"Quakerism and Unitarianism."

Rev. Dr. Morris Hudgins.
April 22, 2001.

Introduction
I have lived in six states and served five churches in my twenty-nine years of ministry. Wherever I have lived, I have gained something from the local community. My second UU church was in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, close to Swarthmore, the home of Swarthmore College and Pendle Hill, two important Quaker institutions.

On my day off I would often go to the library at Swarthmore, read in their library, or enjoy the wonderful grounds of the Pendle Hill Retreat Center. I was also active in the local Ministerial Association. All of these gave me a lasting memory of the Quakers I came to know and appreciate in the Philadelphia area.

Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn, a leading Quaker of the 17th century. Penn left a legacy in Pennsylvania that will never be forgotten. This morning I would like to talk about the Quaker Faith and the contributions of William Penn. The idea for this sermon came from Ilse Smith and Nancy Rohrer who were moved by the Memorial Service for June Schlipf's father, Clarence Perisho, who was an active Quaker. Ilse and Nancy asked if I could talk more about the Quaker faith. Thus, the idea for this sermon.

On the humorous side, my favorite Quaker joke relates to the fact that many of the early Quakers were very successful businessmen in Philadelphia. They are also known for their emphasis on good works. The joke concludes: "The Quakers came to Pennsylvania to do good and they did well." So they did.

If you have lived in or near Philadelphia, you probably know there are many Quaker meetings in that city. It is the home of the Quaker Yearly Meeting, the place for Quakers to gather annually in the region, sort of like Boston for Unitarian Universalism.

I have always felt that Quakerism and Unitarian Universalism have much in common theologically and politically, and could work together on many projects. While in Philadelphia my congregation worked with the Quakers on peace and justice issues. I also feel the Quakers can help us listen more attentively to each other.

Quaker Style of Worship
The Quakers have a unique style of worship. I remember my first Quaker service. It was on Thanksgiving Eve sponsored by the local Ministerial Association. It was held in the Quaker Meeting House at Swarthmore College. All of the major denominations were present. It was the tradition to follow the worship style of the host church. It was appropriate to have a Quaker-style meeting, but it was something all the other churches were not used to.

We sat in a simple room, no altar, no music. There was to be no sermon. There was a table in the center of the room with a flower arrangement. The pews surrounded the table in a square. As the service began in silence we all sat and looked at the flowers and at each other. We were welcomed and encouraged to sit in silence.

We sat in silence, in silence, in silence, for what seemed like hours, before anyone spoke. For the Quakers, I am sure it was a short time. For the rest of us it seemed like an eternity. Finally, an infant began to cry, and her mother took her out of the room. Again, the room was silent.

I looked around the guests all seemed to be in pain. Being a good Unitarian Universalist, I decided I must speak. I gave thanks for the beauty of flowers, and for the sounds of infants, who give meaning to our lives.

That one simple sentence broke the silence. Others began to share their thanks that Thanksgiving Eve. Several of the ministers came up to me and shared how much they appreciated my opening words. It was clearly difficult for most of us to sit in silence, to meditate and listen.

I believe we can all learn from the Quakers who believe in the "Silent Meeting." There are some days after I finish a sermon that I relish your responses. I love a good discussion as most UUs do. One of my favorite jokes is about the Unitarian Universalist who died and went to heaven.. You may have heard it: They came to a fork in the road. There were two signs. One said: "Heaven, this way." The other sign said: "A discussion of Heaven-this way-for Unitarian Universalists."

There are times when I wished we would sit and listen more in our services and talk less. We could all benefit from the "Silent Meeting." Some of my sermons are better without any response. Maybe we should sit and let the message come to us. Maybe sometimes I should talk less and listen more. This will be my approach next week when we will look for some answers to the recent violence in Cincinnati.

I am sure you have some questions about the Quakers. Do they have ministers? Do they have a theology that is articulated on Sunday? The answer to the first is: There are different forms of Quakerism. Some have ministers and others do not. Some have music on Sunday and some do not. Some have sermons and others do not.

What became clear to me while I was in Philadelphia, is that just because a Quaker Meeting does not have a minister, it does not mean they don't have leaders and theologians in their midst. While I was studying for my doctorate at Lutheran Theological School in Philadelphia I wanted to take an Independent Study Course on the relationship between Quakerism and Unitarian Universalism. I looked for a professor from Swarthmore College who would guide me with suggested readings, evaluate my writings, and talk with me about Quakerism. It turned out this man had been a leader in the Quaker Meeting for many years, taught courses, and often prepared something he would say in the Silent Meeting about an important issue of the day or what the Quaker tradition might contribute to contemporary debate. He was the equivalent of a minister for the Quakers, but they did not call him that, and they didn't pay him.

Silent Meeting doesn't mean there is nothing said. It means that the words are surrounded by the silence. The words come out of the silence. The Quakers remind us that we all need to take time in our lives to listen to the voice of conscience, to the spirit within us, before we speak. We should not be so quick to speak.

Responsibility to Others
There are other reasons why I love the Quakers. Some of them are the same reasons why I am a Unitarian Universalist. I have always been impressed by the Quaker sense of responsibility to others. All of us in this world are torn between living life for ourselves and others. How much do we spend for our pleasure and how much do we give so that others can have pleasure? The Quaker faith emphasizes the importance of responsibility to others.

I will tell you another humorous story. I used to live next to George Ticknor when I lived in Philadelphia. George would invite me to go fishing on the Delaware Bay several times a year. We became good friends and he could speak honestly with me.

One day we were driving through Swarthmore and George admitted to some prejudices about Quakers. After retirement he worked in security at Swarthmore College. George was a good Lutheran and pretty conservative. As we passed a house that had been around a couple of hundred years and was not in very good condition George said: "It probably belongs to a Quaker. You know Quakers don't believe in improving their houses, and they all give their money to Swarthmore College when they die."

I had to laugh. Yes, many Quakers support their schools. They have some of the best high schools and small colleges in the nation. They obviously believe in the importance of education. Many also live frugally and give much of their income for many good causes. I admire them for this trait. This is a good example for Unitarian Universalists. We need to support those institutions that practice the ethics in which we believe.

One of the members of our finance committee said to me recently: Why don't Unitarian Universalists support their church more than they do? My response was: "Many do." The challenge is in getting more to support their church. We could all be more generous. The Quakers say it is our obligation to be generous with our resources and our service. This was one of the characteristics of June's father. He was a good Quaker.

The Quakers are a good model for us. If you going to be a good Quaker you are expected to give generously to the church, not because it leads to a beautiful building, but because they can do more good in the world. This is the kind of message we need to hear.

When I was in seminary I did a study of how churches spend their money. The most generous church for social justice was the Quakers. They gave the highest percentage of their budget for outreach into the community. They don't usually spend much on their buildings or on staff, but they give generously to doing good works.

Why am saying this at a time when our Board and Finance Committee are recommending that we cut our staff salaries at Northern Hills? I say this because I am also torn between the church spending more money our building, our staff, and our social action. The truth is we have only so much money and we must make difficult decisions. I wish we had more money to do all of the above. I want to see us raise more money to do each of these things:

1. Improve our religious education space,
2. Add air conditioning and a better heating system to the older part of our building,
3. Increase our staff salaries, and
4. Give more of our resources for social action in the community.

The realities are that many of these things can be done outside of our budget. As shown by the Carter Reconciliation Weekend, people are willing to give extra money for a good cause. Unitarian Universalists can be generous when given a good cause to support. I have witnessed this here at Northern Hills. Both the social action portion of our budget and our adult enrichment programs pay for themselves. It is difficult to do this for staff salaries and building maintenance and utilities. The proof is in the pudding. Are we living our faith? This is what the Quaker faith would say If you are living well are you also doing good deeds?

Independent Thinkers
Another characteristic of the Quakers that I would like to lift up this morning is their independence of thought. In 1985 I toured England and spoke in a number of Unitarian churches. What I learned was that in Great Britain our Unitarian Churches are part of a larger religious movement. They are called, "Unitarian and Other Free Christian Churches." This is the name of the Association in Great Britain. So I spoke in churches that came out of the Baptist tradition and those that came out of the Unitarian tradition.

In England, historically, these churches, were called dissenting or nonconforming church. In Ireland four years ago I spoke in a Unitarian Church. On the sign outside the church it said: "Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church," another way of saying the same thing.

All of the churches in England, Ireland and Scotland are dissenting, non-conforming, or non-subscribing, if they do not choose to worship in the government supported state church. In England that was Catholic until the Reformation, then it was Anglican. In Ireland that became the Presbyterian Church. So the Unitarians were Non-Subscribing Presbyterians.
I say all of this to say that Unitarian Universalists have in common with the Quakers that we were nonconformists in England. We were outside the religion of the state. Both were independent in their ways and in their thinking.

For the Quakers in America, this began with William Penn. Christ Church College of Oxford University now looks at William Penn as one of its most noted alumni. What some overlook is the fact that Penn was expelled from Christ Church College in the 17th century for his refusal to worship the way the state said you are to worship. One writer describes William Penn's wrongdoing while at Christ Church College:

Now began his ardent desire for Pure and Spiritual Religion. . .for he, with other students of the University, withdrawing from the National Way of Worship, held Private Meetings for the Exercise of Religion, where they both preach'd and pray'd amongst themselves. This gave great Offence to the Heads of the College and he, being 16 years of Age, was fined for Nonconformity.

The response to the authorities did not stop William Penn. In fact he became even more zealous and was expelled from the College. What the people in the UU history class are learning is that our Unitarian and Universalist forebears withstood similar persecution. Some died and became martyrs for the cause of their religion. We should thank both the Quakers and our forebears for their courage. It is partly because of their courage, their willingness to stand up for their belief in freedom of conscience, that we have religious freedom today. What Thomas Jefferson put into writing in the 18th century, was possible because others withstood persecution in the 16th and 17th centuries.

What William Penn did in what he called his "Holy Experiment" in Pennsylvania was to allow different religions to exist in the same culture without making one the state religion and other others persecuted minorities. The numbers of religions that flourished in Pennsylvania is a testament to the tolerant views of William Penn.

Thomas Jefferson is given credit for writing the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, which became the model for the U.S. Constitution and the resultant Separation of Church and State. What is often overlooked is the role that William Penn played earlier. In the frame of government for the Province of Pennsylvania, William Penn wrote:

No person. . .shall be any ways upon pretence whatsoever, called in question. . .for the sake of his opinion, judgment, faith or worship towards God in matters of religion. . .All persons living in the province who confess and acknowledge the one Almighty and Eternal God, and hold themselves obliged in conscience to live peaceable and quietly in a civil society, shall in no way be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasions and exercises in matters of faith and worship nor shall they be compelled to frequent and maintain any religious place or ministry whatsoever.

We should give Penn credit where credit is due. The important work of Thomas Jefferson did not begin in isolation but was the result of long suffering people before him.

Cautious Towards the Military
Another important legacy of William Penn and the Quakers is a cautious approach to the military. Penn required the consent of the people for the military. This he did in opposition to his Quaker friends. To say Quaker friends is being repetitive, but in this case I mean it the way I said it. Penn was a minority among the Quakers when it came to support for the military. Most Quakers were opposed to having a military. Penn wanted a military but wanted it to be at the consent of the people.

In Pennsylvania, Penn also dropped the British requirement of paying tithes to support the church. This was not done in New England with the puritans, and caused some problems between the Unitarians and the Universalists later. The Unitarians were part of the established church, or the church of the standing order, as it was called, and the Universalists were not. This caused tension between these two denominations for many years and was part of the reason for the delay in merger. William Penn was ahead of his time when he saw the importance of moving away from state-supported churches, though it would have benefited his own religion to have this support.

Treatment of Indians
Another legacy of William Penn was his liberal treatment of the Indians. In the Concession to the Province in 1681 he agreed to protect the Indians from all unfair practices in trade. He also promised them mixed trials with six planters and six natives. He gave them equal liberty to improve their land and he did not contemplate that they would be driven out of the land. These liberal views are expressed most clearly in a letter written to the Indians before his arrival. Penn wrote:

I have great love and regard toward you, and desire to win and gain our love and friendship by a kind, just and peaceable life; and the people I send are of the same mind, and shall in all things behave themselves accordingly. . .(Comfort, p. 140)

Don't we wish all Americans would have believed as William Penn.

Opposed Slavery
Penn held a similar compassion for slaves. His Free Society of Traders provided that slaves should be set free after fourteen years, when they shall be allotted land, stock and tools. This may not sound liberal but we must remember this was in 1682. The earliest protest against slavery was in 1688 by the German Quakers outside of Philadelphia (Germantown). It was the Quaker belief in equality that caused a natural tension with the institution of slavery and led to their leadership in the Underground Railroad.

To be honest, Unitarians, Universalists and Quakers were divided over the issue of slavery. Many religious liberals supported the gradual abolition of slavery as William Penn's position indicates, and most were not full abolitionists. I am sure the research on the First Church's involvement in the Underground Railroad will reveal that most Unitarians were not supportive of breaking the law to free slaves. Many Quakers faced the same dilemma. What we should remember is that many Quakers, Unitarians and Universalists were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement, even when they were opposed by their brothers and sisters of faith.

The movement toward emancipation was a long road that was successful because of the strong willed people who saw the end of that road coming and fought for it. I admire the Quaker Faith because they were leaders in that long struggle. William Penn played an important part in that effort because of his leadership when he founded Pennsylvania.

A Common Theology
In addition to his founding of the colony of Pennsylvania, William Penn was also the first apologist for Quaker theology. The center pieces of that theology are:

• A belief in the existence of the divine within the individual
• A belief in equality
• The universality of God's love
• Belief in continual revelation
• And the search for absolute perfection.

If you are familiar with Unitarian Universalist history you would immediately see that these are also the basic beliefs of Unitarian Universalism. We should consider the Quakers one of our sister churches, a group committed to many of our goals, with a similar history, some contrasting practices, but fellow seekers, looking to apply their conscience and sense of duty to the practical problems of daily living.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, a leading Unitarian theologians of the 19th century, recognized the contributions of Quaker theologians. A Quaker meeting in the area split and many of their members came to his church. He began to talk more openly about his Quaker influences. He quoted from George Fox and William Penn. He talked about his view of the Inner Light that is in each person. His concept of the Oversoul is good Quaker theology. It is also good UU theology. Here are some of Emerson's conclusions:

• The Highest (or God) dwells within us.
• There is a higher will than that of the individual, but we are part of the large whole. Within us is the soul of the whole.
• That power, which he calls God, is accessible to us if we would only listen.
• This power comes to the lowly and simple.
• This power is insight, the wise silence, the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal One. When it breaks through our intellect, it is genius; when it breathes through our will, it is virtue; when it flows through our affections, it is love.

This Emersonian theology connects us with many modern faiths, such as Unity, Science of Mind, and Quakerism. Of all of these I like the Quaker Faith the best because it reminds us of the importance of ethics and responsibility more than the others.

Conclusions
I tell you of the Quaker Faith this morning, to remind you of our common history, to encourage you to make a commitment to these beliefs, and stand up for those beliefs even when society does not agree with us, but stay involved in the fight for justice and freedom for all. This is the legacy of our forebears. The Society of Friends, is a part of that legacy and therefore should be our friends in the struggle for what is right and good in the religious arena.

On Friday I was very glad to receive a call from Jose Ballister of UU Service Committee. He was concerned about the recent riots in Cincinnati and wanted to gather Unitarian Universalists to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem. I found it ironic that Jose would call at this time when I was thinking and writing about the Quakers.

The UU Service Committee is patterned after the Friends Service Committee. Both are working to make this world free for all to live in peace and good will. It is good to know that we are not alone in our struggles. We can join with others in dialogue. I hope that Jose can join us and we can gather others as well. I hope the Quakers will always be our friends in this long struggle for freedom and equality for all. May it be so.