6 Terms, Acronyms etc.
Description
This article is from the The Religious Society of Friends FAQ, by Marc Mengel mengel.nospam@users.sourceforge.net with numerous contributions by others.
6 Terms, Acronyms etc.
AFSC,CFSC,...:
American (Canadian,...) Friends Service Committee
-- a national organization which works on projects
and programs reflecting traditional Friends' issues.
Birthright/Convinced:
Friends who are born to Quaker families and decide
to stay with it are called "birthright" Friends,
those who join later are "convinced"; the term
"converted" is rarely if ever used.
Clearness:
When it is clear to you that something is right.
Clearness Committee:
A group formed to help someone decide if something
is right. Often formed to interview a couple
contemplating marriage for example.
Faith and Practice:
Title of a book published by several Yearly Meetings
which describes "standard" practices for accepting
new members, holding business meetings, etc. as well
as a lot of the philosophy behind them. A good
source of Queries, and good Quakerly form letters.
(See "Bibliography") There are many versions, most notably
the Britain Yearly Meeting and Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
versions. (Britain Yearly Meeting (formerly London Yearly
Meeting) historically had a separate "Church Government"
volume).
FCNL:
Friends Committee on National Legislation -- a
Lobbying group that works for legislation reflecting
traditional Friends' issues.
FGC/FUM:
Friends General Conference/Friends United Meeting, are
national organizations of Friends that provides support
services for Monthly and Yearly Meetings and which organize
yearly national gatherings. FGC's membership is predomin-
ately unprogrammed meetings, while FUM's membership is
predominately programmed meetings.
FWCC:
Friends World Committee on Consultation is sort of
like FGC or FUM, but on a worldwide scale.
Light:
Friends often speak of the Light Within, which is
a term for that of God in each of us.
Query:
A good question to ask yourself, often from some
published source, often a leading question; like
"Do you seek to find that of God in those around
you, especially those you disagree with?"
Sense of the Meeting:
A statement of what the group agrees with or is in
unity with, or more correctly the idea that such a
statment expresses.
Weighty Friends:
Folks who can be counted on to say something deep
that really makes you think. Especially someone
good at finding the Sense of a Meeting and expressing
it.
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