ABSTRACT
This chapter is a field guide to contemporary Quaker practice around the world. A distinctive type of unprogrammed worship and community decision-making was common to all Friends for almost two centuries. It continues in Europe and North America even as divisions of the nineteenth century and global spread in the twentieth century have led to important and vital variations on the original. The chapter tacks back and forth among the different contemporary practices. It describes evolving styles of Quaker worship around the world and the ways in which Quakers organize themselves into worshiping congregations and larger groupings. The chapter explores the importance of community and group discernment as a balance to the inherent individualism of Quaker theology. It examines the distinctive way in which Quakers make decisions. Modern Quakers have developed the distinctive practice of “clearness committees” to aid individuals in issues of personal discernment.
