Rachel Rogers

Member of Calder Bridge Meeting

Quakerism is my spiritual home. Here I have found the God who challenges, makes seemingly impossible demands but also loves and nourishes me.

My background is Anglican, the child of a God-fearing family dominated by a disapproving God. Gentle Jesus meek and mild loved me but God had him crucified..... I always went to church and eventually married an Anglo-Catholic. Ritual dominated. After he died I gave up churchgoing. I worked as a social worker/counsellor and found, however unpleasant my 'clients' sounded on paper, when we talked face-to-face we could communicate. This challenged my views on sin so discovering that Quakers seek 'that of God in everyone' made sense. I went to a Meeting, the powerful ministry 'spoke to my condition'. A Ffriend introduced me to Calder Bridge, I was lovingly welcomed.

So has Quakerism changed my life? Definitely. I find simplicity reveals Truth. I, not the clergy, am responsible for my spiritual life. I see God as the source of love and goodness and Jesus, the wisest of men, as my big brother in God's family. My spiritual path is Christian but acknowledge others choose different paths. I am not sure about an afterlife so trying to live now guided by our testimonies is the best I can offer. Living adventurously makes life fulfilling!

Quakers have the glory of silent worship but why don't we talk about ourselves outside our meetings? It took 50 long years for the Quaker message to reach me.