Friends are often associated with specific values, often called “testimonies”.  These include, but are not limited to, simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship. Understanding the spiritual underpinning and historical context helps us to bring these testimonies to life.

“…the testimonies grow out of our inward religious experience and are intended to give outward expression to the leading of the Spirit of God within….”
—Wilmer Cooper, “The Testimony of Integrity in the Religious Society of Friends.” Pendle Hill Pamphlet (1991)

The basis of Friends’ lives is trust that the Light can touch the heart of each individual and change us inwardly. Being open to the Spirit may bring us to see the world and our actions in new ways, prompting changes in how we live our lives and interact with others. These changes flow from our new insight—a vibrant experience of the Spirit rising up in us. An individual or gathered community may feel led to act from a sense of conviction and clarity. This witness in the human heart by God was referred to by early Friends as Truth’s Testimony. —New England Yearly Meeting proposed revisions to “Faith and Practice”, 12/2025

The fruits of this openness to the Light are sometimes called “testimonies” since they testify to the work of the Spirit. The consistencies in the faithful lives of Friends through the ages reflect their origin in the same Source. Peace, simplicity, equality, community, integrity and stewardship, among others, are some of the ways to name these changes. They are neither goals nor standards, but manifestations of the internal work of the Divine to which Friends have borne witness in the past. We are invited to experience the same Spirit that spoke to them. —New England Yearly Meeting proposed revisions to “Faith and Practice,” 12/2025