General Queries to Accompany Reading/Video List
Participants sometimes ask what they are to do when it is their turn to lead a reading group.
The Spiritual Formation Collaborative developed these queries for each section as a tool for you
to use as you see fit. You should not feel compelled to answer all of these queries and you may
decide to develop your own queries for the reading group you are leading. That being said, we
hope this list is useful to you.
The first section goes with the topics on the reading/video list and the second section are queries
that can be used for any reading.
Introduction to Spiritual Life
In what way have/do you experience the divine or that of God within yourself and/or within
others?
Our Quaker Roots
How have you experienced the spiritual transformation that is at the root of Quakerism?
Spiritual Disciplines Practice I
Having experienced and read about various spiritual disciplines/practices, are there some that
speak to you that may be fruitful for you?
Have you experienced the Light Within? Have you sometimes struggled to find it and
sometimes feel its radiance connecting you to others and the Divine? Describe those
experiences.
Spiritual Disciplines Practice II
Have you found a time in life when you have been able to be in silent waiting?
Have you experienced a time when you surrendered to the Light and found answers or peace
related to a personal issue?
Is it possible in our busy world to focus on the Divine in everything we experience? What are
the implications of this for your life now?
How do you cultivate your inward source of Light?
Worship
How do you settle into worship? Describe what you do when you worship. Has this changed
over time?
Have you given vocal ministry in Meeting for Worship? Describe what this experience is like for
you.
What’s the difference between your worship in a Meeting for Worship and your worship in
your daily life?
Have you experienced a gathered meeting? What was it like?
Discernment
What is the difference between consensus and sense of the meeting? Have you ever felt a true
sense of the meeting?
Where might you be moved or led as a result of any of these readings/videos?
Testimonies
What is your understanding of the word “testimony”? What does it mean to uphold a
testimony?
If you agree to espouse the testimony of simplicity, what changes would you make in the way
you choose to live?
The problems in this world can seem overwhelming. Have you ever had a leading to work for
change? If not, is there an area of concern that rises up for you? What do you think you could
do?
The peace testimony is sometimes difficult to defend, especially during times of conflict or
threat. How would you explain the peace testimony to those who might suggest you are simply
afraid to engage in conflict? Is there a way in which you can practice the peace testimony in
your daily life?
Why do you think integrity is often considered the most important of all Quaker testimonies?
Individual & Community
Where do you find yourself in your journey “from individualism to individual-in-community”?
What do you long for in your meeting? How do you support your meeting community?
Describe a time when you were able to listen without an agenda, without the compulsion to
help/advise or appear to have wisdom. Add what you learned about yourself when you
listened in this way.
Describe a time when you were listened to without judgment in a prayerful way.
What are the areas of busyness of your life that most irritate or exhaust you? What might be
done now or in the future to relieve that busyness? What must happen within you or in your
situation to enable change?
Discernment of Ministry
How does knowing your gifts guide you into a ministry?
Why is it useful to talk to others about your ministry? What do you need from them?
How can you discern God’s calling for you right now?
Looking back over your spiritual path thus far, what callings has God given you to do? Is there a
pattern to those callings? Could there be a ministry within those callings?
What role does your Meeting have in discerning and supporting your ministry?
Wade Wright’s article has useful queries in it to use as well.
General Queries to be Used with Any Topic’s Readings/Videos
What new light do you find in the readings? Holding in the Light, what stands out?
How can you connect what you read/watched with what you have experienced? How is it the
same or different?
How can you incorporate the reading/video into your spiritual life?
What images come to mind as you read/watch?
Which part of the reading/video really stuck with you? Why? Which part of the reading/video
really did not sit well with you? Why?
Are there words/passages that “stick in your craw,” that you find yourself having questions
about or resisting? Why? Are there words that resonate in your heart? Why?
