Holland Friends Meeting logo featuring a dove carrying a flower, symbolizing peace, hope, and the Quaker faith.

Our Values

SPICES—Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. Although Quakers have no official doctrine, we do have shared values which are unifying across communities, they are our SPICES.

Quaker, known as our historic testimonies, are fruits of the Spirit that help guide our lives.They grow from our turning toward the Light and from the ways we are changed through encounters with the Spirit and our response to that leading. Over time, Friends have named these shared expressions of faith as SPICESSimplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship.

Single candle burning in the darkness, symbolizing the Quaker value of simplicity and inward reflection.

Simplicity

The cutting away of everything that is extraneous, so that our outward life fully reflects our inward life.

View of Earth from space, symbolizing the Quaker testimony of peace and hope for a world transformed by love.

Peace

We believe in a world transformed by Love, not violence. Seeking to be a loving testimony that good can overcome evil, we oppose all war, suffering, and injustice.

Carpenter's square measuring a wooden frame, symbolizing the Quaker testimony of integrity and living truthfully.

Integrity

Living with integrity calls us to keep our lives aligned with the Light—to live in Truth. Our conduct, in both speech and action, is integrity made visible.

Chairs arranged in a circle for Quaker worship, symbolizing community, equality, and shared discernment.

Community

Community is both a spiritual and practical support—a place for shared discernment and for testing leadings within the collective wisdom of the group.

Colorful patchwork quilt symbolizing the Quaker testimony of equality, where every person is valued and belongs.

Equality

Every person has the capacity to experience the Inner Light, which transcends differences. It does not mean equal abilities, resources, or genetics, but treating everyone we encounter with respect.

Wildflowers blooming in a pollinator garden, symbolizing the Quaker testimony of stewardship and care for creation.
Wildflowers blooming in a pollinator garden, symbolizing the Quaker testimony of stewardship and care for creation.

Stewardship

Caring responsibly for our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being is a form of stewardship. How we care for our bodies, our spirits, and creation helps us grow toward wholeness in partnership Creation.

Our Stories

Stories have always played an important role in the Quaker tradition. From the earliest days, people shared personal experiences of how the Spirit moved in their lives.

About Us

The Holland Quakers are a worshipping community who are faithful to honoring the Light within each person, seeking unity in Spirit, and believing that Love is Divine and abundant.