An exploration of coherence, cohesion and confusion in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain

Shinebourne, John Andrew (2024). An exploration of coherence, cohesion and confusion in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

In spite of initial enthusiastic commitment, members, even after several years’ membership, choose to leave The Society. Participation in The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, (The Society), had declined by 31% between 1990 and 2021. To account for that state of affairs I explored those features that might account for a decline in participation. This research suggests The Society’s numerical decline and the breakdown of its distinctive theology and ecclesiology are related. A lack of cultural and structural integration within The Society was exacerbated by decisions taken within The Society leading to internal secularisation. Internal secularisation has compromised The Society’s distinctive theology and governance (ecclesiology).
The research began as a qualitative research project to identify and theorise about different ways of being Quaker and the attractions of Quakerism. Interviews with 12 members, previously unknown to the researcher, were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The outcome of that analysis was five themed tables in which the interviewees’ reflections on their experiences of Quakers and Quakerism were organised. An examination of those tables identified commonalities and differences between interviewees’ spiritual and religious experiences and their positive and negative comments on their experience of Quakerism.
Further primary source material for discussing The Society’s numerical decline were identified. They included interview data from a study on members’ disaffiliation from The Society, statistical data from British Quaker surveys, Quaker studies research and documents produced from within The Society e.g. dissertations from the Centre for Research in Quaker Studies, governing documents of The Society’s charities and Quaker faith & practice: the book of Christian discipline of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain (QF&P).
The research was effected by the creation and application of a critical realist based conceptual framework and model illustrating variables involved in social interactions in a religious denomination. That framework drew on the work of Georg Simmel and Margaret S. Archer. I claim that it may be used for researching the state of other religious denominations and voluntary organisations and is an original contribution to the sociology of religion.
The framework was applied in critical dialogue with Pink Dandelion’s theories of a Quaker ‘double culture’ and of ‘internal secularisation’. The analysis led to a clarification of the responses The Society might make to its continuing numerical decline. They involved revisiting the governing documents of The Society’s charities and the fundamental elements of being a Quaker as specified in QF&P.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):