Our Quaker Heritage

The Clintondale Friends Christian Church has its roots imbedded deeply in the Quaker tradition. Today we are more of a community church, but the heritage is important to us, and we can see marks of that heritage in our worship, our business meetings and our emphasis upon relationship over religion.

We added the word “Christian” to our name in December of 2002 because there has been some confusion over what kind of “Friends” we might be. The Religious Society of Friends has a broad spectrum of beliefs, and it is not a given that a particular group of Friends might be Christians. Of course, George Fox and the early Friends were Christians who proclaimed the Gospel with power and certainty. Friends are known for being Seekers, but in our opinion Seekers should be Finders, and what they should find is the Living Lord Jesus Christ who brings salvation to all who find him.

Friends originally worshiped without a pastor leading the service. They would sit in silence and speak as led by the Holy Spirit. The Clintondale Friends Church was a non-programmed meeting for worship in its beginnings. Sometime in the 1880's the church took on the pastoral, programmed style of Friends worship. The Clintondale Friends Christian Church seeks to retain its freedom of worship, dependent upon the Holy Spirit for leadership, while employing music, prayers, prepared messages and other tools of worship foreign to traditional Friends. We seek a blended style of worship.

When we became an independent Friends Church in 1995 we published a Faith and Practice. This document included a pamphlet published by Friends United Meeting titled Friends...One in the Spirit that was published in 1974 as a reprint of an earlier document. We also put together some materials from our files having to do with our organization. In 1994 we chose to allow outward communion and in 1995 we allowed water baptism. Both of these outward sacraments or ordinances are generally not allowed by Friends, but we feel them to be important to Christian life.

On December 3, 2006 we approved the latest changes to Faith and Practice which by comparison is very different from the one published in the middle 1990's. We continue to evolve as a fellowship. Change is important to life. Someone has said that death is the cessation of change. What doesn’t change is our commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and the Scriptures as our written authority. No Faith and Practice should ever take precedence over Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture.

There a number of good Quaker links on the Internet. These links are provided to give a spectrum of Quaker groups and beliefs; they are not necessarily endorsed by our church.

We have published two history books, one a genealogy and the second a pictorial history of our church and town. The first, Quaker History and Genealogy... is available from us for $16.00 plus postage; the second, Friends and Neighbors is available for $20.00 plus postage.

So, while we appreciate our heritage we are always seeking to grow in both faith and practice. We are community oriented, situated in Clintondale. We are indebted to our Friends roots. We are definitely a Christian fellowship. And we are part of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are theClintondale Friends Christian Church.

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