Finding the Words: How To Explain Being a Quaker

It can be difficult to talk about our faith to those around us who are not familiar with Quakerism. Contemporary social norms around talking about religion, fears about seeming ‘odd’, and respect for others’ spiritual paths, can leave us fumbling for the right words, especially when we don’t have a shared language of belief to use even with other Quakers.

However, there are lots of good reasons to talk about our faith. Our belief system and faith community are central aspects of who we are – when we are open about them, in a respectful way, we help to create genuine, meaningful relationships with others. Communicating our own faith can also open up space for others to talk about their own beliefs, or uncertainties, giving a sometimes longed-for opportunity to move beyond the shallow preoccupations of much of contemporary culture. And there may be a few for whom our words strike a real chord, immediately or years in the future, and who take their first steps into a Meeting House or log in to an online meeting for worship as a result.

In this three-week course we will:
• Articulate our own faith to each other – and consider whether our language needs ‘translating’ for non-Quakers
• Explore barriers to speaking about our faith as Quakers
• Discuss different situations in which we may find ourselves with the opportunity/challenge to talk about our faith to non-Quakers
• Practise ‘finding the words’ with each other in supportive role-play.

In addition to the three live sessions, there will be some online resources and a few optional activities to do between sessions.

In the process of finding words to explain to others, we may well find we have questions of our own, and uncertainties that become clearer once we try and express them. This can be healthy for the development of our own faith.

There will be some material to look at before the first session. We will email you around one week prior to the course with information about accessing the course, including this material, on our online learning platform (Moodle).

Note: The focus of this course is about explaining Quakerism to anyone we may encounter in our everyday lives – family members, work colleagues, people at parties or in shops, fellow activists etc. – whatever their attitude to religion in general and Quakerism in particular. It is not specifically about welcoming newcomers to our meetings, but may well be helpful in that situation as well.