The Religious Society of Friends has real freedom from prescribed form in worship. More than many faith groups, the Society has the capacity to adapt to meet the needs of the time. But change can divide us, as can confusion between personal image and real essence. Daphne Clement examines two forms of innovative Quaker fellowship: a recent experiment with daily Zoom worship and the New Lights movement in New Bedford in the nineteenth century. The story of the New Lights illustrates the tension between the authority of tradition and the freedom of continuing revelation. How can we meet each other – in spite of various differences: cultural, personal, political – soul to soul? The pamphlet responds: We can hold each other in the Light. It is the Light that is the source of living fellowship that has held our Society together these hundreds of years. It is real. It is our organizing force. Three sets of queries for discussion are included in the body of the text. (https://pendlehill.org/product/living-fellowship-needs-fresh-forms/) From Pendle Hill Pamphlet website

The Religious Society of Friends has real freedom from prescribed form in worship. More than many faith groups, the Society has the capacity to adapt to meet the needs of the time. But change can divide us, as can confusion between personal image and real essence. Daphne Clement examines two forms of innovative Quaker fellowship: a recent experiment with daily Zoom worship and the New Lights movement in New Bedford in the nineteenth century. The story of the New Lights illustrates the tension between the authority of tradition and the freedom of continuing revelation. How can we meet each other -- in spite of various differences: cultural, personal, political -- soul to soul? The pamphlet responds: We can hold each other in the Light. It is the Light that is the source of living fellowship that has held our Society together these hundreds of years. It is real. It is our organizing force. Three sets of queries for discussion are included in the body of the text.

Trying to balance continuing revelation and the benefits of the corporate container