2025 Conference
The next Conference of the Quaker Studies Research Association will be held 28th June 2025, 10:00-16:30 at Central Leeds Quaker Meeting House and online.
The theme is Quakers and the Spirit
Quakers have tended to use the term “Holy Spirit” interchangeably with the “Inward Light” as a way of speaking about the continued presence of the living Christ guiding and directing their lives both individually and corporately. More recently, Liberal Friends have perhaps tended to drop “Holy Spirit” in favour of “Inward Light”, while Orthodox Friends have neglected the language of the Light Within while continuing to use “Holy Spirit”. In keeping with the suspicion of theological “notions”, speculation about the third person of the Trinity, as the Holy Spirit is usually understood in other Christian traditions, has been avoided in favour of emphasising the lived experience of the Godhead that can empower a prophetic voice.
In reflecting on “Quakers and the Holy Spirit”, we might consider the meaning of the Light of Christ within, George Fox’s claim that there is “that of God in everyone”, the basis for discerning the will of God, the experience of meeting for worship, the ways in which Trinitarian thought may or may not be evident in Quaker discourse, and the nature of prophecy.
The Conference programme is available for download below.
The theme is Quakers and the Spirit
Quakers have tended to use the term “Holy Spirit” interchangeably with the “Inward Light” as a way of speaking about the continued presence of the living Christ guiding and directing their lives both individually and corporately. More recently, Liberal Friends have perhaps tended to drop “Holy Spirit” in favour of “Inward Light”, while Orthodox Friends have neglected the language of the Light Within while continuing to use “Holy Spirit”. In keeping with the suspicion of theological “notions”, speculation about the third person of the Trinity, as the Holy Spirit is usually understood in other Christian traditions, has been avoided in favour of emphasising the lived experience of the Godhead that can empower a prophetic voice.
In reflecting on “Quakers and the Holy Spirit”, we might consider the meaning of the Light of Christ within, George Fox’s claim that there is “that of God in everyone”, the basis for discerning the will of God, the experience of meeting for worship, the ways in which Trinitarian thought may or may not be evident in Quaker discourse, and the nature of prophecy.
The Conference programme is available for download below.
| programme.docx |