Steven Davi­son on Sid­well and Friends schools’ use of “Quak­er values”

The SPICES rein­force the decades-long trend in lib­er­al Quak­erism of defin­ing Quak­erism increas­ing­ly in terms of our “val­ues” and our out­ward prac­tices, rather than by the con­tent of our tra­di­tion and our spir­i­tu­al­i­ty. Our “spir­i­tu­al­i­ty” is to look to the Light with­in us for guid­ance and to make our cor­po­rate deci­sions in a meet­ing for wor­ship held under the lead­er­ship of the Holy Spir­it, not by look­ing to a check­list of behav­ioral guide­lines and then remold­ing them to fit our desires. I sus­pect that Sid­well Friends School has some Quak­ers on its board, in its staff and fac­ul­ty, and among its stu­dents. But does that mean that it makes impor­tant “stew­ard­ship” deci­sions in a Spirit-led meet­ing for worship?

Sidwell’s Quak­er Values