Valley Friends Meeting

"As we have seen, Quakers held the army and others to account both in print, and in private and public meetings. The circulation of information about the intentions of the army also reminds us, ultimately, of the strategic focus of Quaker campaigning. Quakers were by no means passive or mystical observers of the political landscape, but were organizing a sophisticated and multifaceted campaign, which required a range of well-informed negotiative strategies and a pragmatic, often clandestine, analysis of the actual power of those in charge. In this regard models of popular politics which deployed different tactics of negotiation with those in power are more helpful to our understanding of the Quakers in the 1650s than historical interpretations which prioritize the articulation of coherent ideologies, broad political programmes, or the delineation of denominational identity. One of the key defining purposes of Quakers before 1689 was to achieve, and exercise, the legal right to worship according to conscience and, in order to do this, they were obliged to negotiate for it from those in power."

— Kate Peters, The Quakers and the Politics of the Army in the Crisis of 1659 (Past & Present, Volume 231, Issue 1, May 2016)

A secret power which touched my heart "Not by strength of arguments, or by a particular disquisition of each doctrine, and convincement of my understanding thereby, came [I] to receive and bear witness of the truth, but by being secretly reached by this life; for when I came into the silent assemblies of God’s people, I felt a secret ...

"Over the course of my years of Quaker worship I have learned that certain attitudes help me into worship – particularly humility and gratitude. Gratitude is easy; I can think of all that I am thankful for, and that’s probably the best way into worship on a difficult, distracted day. By humility I don’t mean grovelling and feeling awful about myself. It means, simply, remembering that I am not in charge, that I do not know what should happen (either in the meeting or beyond it) and so I am listening intently."

- Lucy Faulkner-Gawlinski, 2024
Quaker teacher

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