Non-Theist Quakers | on god language.

Non-Theist Quakers | Facebook

Helen Gilbert

Admin

  · odspStnoer:1y01l97c9i2c0iea4ftahYt61d152t7r58 a1e0 cla5acf3s  · 230317

I've just attended a meeting organised by the Non Theist Friends Network with members of Britain Yearly Meeting's Committee for revising Quaker Faith and Practice (UK). We had a really interesting discussion on god language. When reading Advices and Queries or other texts do you like the word God or find it problematic? Do you replace it with something more meaningful to you? If so, what do you use? Thanks Xx

All reactions:

88

15 comments

Like

Comment

Share

Comments

Top comments



• Betsy Dean Vanasse

  I find it problematic but easily replace it with different words depending on context. Often Light

  

  6

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 1 d
• Amanda Boughton

  When I first joined Friends I found God language so hard to deal with and it was very jarring. Over time as I have been in the society, on my own spiritual path and had insights from others I find it much easier now and I can connect to something that speaks to me about it beyond most language used.

  

  6

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 1 d
• Andrea Henley Heyn

  I find that I've been doing this kind of "translation" all of my adult life. I've never found it easy or satisfying.

  

  5

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 23 h
• Rhiannon Grant

  It's really useful to read your comments here, Friends, thank you for sharing. If you would like to send ideas to the Revision Committee - for example, if you can suggest passages written by Quakers which speak to your experience without needing any words replacing - you can find out how to submit them here: www.quaker.org.uk/rqfp

  

  QUAKER.ORG.UK

  Revising Quaker faith & practice

  Revising Quaker faith & practice

  

  3

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 14 h
  • Edited
• Helen Gilbert

  Author

  Admin

  I usually translate 'god' as 'love' which works quite well for much of Advices and Queries for me, or 'light' or spirit of compassion. I asked the revision committee to use a wide variety of words to embrace our diversity and be inclusive.

  

  3

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 20 h
• Quinn Parks

  I find it repetitive.

  

  2

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 1 d
• Kathleen Robertson

  Sometimes god language bothers me, depends .. "that which is" or "thou art that" or even just an empty space in my head are good substitutions for me.

  

  2

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 21 h
• Doug Hamilton

  Admin

  Like others here I quickly translate in my mind the god language. Substituting capitalized 'Nature' often works real well whether as the written word, spoken or sung. - For instance, this one from George Fox : "When I appealed to that of Nature in their consciences, That light of Christ Jesus in them, they could not bear to hear of it. To that of Nature in your consciences I speak; let that of Nature in all consciences answer." -Fox

  

  2

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 18 h
• Bryan Osborne

  I changed the whole wording in Advices and Queries to remove the inference of a God deity but keeping 100% the advice. Working in the Veteran community it works it is still a relevant advice to those who pray/worship their God. The Quaker path is open to all with Faith or None and we must embrace this visibly in our communication written and otherwise and strongly or we are just appearing to "tolerate" non Christian.

  

  3

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 13 h
  • Edited
• Jo Weedon

  I think I find it more accessible for me when it’s part of an older piece of writing - maybe one of the classic texts from early Friends. Even then I find it speaks to me more when it’s part of a strong, often visual analogy. I’m thinking now of the text about recognising one another though we wear different liveries. Or 27.13 about how it’s more pleasing to me if someone walks in their proper way than if they walk “just in that track wherein I walk”

  

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 42 m
• Barbara Richardson-Todd

  Goodness

  

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 5 h
• Ray White

  I find I get increasingly uncomfortable with "god language"...such language reeks of proselytizing to me.

  

  2

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 1 d
• Nicky Moulton

  It’s a problem so I left

  

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 20 h
• Carolyn Hilles

  We talk of this often in our Faith and Practice Revision work ongoing in New England Yearly Meeting. We frequently evoke ‘The Spirit’ as well as The Light and other language.

  

  2

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 6 h
• Ralph Henn

  Late, beloved Elizabeth and George Watson, members of the Meeting I attend (Minneapolis), told me they thought of "god" as a "creative force in the universe." I liked that.

  

  5

  • Like
  • Reply
  • Share
  • 22 h
  • Edited

Woodbrooke Study Centre to Close; Online Learning to Continue - Friends Journal

Woodbrooke Study Centre to Close; Online Learning to Continue - Friends Journal

Woodbrooke Study Centre to Close; Online Learning to Continue
March 8, 2023

By Sharlee DiMenichi


Photos courtesy of Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre.


Citing financial straits, the trustees of Woodbrooke, an international Quaker learning and research organization based in Britain, have decided to cease holding classes at the Woodbrooke Centre estate in Birmingham, UK, as of October 31, 2023, according to a statement and minute from the board. The trustees will transfer stewardship of the historic manor house and grounds to the Bournville Village Trust. The 120-year-old Friends study organization will continue to offer virtual courses.

The study center has always had to balance offering classes that attendees considered affordable with the cost of maintaining and administering the building. Attendees’ limited time and money meant registration for in-person classes had declined even before the pandemic shutdown. In addition, nearby establishments with which Woodbrooke partnered to accommodate individuals attending large Quaker gatherings closed, causing the center to lose even more in-person business. Pandemic-related closures of the hospitality industry—which resulted in layoffs for Woodbrooke workers who accommodated guests—cemented the shift away from in-person gatherings. Woodbrooke’s education and research staff have not been working from the building for the past three years, said Jon Martin, head of communications for Woodbrooke.

Trustees estimated that required upgrades to the Woodbrooke building would cost £6 million, or approximately $6.9 million. The building, which Quaker chocolate manufacturer George Cadbury and his second wife, Elizabeth, gifted to the Religious Society of Friends in 1903, needs renovations to make it accessible to people with disabilities and to improve its environmental sustainability. The building is a grade 2 structure of historic interest included in the National Heritage List for England.

The decision seems sudden to the public, but the Woodbrooke trustees had long privately discussed the center’s future, according to Sarah Donaldson, assistant clerk of the board of trustees. Donaldson pointed out that when George Cadbury arranged to donate the house, he stipulated that if Quakers no longer intended to use it as a study center, ownership would transfer to the Bournville Village Trust (BVT), which Cadbury founded in 1900. 

BVT offers affordable homes to rent and own, including furnished dwellings for young people leaving the care of foster parents or local authorities. Woodbrooke trustees do not know how BVT will use the building.

“I think they’re keen to preserve the Quaker heritage,” said Ingrid Greenhow, clerk of Woodrooke’s board of trustees.

In a statement, Pete Richmond, chief executive of the Bournville Village Trust, highlighted BVT’s Quaker values and pledged to partner with Woodbrooke trustees to plan for the building’s future.

George Cadbury and his brother, Richard, moved the headquarters of the family’s chocolate factory from the heart of Birmingham in 1878. Before Richard’s death in 1899, the Cadbury brothers developed Bournville, a model village that included comfortable workers’ cottages with yards, vegetable gardens, and fruit trees. Workers could take advantage of adult education classes and there were fields for sports such as cricket and soccer.

Although the building will change hands, Woodbrooke will continue to offer virtual learning options and staff will seek venues for occasional in-person classes. The University of Birmingham Special Collections will house much of Woodbrooke’s library holdings.

“We still have a very rich online program,” Martin said. Martin noted that the “Woodbrooke Where You Are” program involves staff collaborating with other Quaker entities, such as Canadian Yearly Meeting, to develop study opportunities that address the needs of specific Friends groups.

Britain Yearly Meeting recently gave Woodbrooke a grant of £800,000 to spend over five years for educational programs tailored to young people and diverse learners.

“Our learning can be much more widely available,” said Sandra Berry, director of Woodbrooke.

Updated 3/10/23: A sentence was added to this story that addresses the fate of Woodbrooke’s library holdings.




Sharlee DiMenichi

Sharlee DiMenichi is a staff writer for Friends Journal. Contact: sharlee@friendsjournal.org.