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Online Books of Faith and Practice

 

What is a book of "Faith and Practice"?

While Friends traditionally do not have creeds, most yearly meetings (regional bodies of like-minded Friends) do adopt a book of "discipline," often called "Faith and Practice." These books generally describe the practices and procedures used in the yearly meeting, offer inspirational extracts from Quaker literature, and contain "advices" and "queries" (guidance and questions to help Friends examine themselves and their lives as they strive to live more fully in the Light). Below are links to complete disciplines that are available online:

Liberal Friends

Described as: "Those who generally gather in meeting houses and practice unprogrammed, non-pastoral, silent worship within a broad theological continuum that includes folks who are very Universalist as well as some who are highly Christ-centered and scripturally based."*

• Baltimore Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Illinois Yearly Meeting
  
  
• New York Yearly Meeting
  
  
• North Pacific Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Pacific Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Southeastern Yearly Meeting
  
  

Conservative Friends

Described as: "Those who gather in meeting houses to practice the unprogrammed, non-pastoral, silent form of worship but are more Christ-centered theologically."*

• Iowa Yearly Meeting
  
  
• North Carolina Yearly Meeting Conservative
  
  
• Ohio Yearly Meeting

Pastoral Friends

Described as: "Those who gather in either meeting houses or churches and are Christ-centered and have programmed, pastoral form of worship and may or may not be very evangelical."*

• Western Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Wilmington Yearly Meeting

Evangelical Friends

Described as: "Those who gather in churches and are very Christ-centered and very evangelical and have programmed, pastoral form of worship."*

• Northwest Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Mid-America Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Evangelical Friends Church Southwest (also in Spanish)

Yearly Meetings Outside the United States

• Australia Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Britain Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Canadian Yearly Meeting
  
  
• Central and Southern Africa Yearly Meeting

Other Links of Interest

• In-process drafts from various yearly meetings, links by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.
  
  
  
• "The Old Discipline", Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's 1806 Rules of Discipline.
  
  
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  *These descriptions are quoted from an older (now deleted) web page of Evangelical Friends International.