Exploring Quakerism

If you want to find out more about Quaker Faith and Practice, there are a number of routes you might explore.

You are always welcome to attend any of our Meetings for Worship. As well as our regular Sunday Meetings, there several weekday Meetings you could attend.

Amersham Meeting holds its 'Quaker Taster' on the first Tuesday of every month from 12:30 to 13:30 at the Amersham Community Centre.
Aylesbury Meeting holds an evening meeting on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, from 19:00 to 19:30.
Slough and Windsor Meeting holds its midweek meetings at 10.30am on the first Wednesday of the month at 'All Bar One', next to Windsor Royal Station.

Those wanting a more in depth look at Quakerism might be interested in either Quaker Quest or Experiment with Light.

Quaker Quest

Quaker Quest aims to help you find out about the Quaker way of life. We have found that people enquiring about us want to experience Quaker worship, hear why being a Quaker matters to us, talk to each other and us about it and get an idea what sort of people we are.

Quaker Quest is usually a series of between three and six evenings, each covering an aspect of the Quaker way. Topics might include:

Quakers and how we worship
Why equality has always been at the heart of the Quaker faith
How Quakers experience God, or whatever is Divine to us
Why Quakers and peace go hand in hand
Quaker faith in action
Faith without dogma: valuing diversity

There is currently no Quaker Quest programme running in the Chilterns Area, but the Quaker Centre at Friends House, Euston, runs a programme on Monday evenings. You are welcome to join in at any part of the cycle or return later to attend any that have been missed.

Friends House (large building opposite Euston Station)
173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ
Monday evenings:
6.30-7.00pm welcome (food available); 7.00-9.00pm meeting.
For further enquiries please phone 020 7263 4061.

Experiment with Light

Experiment with Light is a network grouped around a meditation practice described by the British Friend Rex Ambler, whichhas been drawn from the writings of Early Friends, especially from those of George Fox and Francis Howgill.

The 'inward Light' is the way in which many Quakers express their openness to the divine within. Each Quaker has a different idea of what they mean by the 'inward Light', but it us usually taken to mean 'that of God' within each person. Opening ourselves to it can give us a direct and personal experience of the divine. Quakers believe that the inward Light is available to everyone. It helps to be still and to actively open ourselves to it.

Rex Ambler discovered that Early Friends used a four step process: 1.mind the light; 2. open your heart to the truth; 3. wait in the light and 4. submit to the truth. This process is described in detail in Light to Live By by Rex Ambler, published by Quaker Books in 2002. Most Local Meeting libraries have a copy.

A Light group is a gathering of people interested in using Experiment with Light to transform their lives. Unlike a normal Quaker Meeting for Worship, which has no formal structure other than a 'gathered silence', a Light Group meeting is lightly structured and generally takes about 2 hours. There is a guided meditation followed by time alone to absorb the experience and then time for sharing what we have been shown.

Chilterns Area Quaker Meeting has at least two active Light Groups. For more information, please contact Hilary Pinder on (01494) 675280.

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