We, who have been called Seekers of the Truth, Quakers, and Friends, are members of the Religious Society of Friends. We are a close-knit religious community, but we do not separate ourselves from the world around us.
We believe God is present in every person. We gather in silent communal worship to wait on the Spirit of God; we believe in continuing revelation.
We have no formal creed, no ritual, dogma, nor liturgy. Instead, to help us follow Divine guidance we pose, both individually and corporately, searching queries; we strive in love, rather than react to fear; we work towards peace because we believe it is the only way; we are led to implement our concerns for the equal rights of all. Many of us have been drawn to this religion—Quakerism—because of its dual commitment to spiritual awareness and social action.
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting has many publications, but the best known is Faith & Practice, which is the written record of the collective sense of the Spirit of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) Quakers.
Faith & Practice includes advices on procedures within the faith, membership, current practice for conducting meeting business and numerous quotations from Friends on belief, worship, concerns, leadings, and testimonies. For an online edition of the most current edition of PYM’s Faith & Practice, please see the PYM site, here.