Dear Colleagues and Friends,

‘Then what had any to do with the Scriptures, but as they came to the Spirit that gave them forth. You will say, Christ saith this, and the apostles say this; but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of Light and hast walked in the Light, and what thou speakest is it inwardly from God?’

George Fox, 1652

Quaker Faith & Practice 19.07

I’m a Quaker, and we’re probably best known for the porridge guy, or our founder George Fox (they’re not, despite what some people think, the same person!).

George Fox spoke the above at a time of great social and political strife, and religious turmoil.  At our core - Quakerism is a form of closeness with the Spirit.  Now, there are a lot of types of Quaker - including non-theists - who might argue with that summary, but I’m a Christian Quaker.  For me, that means I am accepting of the Spirit as a guiding Light, and have a close personal relationship with the story of Jesus presented in the Bible.  Although I don’t necessarily share exactly the same views as every Quaker, we are all part of the same Society of Friends.

The above quote from George Fox is a retelling by his wife Margaret Fell, the Mother of Quakerism, relating to an incident at Ulverston ‘steeplehouse’ (as early Friends called churches).  Fox was listening to a sermon, and took leave to ask to speak - and then stood up on his pew and spoke.  His words communicate his vision of each person as living Scripture because every person can be moved by the Spirit to proclaim the words of God.  Fox’s theology was challenging for the church in the 17th century, and remains challenging now.  But for me - I just think, sometimes, someone’s got to be brave enough to ask to speak, and stand up.

That’s what Jesus did - stand up. Over, and over, and over again.  He was brave, and challenging, and loving, and came not for the righteous, but the sinner -

‘I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’

Luke 5:32

As heads and school leaders and teachers and in day to day life, we’re asked by the Spirit to speak up, to listen to the promptings of love and truth in our hearts - and you all do, and this makes it a great pleasure to work with you all.

from Ellen Cross, DBE Administrator