Quaker Values
In ‘Quaker-speak’ our values are often called testimonies. [A testimony is a guiding principle of conduct that bears witness to the presence of God in the world and in our lives. Though there is no official list of such testimonies, Friends have traditionally identified peace and nonviolence, equality, simplicity, stewardship, community, and integrity as their practical principles.] Friends define testimony as “an outward expression of an inward leading of the Spirit, or an outward sign of what Friends believe to be an inward revelation of truth.” 1
There are various acronyms for remembering some of the basic Quaker testimonies. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 One of the more well-known is “SPICES” 7, 8 for Simplicity Peace Integrity Community Equality Stewardship (or sometimes, Service or Sustainability). To this, we could insert Love, and modify the acronym to "SPLICES", which hints at the intertwingledness of our testimonies. Below are links to some resources available on the Internet.
|
Links to information on Quaker testimonies |
|
|---|---|
|
Testimony |
Links |
|
Simplicity - focusing on what is truly important and letting other things fall away 4 |
|
|
Peace - seeking justice and healing for all people; taking away the causes of war in the ways we live 4 |
|
|
Love - agape and phileo |
|
|
Integrity (Truth) - living as whole people who act on what we believe, tell the truth, and do what we say we will do 4 |
|
|
Community - supporting one another in our faith journeys and in times of joy and sorrow; sharing with and caring for each other 4 |
|
|
Equality - treating everyone, everywhere, as equally precious to God; recognizing that everyone has gifts to share 4 |
|
|
Stewardship of the Environment - valuing and respecting all of God’s creation; using only our fair share of the earth’s resources; working for policies that protect the planet 4 |
|
1 Wilmer A. Cooper. A living faith : an historical and comparative study of Quaker beliefs (2nd edition), Friends United Press, ©2001, [ISBN: 0-944350-53-4] p. 128
2 Quaker testimonies - Quakers in New England Yearly Meeting
3 Quaker testimonies - Quakers in Britain Yearly Meeting
4 Quaker testimonies - Quakers in New York Yearly Meeting — [Resources on Quaker Testimonies]
5 Quaker testimonies - Quakers in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
6 An Introduction to Quaker Testimonies- American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) [download booklet as PDF file]
7 “The Origin of the SPICES” by Paul Buckley [download booklet as Microsoft Word file; download booklet as PDF file]
8 “Four or five testimonies” in Quaker Historical Lexicon blog
