Welcome to the Nontheist Friends Network (NFN) UK. We are a group of nontheist, (nontheist leaning or sympathetic), or humanist Quakers and the Network exists to provide a forum and supportive framework for Friends (Quakers) and other ‘nontheists’ who regard religion as a human creation. We want to ensure that our Religious Society of Friends is an inclusive rather than an exclusive Society and welcoming to all ‘of any religion or none’.
Membership of the NFN is open to all who sympathise with the aims set out above and who pay the annual membership fee (currently £10). You do not have to be a Quaker, or even a ‘nontheist’ to join. Nor do you have to be a member to attend our events including our monthly meetings or annual Conferences.
There is a wide range of views and beliefs amongst our members and meeting attenders but we are not ‘anti-religious’. Opinions vary (as they do among Quakers generally) about language and words like ‘God’ (or whatever you call it – https://nontheist-quakers.org.uk/2017/03/27/talk-god-or-whatever-you-call-it/), worship, prayer, religion, spirituality, nontheism and so on. You can read much more about this by having a browse around our website, articles, newsletters and documents.
Have a look at our Aims and Constitution. Read about Nontheism (there) and here (and you can look it up on Wikipedia). Read our Frequently asked Questions (FAQ) and about ‘God, words and us’ here, here and here
You can also read an article in The Guardian (online) by Simon Jenkins here(2018) and an even older article (2010) in the Guardian by Jessica Reed on Quaker Quest here. (As many of the links in that article are now broken, you can find out more about Quaker Quest here).
.Use the ‘Search’ function to search the website for anything you might hope to find – it works! If you don’t find what you are looking for, let us know by Comment or Contacts.
You can learn more by reviewing our recent monthly Quaker Meeting and Creative Conversation sessions (audio recordings and transcripts) or coming along to the next session in September.
Read our latest News or take a more detailed look at How to use the website.
This is a new, and possibly temporary, home page and our policy is ‘one of continuous improvement’. Comments welcome.
Nontheist Friends Network 
Are you aware of a nontheist organization in the U.S.?
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Yes we are Gina and we have a link to them on our website well down in the right hand column (on a computer). If you are using a mobile, you will need to scroll to the very bottom and choose ‘View full site’. You can then find the links in landscape view in the right hand column or bt scrolling again to the bottom!
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Non theist groups on South america?
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I take that as a question Sergio and don’t have an answer. Some research required! I’m sure there are many nontheists in South America and perhaps some of them attend Quaker meetings.
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hi sergio! im gabriela, i live in argentina. id like to find people to speak with about this. where are you from?
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Gabriela and Sergio
One year on! Not sure if I can put you in touch except by forwarding your email addresses if I still have Sergio’s. Let me know. You could both attend our forthcoming meetings online.
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https://nontheistfriends.org/
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I like this as a fixed home page much better than the wandering landing page approach. To my eye, it makes much more sense to have a general introduction like this to welcome Friends and interested visitors.
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Thanks Mike. I think you’re right. We might use a different page occasionally to highlight an event or conference. You have some very interesting blogs and blogposts yourself! I hope NFN Friends will have a look.
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Hi Friends.
Please advise me of regular meetings.
Thanks,
Deborah
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Hi Deborah
I have replied to you by email a couple of hours ago and copied to our clerks to add you to our general mailing list. If you want to attend the monthly meetings (next 3rd November) and have not registered, please email clerk@nontheist-quakers.org.uk to request the zoom link and details.
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I find it interesting to find a Christian organisation that invites members who might not believe in God but who may have positive attitudes to the other aspects.
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Thanks Steve
Quakers generally (in Britain) welcome all to our meetings of any religion or none but honouring our Christian roots from 350 years ago (or 2000). Many Quakers in Britain and the majority throughout the world are Christian.
I see you are an artist working with or in relation to science and wonder what other aspects (of religion?) you have in mind?
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Are there meetings in London?
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Hi Steve
I don’t know why your comment was missed and got stuck in a moderation queue so you will only see this if you ticked ‘Notify me of new comments via email’ – see below when you post a comment.
There are no specifically NFN meetings in London but there are regular (weekly) Quaker meetings all over London:
https://quaker.org.uk/meetings
NFN has a monthly online meeting, next on March 2nd, and there are details on this website:
Hope this is useful to you or others!
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I struggle to believe in a moral god and while I have previously viewed myself as a possibilian after being swayed by David Eaglman’s convincing polemic I have missed the social side to religion that I remember from childhood. I also know a few people who are lonely and don’t have a social circle while others have so many friends they have to neglect some. I want to tackle that and would like the support of a group like the quakers. I found the Quakers when reading about anti literacy laws on Wikipedia and saw the quakers were some of the few people to run schools for black people. This appealed greatly to my sense of fair play and I followed the hyperlink to the Wikipedia article on the Quakers where I stumbled across the non-theist branch and so now I’m here hoping I can find other non-theist quakers in Leicestershire or Rutland.
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Welcome James
If any Quakers (nontheists?) in Leicestershire or Rutland would like to get in touch with James, please comment here.
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Hi, I have recently been attending my local Friends Meeting House and finding it such an uplifting experience however my lack of belief in a God or Higher Power had been slightly troubling me. I’m so glad I found your page and would like to know more. Could you point me in the right direction please as I know this may be a temporary page.
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Welcome Jan. This page will stand for the time being! The links on it should be a good starting point and please have a browse of the site generally.
You will also find references to articles (usually online) and books (for example ‘Godless for God’s sake’ and ‘God, words and us’).
You might like to try our monthly meeting (next on 4 May on ‘Are Nontheist Quakers Humanists?’ – I’ll upload the details now and please email the clerk as shown for the zoom link to attend). In the meantime, please see David Boulton’s Quaker Universalist Group pamphlet here:
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Just become an enquirer again after many years, but was put off by some of theist language in Quaker texts/books, your group may be just the way in I need. The Friends way of life and tenets are how I try to live. Thank you Cheryll
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Welcome Cheryll.
Quakers continue to use plenty of theist language and display a very wide range of belief. At a Britain yearly meeting session this week the following was cited:
Quakers at their best?
William Penn 1696:
Spiritual experience. There are many
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names for this Divine Principle by some
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it is called the Light of Christ or The
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Light Within. Others call it the
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revelation or appearance of Christ, the
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Witness of God. The Seed of God or the
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seed Of the Kingdom. Still others
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identify it as Wisdom. The word In the
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Heart. The Grace Available to All, the
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spirit sent for each person’s benefit.
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The Truth Within. Or the leaven that
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transforms the lump of humanity. But
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reader do not be misled or confused by
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the diversity of terms – please
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remember that when you see any of these
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terms, it always refers to the one
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unchanging divine principle and
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although inspired writers have called
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it by many names in relating its
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various manifestations and actions, it
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is one. That is William Penn in 1696.
We can but note William Penn’s ‘reduction’ to ‘the one
unchanging divine principle’. Some nontheists don’t like ‘divine’, others are quite happy with it.
At another session today, it seems that the ‘minimum’ is a recognition of ‘spirit led discernment’ – what Quakers do in our Meetings for worship for business.
‘Theist’ and ‘nontheist’ language will continue to be used to satisfy that ‘very wide range of belief’.
I hope this is helpful!
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This are the views I have been searching for! Thank you
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PS. In the original from William Penn’s ‘Primitive Christianity Revived’, Penn, for all of these terms from ‘Light of Christ’ to ‘Leaven that Transforms the Lump of Humanity’ gives chapter and verse biblical source from Old or New Testament.
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Quite a marvellous site. I am a Quaker who quietly wonders if religious God lead believers understand inclusivity in their meeting with others. Even Ffriend is quite an othering! Are you a Friend or a friend? The demarcation is quite critical in the acceptance of a person until they become a Quaker. A silent comment on the perception of the Testimonies in the unspoken constitution of being a Quaker for some.
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I’m sorry we didn’t reply to this earlier Graeme. Thank-you for the ‘Quite a marvellous site’!
I’ve always taken ‘Friend’ to mean ‘Members’ and ‘Attenders’.
Whether they are our/my friend may be a different matter.
We are ‘Friends’ by religious affiliation and ‘friends’ by social interaction so most of my friends are not Quaker and not all Friends are particularly close to me (friends) but we all I hope try to be friendly (rather than Friendly?).
I did come to Friends however through a friend who was and is a Friend!
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Dear NFN,
Could you please let me know whether you have a local group in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
Thank you,
Terry Ballard
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Thank-you for your enquiry Terry. Yours is the second enquiry about local groups in a week (the other from Scotland). At present, NFN does not have local groups. If nontheist Friends in any part of the country want to get together to organise local ‘meet-ups’ I’m sure that would be welcome BUT Local Quaker Meetings are open to all and nontheist quakers and NFN members attend their local Meeting.
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PS. Do consider attending our meeting on 7th September on zoom and we could then ask about local interest. https://nontheist-quakers.org.uk/news
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I have been trying for a while to reach the Quaker Non-theistic website so I can be emailed Zoom links for Virtual meetings without success! Do you know what is going on with their website?
Please email me a reliable email I can receive Zoom links for this purpose. IamQuaker.2@outlook.com
Thank you.
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I’ve emailed the address you gave, fingers crossed. We have received nothing from your address before.
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Further to the reply from our clerk Tim, we are a little surprised as the website is easy to access and details of how to access our meetings are clear – namely email clerk@nontheist-quakers.org.uk see https://nontheist-quakers.org.uk/events/new-nfn-monthly-meeting-for-worship-and-creative-conversation/
However, I’m wondering if you are trying to contact the nontheist Friends in North America? If so see their google group here; https://nontheistfriends.org/email-discussion
or here: https://groups.google.com/g/nontheist-friends/
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I have now emailed Helaine directly with some further information and email addresses.
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