Message from the Pastoral Care and Eldership Team (PaCET) for Sunday Meeting 6th March 2026

Dear Friends,

Geoffrey Hubbard’s book, Quaker by Convincement, presented a deep and penetrating view of the Quaker community in 1974. Reading it now shows that much has changed in the last 50 years. We would not write now quite as he did, but the central truths that he wrote about remain unchanged.

..  this is perhaps one of the most infuriating things about Quakers. More orthodox religions present a rigid code of beliefs and of consequent behaviour, and so enable us to identify the gap between profession and practice. The Quaker has only one fixed point, his direct experience of Gods love within himself. It is to this that he turns like a magnet to the north, and in every situation this is his compass, by which he is guided. Thus it is almost impossible for anyone else to decide whether or not a Quaker is responding to a particular situation rightly, in accordance with his own inner light. The nearest one can get is to follow his path, to be as deeply concerned, and to consult one’s own inner light. At that stage one tends to lose interest in checking up on other people’s performance; the shortcomings of ones own behaviour are too apparent, and the divine imperative too insistent.

Quaker by Convincement, Geoffrey Hubbard, 1974

David Hitchin

Quakers value diversity. We share this Friend’s message in the hope it will speak to others.

Pastoral Care and Eldership Team: Patricia Cockrell, David Hitchin, Sharon Krummel, Tim Pitt-Payne, Theresa Samms, Emily Slater.