Message from the Pastoral Care and Eldership Team (PaCET) for Sunday Meeting 17th May 2026

Dear Friends,

I was struck by a sentence in a recent book about Quakerism by Stuart Masters. He says “a testimony does not exist unless it is being lived.”

I find this very challenging. Simplicity, peace, equality, truthfulness and anything else we say is a Quaker testimony need to be shown in what we do, not what we say. So daily acts of shopping, comments to a neighbour on the news or responses to wars and injustices are all moments when we live out our beliefs.

Stuart Masters sees our testimonies as flowing from the teachings and example of Jesus He expands this by saying:

“The testimony of Friends is not primarily a set of values of ideals; it is an embodied response to inward spiritual guidance. Therefore, a testimony does not exist unless it is being lived. The sense of being inwardly guided prompts people to become “patterns and examples.” Being patterns means that their lives take the visible shape of the Spirit of love and truth. Being examples implies that what they do and what they say reach out to others and communicate something about the divine nature and the human capacity to embody it. This assumes that when guided by God’s Spirit, all humans and their social structures can change for the better. What individuals feel called to do is their personal testimony. What the community feels called to do is corporate testimony.” (The Quaker Faith: Friends of Love and Truth, 2025, p141)

Stuart Masters gave the Swarthmore Lecture this year. No doubt there are more insights and challenges in it for us, personally and as a community.

Chris Lawson

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.