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Sandy Spring Friends MeetingWhat we believe |
"To turn all the treasure we possess into the channel of universal love becomes the business of our lives"
(John Woolman 1763)
For Friends, God is a loving presence. Every soul is akin to the Divine and therefore every person may in some degree understand Divine Will and respond to it. We gather in silence to seek together a fuller knowledge of that Will and an understanding of its practical implications for our lives.
The beliefs of Friends in general, and Sandy Spring Friends in particular, are quite diverse. We have no set creed. Early Quakers were Christian and tried to recreate early, primitive Christianity. In our meeting, some of us consider ourselves orthodox Christians, some of us consider ourselves Christian in some broader sense, and some of us do not consider ourselves as Christians at all. Most of us became Friends as adults, and bring along parts of our religious heritage. The diversity of our beliefs is a strength we can all draw on.
Friends have no sacraments or rituals because all living is, to us, a sacrament. We have no paid ministers because each of us should share in the responsibility of ministry. We have no prepared prayers because our unspoken and spoken prayers are a direct communication with the Infinite. We worship in a living silence where dwells the eternal presence of God.
Friends have a long tradition of living testimony in the areas of simplicity, peace, integrity, equality, and social concerns. We express these concerns in our own actions, and through support of the American Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, The Quaker UN Program, and Friends' schools and colleges.
We welcome as members any who share our principles and convictions, and are pleased to accept membership applications from attenders who have taken time to consider their applications thoughtfully. The Clerk, members of the Oversight Committee, or other members of the Meeting will be glad to discuss Friends' faith and practice with you and to recommend Quaker literature.
A beginning bibliography for learning about Friends, their beliefs, history, and practices might include the following, which may be borrowed from our Meeting Library.
George Fox (1624-1691), the founder of the Society of Friends, was known as a "seeker." Dissatisfied with the emphasis which the Established Church in England placed on outward ritual and creed, he and others of like mind turned inward in quest of a religion of personal experience and direct communion with God. He sought counsel and help from the official spiritual guides in the churches, but none could give rest to his soul or speak to his condition. Finally, he records in his Journal, "when all my hopes in ... men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, O then, I heard a voice which said, 'There is One, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition,' and when I heard it, my heart did leap for joy."
"We utterly deny all outward wars and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or any pretense whatever; and this is our testimony to the whole world. 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 move us unto it; and we do certainly know and so testify to the world, that the Spirit of Christ, which leads us unto all truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the Kingdom of Christ nor for the kingdoms of this world... Therefore we cannot learn war any more."
Addressed to Charles II by George Fox and eleven other Quakers, 1660.
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ... I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last..." (John 15:12-16)
We invite you to attend and participate as you are interested. Our Meeting for Worship, our activities, our Meetings for Business, and service on many of our committees are open to interested attenders. Please ask to receive our Newsletter, and listen to the announcements after Meeting for Worship to find out what we are doing now.
Membership in the Religious Society of Friends is open to all who find out ways of worshiping and searching for the Divine helpful and supportive of their own spiritual journey. Since we believe this is a decision for you to make when the time seems right, we will not rush to sign you up as a member. Many people find that in 6 to 36 months, they are ready to consider whether membership in Sandy Spring Friends Meeting (and through it, the whole Religious Society of Friends) is right for them. The Clerks of the Meeting and members of the Membership and Spiritual Care Committee are happy to answer questions, suggest literature of interest, talk with you about membership, and other Meeting issues.
If you wish to become a member of the Religious Society of Friends, you must take the initiative of applying for membership in a Monthly Meeting. In the beginning you try to decide, not the Meeting.
By reading and by attending Friends worship, the prospective applicant can gain a clearer understanding of what it means to enter into membership in the Society of Friends. Sometimes an attender will form too favorable an image. The image may be so favorable that he or she feels unworthy, or, after joining, may suffer disillusionment.
"Much less than in the past are new members expected to have already attained final certainty. For them as indeed for old members, the Society of Friends can be looked upon as the favorable environment in which both individual and corporate growth may be expected to take place." -- Henry J. Cadbury, The Character of a Quaker, Pendle hill pamphlet no. 103, p. 13.
When you desire to join our membership, you should submit a note to the Clerk of the Membership and Spiritual Care Committee saying so and stating your reasons for wanting to become a part of our Meeting. This letter may be handed to the Clerk of the Meeting or mailed to Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting, 17715 Meeting House Road, Sandy Spring, Maryland 20860. The Membership and Spiritual Care Committee will arrange to meet with you to discover your own feeling of the meaning of membership and of the significant features of the Quaker life and witness. (ibid, p. 14) They will seek to determine that you are engaged in a sincere search for truth, that you feel Sandy Spring Meeting and Quakers can contribute to your spiritual growth, and that you desire to join with the Meeting in creating an environment which encourages individual and group growth.
In order to judge whether you want to share in the Quaker way of life, you will want to learn something of what Quakerism has meant in the past and what it means today through reading and a close association with Friends over a period of time.
The Meeting wishes to encourage attenders to know the Meeting better and to be active in the life of the Meeting, so that they can come to know us. Friends meetings depend in a unique way on the shared search and work of all members in the business of the Meeting and in their concerns, as well as in Worship. Some of the ways in which you can come to know our Meeting, in addition to attending meeting for worship, are visiting committee meetings or serving on a committee, attending meeting for business, and participating in other activities of the Meeting. A Committee of the Membership and Spiritual Care may be appointed to work with you before you make your decision.
Your decision to become a member should be an unhurried and carefully considered one. When you and the Membership and Spiritual Care Committee agree that you are ready for membership, your application will be presented to the next scheduled monthly meeting for business. Traditionally your name is held over one month for final action at the next business meeting. After you are accepted as a member, Friends appointed by this second session welcome you on behalf of the Meeting and present you with a copy of the Faith and Practice and a copy of the Sandy Spring Queries and Advices. Welcoming committees are also considered permanent committees of nurture or special friends.
If you would like further help in preparing yourself for membership, you may request assistance from any member of the Committee of Membership and Spiritual Care or write to the Clerk of the Meeting. You can find a list of committees and names of committee members on the shelf at the back of the meetinghouse.
You may also wish to read the Guide to Membership [PDF]
When a member of another Monthly Meeting wishes to transfer membership to our Monthly Meeting, the Clerk of his/her Meeting is asked to send a letter of transfer to our Clerk. After it is read and accepted at a meeting for business, Membership and Spiritual Care recommend a committee of welcome and nurture, and our Clerk notifies the other Meeting of our action.
Members of our Monthly Meeting may ask to have their children listed as associate members. To attain full membership, an associate membership should write to Membership and Spiritual Care. With their approval, an associate member will be accepted by the meeting for business without a second reading. Membership and Spiritual Care will encourage Friends to extend the welcome.
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