This document was written by my Meeting specifically for newcomers. I enclose it here to mark a contrast between good intentions and the way of the world. Friends do not often elucidate well who they are and what they believe.
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For Religious Seekers

A Quaker Perspective

Are you looking for an understanding of God that is viable in today's world? We invite you to join with us in our continuing search for Divine leadership in our lives. We believe that God is very much present and eager to be alive to everyone, anywhere, any time and in any way. All that is needed is for us to be open to listening and talking with the Divine.

Are you looking for others who believe that we need not limit ourselves through secularism and materialism? We encourage you to identify with us in our belief that purposeful living is fundamentally spiritual, permeating every aspect of our lives.

Do you desire support in seeking out the precious nature of every individual? We welcome you as a fellow seeker in a religious society which believes that something of the Divine is implanted within each of us at birth. While we treasure individuality, we find it best tempered through the wisdom of the group, which seeks Divine Guidance.

Are you seeking haven in a world which may not be in pace with your needs? We invite you to our fellowship as we strive to simplify our lives and gain a sense of inner peace for living in times like these.

Do you wish to join with us to help in finding ways to implement the historic peace testimony of Friends "to oppose all wars and preparation for wars? "We would welcome your active support as we counter the military might of our own and other nations.

Do you wish to discover how you, as an individual, can help to create a better world? We would like to point to the many projects in which Quakers are involved - locally, nationally and internationally -in our aspirations to bring freedom, justice and more creative living to people in many places. We encourage you to work with us in some of these important undertakings.

Do you seek a religious home, without creeds or required statements of belief? Then join with us. Friends offer you a creedless place of worship and religious community. While there is much that binds us together, Quakers stress the primacy of the individual 's genuine experience of the Divine and recognize that this experience can be described in many ways. (Perhaps our unique insight is to trust one another to find our own relationship rather than establishing an absolute.)

Do you desire to wait upon God in an expectant silence without the presence of intermediaries? We invite you to join with us in meeting for worship where we do not have the complications and diversions of ritual and programs. We believe that in such periods of quiet waiting we can be open to spiritual resources which will enable us to live more calmly, more compassionately and more creatively in this chaotic age.

Do you wish to reclaim the best in the Judeo-Christian tradition? Help us rediscover Jesus of Nazareth as a great revealer of the grandeur of God and to explore the truths in other religions.

Are you looking for meaningful spiritual community? We invite you to join with us. Friends point out that our meetings are intended as homes away from home -caring communities, spiritual fellowships, societies of friends.

As you come to know us better, you will realize that this is an idealistic statement of Friends. It is what we aim to accomplish, not what we are always able to achieve.

You will discover our shortcomings, our faults and our failures. We are not saints. Becoming a Quaker brings with it no halo, no plaque for perfection, no passport for heaven. It is more like a learner 's permit for the lifelong journey toward truth and fulfillment -a journey made more meaningful and easier by the companionship of other seekers.