Two Preparatory to the Fourth World Conference of Friends, 1967. This material is protected under copyright laws and is reprinted with the permission of Friends World Committee for Consultation. This Document is on The Quaker Writings Home Page.
Experience is the common denominator upon which new people can be brought together.
A first-hand experience of the power, love and judgment of God through faith in Jesus Christ is what we need. For several generations we have been trying to fan the fires of a once flaming faith with second and third-hand knowledge of Christ. We need recovery of the emphasis on a first-hand experience with God if we are to be relevant Christians during the rest of this century. At one point in His ministry Jesus said that men do not light a candle and then put it under cover, but rather on a candle-stick so that it will give light to all who are in the house. This is precisely what Friends must do about the knowledge gained through a first-hand experience with God.