice represents the culmination of a process spanning almost three decades. It is the fond hope of Illinois Yearly Meeting that Friends will read it with care and find it enlightening and informative, and that it will serve the yearly meeting well.
