| | by admin | | posted on 20th March 2023 in Seeking Faith & Practice | | views 1818 | |
During a Quaker Meeting each person present has the power to speak if they feel led by The Spirit to do — everyone is their own minister.
Without a clergy and no 'set' vocal words spoken by Friends during a Quaker Meeting are called ministry.
In a Quaker Meeting, ministry is offered for the good of the meeting or the wider world. It can include vocal ministry in meeting for worship, quiet acts of care, or public witness.
Friends wait in silence, listening inwardly to the The Spirit, and when words arise that feel necessary rather than merely interesting, they may be spoken aloud. Ministry is understood as service to the meeting, not self-expression, and is offered with humility and care.
Those who give ministry do so briefly and plainly, trusting the meeting to receive the words as it needs. Silence follows, allowing space for reflection rather than response or debate. In this way, ministry becomes part of a shared act of listening, where both speaker and listener remain attentive to the same inward source.
It is in this equality of every Friend’s voice holding no more or less weight than any other which is known as the Priesthood of All Believers. Therefore, because of all voices being equal, the term has become synonymous with the basic human right of religious freedom.
The term Priesthood of All Believers comes from the Reformation and the creation of the Protestant faith. Martin Luther (1483 – 1546), the catalyst of Protestantism, describes it as follows:
“There is no true, basic difference between laymen and priests, princes and bishops, between religious and secular, except for the state of office and work, but not for the sake of status. They are all of the spiritual estate, all are truly priests, bishops, and popes. They are all of one body of Christ the Head, and all members of one another. Christ does not have two different bodies, one temporal, the other spiritual. There is but one Head and one body.”
A wider consequence of having a faith that makes everyone their own minister is that, without any clergy in charge, it means every Friend takes on a responsibility for the general care of the Quaker Meeting they are a part of.
From making the tea to greeting people at the door, everyone is encouraged to contribute in some way. It is this group effort of pulling together that knits the Quaker Meeting together.
By all Quakers being a minister each and every Friend lets their life speak.
