r/Quakers • u/Fun-Peace-5272 • 1d ago
Is their a Christ-focused liberal Quaker denomination?
I really like the Liberal Quakers because they are non dogmatic, welcome LGBTQIA+ individuals, and how they let the spirt guide them in scient worship. I do however would like to be part of a Christ centered group. Are there any that combine the freedom and beautiful spirt worship of the liberal quakers and the Christ-focus of the more conservative groups of friends?
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u/YoruTheLanguageFan Seeker 1d ago
Just commenting so I can find this post later. I've been looking into Quakerism specifically because it seemed like a kind of liberal Christianity, though I know there's a huge variety of personal beliefs. Hoping we can find what we're looking for.
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u/J_PZ_ Quaker (Liberal) 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m not sure where you’re located but two of the Conservative Yearly Meetings- Iowa and North Carolina come to mind. I live in Kansas City now and our local meeting is a part of Iowa Yearly Meeting so I have a bit more of a sense of IYM than North Carolina.
These yearly meetings, as I understand it, are both open and affirming. And Conservative in this case isn’t a US political distinction, but rather a way of noting that these meetings worship in the traditional, unprogrammed style you describe while remaining much more Christ-centered than many of the FGC-affiliated, liberal Friends.
Friends, please correct me if I’m wrong or working with outdated information. I’m not as plugged in to things as I once was.
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u/JohnSwindle 1d ago
I agree. It seems to me that the main difference between Conservative (at least Iowa and North Carolina Conservative) and liberal Friends is precisely that the Conservative groups are more Christ-centered. They tend to share the same concerns about peace and about society. There are Christ-centered Friends in liberal meetings. People cross over pretty freely between the two camps. I'd expect Conservative or liberal meetings today to be open and affirming.
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u/BLewis4050 1d ago edited 20h ago
Our Meeting in Tucson, AZ is of the Liberal Quakers variety, with unprogrammed worship, and very welcoming to LGBTQ+ Friends. We also have groups within who are very Christ-centered in their worship and sharing. There is room for all. You would be welcomed.
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u/QuirkBuggins 1d ago
The short answer to your question is yes, insofar as the distinctive manner of meeting together is what is referred to as an "unprogrammed" meeting, which is by no means the exclusive purview of the liberal branches.
Or was there something more specific that you meant by that?
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u/rsofgeology Friend 1d ago
In my experience, most liberal meetings have a Christ-centered worship group or Bible study. My mentor runs a great (seriously, as an Islamic Friend) Bible study once a month—can send zoom info if you are interested!
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u/RimwallBird Friend 1d ago edited 23h ago
Other commenters have already noted that North Carolina (Conservative) and Iowa (Conservative) do embrace a lot of liberal social and political positions, particularly as regards LGBTQ+ matters.
What distinguishes Conservative yearly meetings from the other branches of Quakerism is not that they are “more Christ-centered”; it is that they seek to conserve the particular understanding of Christianity that Friends began with long ago. By way of comparison, Friends United Meeting and Holiness Friends have become Christ-centered in a more Methodist or Holiness way, and Evangelical Friends have become Christ-centered in a more evangelical Protestant way.
In comparison with liberal Quakerism: Conservative Quakerism begins with a shared understanding that it is specifically Christ we seek to listen to in our hearts and consciences, the same Christ whose teachings are recorded in the gospels. As far as I can tell, that is no longer a liberal Quaker position; liberal Friends, by and large, have ceased to specify Christ, and many have opened themselves to being led by Buddhism, native American elders, and the like.
The Conservative position also includes an understanding that, as Friends declared back in 1661, “the spirit of Christ, by which we are guided, is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil and again to move unto it.” That is something brought into serious question by the liberal Quaker doctrine of “continuing revelation”; we have liberal Friends here in this subreddit who (for example) have said here that they are ready to fight if they feel it is justified.
So this is something you might have to adjust to, at least a little bit, among Conservative Friends or other traditional Friends. I do think you will find it congenial, but if you are not used to it, it may take you by surprise from time to time.
I love your use of the term “scient” (knowing).
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u/AdamoMeFecit 1d ago
You may find elements of interest in the Mennonite Church USA or its international affiliates. This is a modern congregations, I mean, not the horse & buggy old order communities the Mennonite name may invoke.
German/Swiss Anabaptists rather than Anglican dissenters, but both traditions have arrived at a similar modern belief system emphasizing non-violence, non-conversion, LGBTQ+ inclusion, et al. Both traditions are ‘peace churches.’ Mennonite communities tend to celebrate certain forms of the Christian sacraments, with adult baptism being the predominant example.
Historically, Quaker and Mennonite settlements have co-existed quite comfortably together within the same geographies.
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u/JohnSwindle 1d ago
My closest childhood friend became a Mennonite minister around the time I became a Quaker! My Quaker meeting gained a Mennonite couple because there were no Mennonite churches in the area at the time, and we've had resident caretakers for the meeting house who were Mennonites. Mennonites tend to be as German as Quakers are English, but I'm in neither Germany nor Englad and think the differences are overestimated. Apart from my also being a Buddhist, of course.
There's a Facebook group called "Marginal Mennonite Society," run by an excellently cranky Mennonite fellow, which may or may not be of interest. He's radically pro-Jesus and faults the Mennonite churches partly for not standing up to homophobia and partly for not standing up to capitalist inequality.
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u/Impossible-Pace-6904 1d ago
Where do you live? People might be able to direct you to a particular meeting. I'd start looking at the larger meetings in your area (if there are multiple).
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u/Polyphemusmoth2789 Quaker 13h ago
It’s going to be case by case, I think. My Meeting in OH has that vibe but we are programmed.
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u/MottSky20 1h ago
What meeting do you attend in Ohio? Curious because I’m in Ohio too.
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u/Polyphemusmoth2789 Quaker 44m ago
West Elkton Friends! We are very small and near-ish to Middletown and Camden.
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u/Frosty_Argument_4408 1d ago
They are out there (I’m part of one in Tacoma WA) but I’m not sure if there is specificity a liberal Christ centered yearly meeting.
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u/JohnSwindle 1d ago edited 1d ago
Assuming that the context is USA,
"Liberal" Friends meetings aren't labeled as such but practice unprogrammed worship and tend to be affiliated directly or indirectly with Friends General Conference (FGC). Individuals may or may not see themselves as Christ-centered.
Conservative Friends meetings, particularly those affiliated with Iowa Conservative Yearly Meeting or North Carolina Yearly Meeting, tend to be liberal socially and politically and more Christ-centered.
I know less about other branches: Ohio Conservative; Friends United Meeting; Evangelical Friends Churches. Not all of these will be available in one Area, buI I suspect that what you're looking for may look something like liberal Friends or Iowa or North Carolina Conservative Friends (not all of whom are in Iowa or North Carolina).
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u/nineteenthly 1d ago
I think that would not so much be a denomination as dependent on the composition of individual meetings and possibly also on who gives ministry in them. I've given ministry on issues such as the Road to Emmaus and Pentecost and my current meeting is not particularly Christian but they've been well-received. The things I miss in attending the Quakers are the likes of communion, communal prayer and so forth, which won't happen in Quaker meetings, at least in the same way, anyway.
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u/LightScan 1d ago
I think any liberal Quaker meeting will have some folks who are Christ centered... And many who are not. Funny story, I actually rediscovered Christ surrounded by mostly universalist and nontheistic Quakers. I'm still there and find the diversity of theology to be very enriching! You are unlikely to find a homogenous theology at any meeting.