Ella Kingham Speirs

works as warden of Chester Meeting House

The simplest reason for my being a Quaker is that I was born into it, with my parents and grandparents on both sides being Friends. More seriously, I came back to it around the age of 17 and it just seemed to be right. The experience of the silent worship, as well as being a familiarity from childhood, was speaking to a need deep within me. Intellectually, for many years, I did not understand what it was or agree with the assertion that I was 'finding God'. I started to read the bible when I was about 23, in order to be more able to articulate my reasons for not believing ­ and found so much of it spoke to me about how I experienced life. Since then my knowing that I am accompanied by God, and latterly Christ, has deepened. In reading about early Friends I have found a way of conveying experience that is so close to mine.

This knowing about God's presence in my life has several implications. I am called to listen, so I try to spend some time each day in worship. I am called to follow what comes to me from the place deep within where I find God, rather than respond to the desires of my head. This informs my decisions on how to spend my money and my time. It leads me to deepen relationships with those around me. It leads me to question the decisions I make about every area of my life. My entire life is enriched by my understanding and experience of the Quaker Way? I find boundless inspiration in the Bible, and in our Quaker Faith and Practice. I appreciate having a group of people with whom I worship and who will assist me when I need help discerning what God wants me to do with my life.