Recommended Readings:
- For First-time and Newer Attenders
- For Regular Attenders and those who want to learn more
- For Those with a Deepening Interest in Third Haven and the Religious Society of Friends, and Seasoned Attenders Contemplating an Application for Membership
- For Members Seeking to Deepen Their Spiritual Life
Many of the items listed below may be found in Third Haven's library. Other items may be borrowed from Maryland Public Libraries or purchased from Quaker Books.org, Pendle Hill, or Amazon.com.
Recommended readings for first-time and newer attenders:
These pamphlets can be found in entryway to the brick meetinghouse, in a rack to right of doors. These brochures provide very brief introductions to meeting for worship, Quakers, and the Religious Society of Friends:
- "Essence of Our Quaker Faith and Practice," Third Haven Friends Meeting, 4th month 2010
- "Advice on Worship and Ministry," Third Haven Friends Meeting, Worship and Ministry Committee, 10th month 1998
- "Your First Time in a Quaker Meeting," brochure
- "Quaker Meeting for Worship," Douglas Steere
- "Friends Spiritual Message," Howard H. Brinton
Recommended readings for regular attenders and those who want to learn more about Faith and Practice, Quakers and the Religious Society of Friends—meeting for worship, advices, queries and our faith community:
- Kenneth Carroll, Touched by God in Quaker Meeting, Pendle Hill Pamphlet
- Howard Brinton, Guide to Quaker Practice, Pendle Hill Pamphlet
- Faith and Practice, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM, 2002), (available online here), sections addressing Meeting for Worship (p. 16-21), Meeting for Business (p.21-26), Advices (p.82-85), Queries (p.205-214)
Recommended readings for those with a deepening interest in Third Haven and the Religious Society of Friends, and seasoned attenders contemplating an application for membership:
- Faith and Practice, PYM, 2002 (available online here).
Read this more fully and carefully. Each yearly meeting has its own versions of Faith and Practice, which have been revised and updated over centuries. Versions of Faith and Practice from other yearly meetings that would be of interest are—Britain Yearly Meeting, New England Yearly Meeting, New York Yearly Meeting and Baltimore Yearly Meeting. There are a number of other yearly meetings across the United States, in Canada and other parts of the world. These reflect various interesting versions of our Testimonies and other parts of Faith and Practice. - 300 Years and More of Third Haven Quakerism, Kenneth Carroll and Orlando Ridout, available at Third Haven.
A fine history of Third Haven Friends Meeting, our Quaker community and the meetinghouses and grounds. - Holy Bible, especially the 4 Gospels.
From the beginning, Friends have been inspired and led by the life and teachings of Jesus. Friends read different current and historic versions of the Holy Bible. Available online here. - Friends for 350 Years (an earlier edition, Friends for 300 Years), Howard Brinton
Recommended readings for members seeking to deepen their spiritual life, understanding of our Faith and Practice, and the history and development of the Religious Society of Friends:
- The Journal of George Fox, John L. Nickalls editor.
The very important personal journal and record of the founder of the Religious Society of Friends. The source of many of the practices, testimonies and principles of the Religious Society of Friends. - Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman, John Moulton editor.
A powerful account of a disciplined life of spiritual discernment, faithful witness to our testimonies and action against slavery and inequality. Woolman is perhaps the most important American Quaker. - Quaker Spirituality: Selected Writings, Douglas Steere editor.
A nice selection of important Quaker writings, well-introduced by Steere. - A Quaker Book of Wisdom, Robert Smith.
A former head of Sidwell Friends School wrote this wonderful and accessible book about Quaker Faith and Practice. - Living Spirituality, vols 1-2, Patricia Loring.
An excellent reference book on Quaker Faith and Practice, with many excellent references and exercises, not a book to read through. - A Testament of Devotion, Thomas R. Kelly.
A deeply spiritual book from a well-known 20th century Quaker. - "Beyond Consensus: Salvaging Sense of the Meeting" (PHP 307), Barry Morley.
A very fine pamphlet on decision-making in the manner of Friends and the meeting for business by a great Friend from Baltimore Yearly Meeting, known to many at Third Haven. - "Four Doors to the Meeting for Worship" (PHP 306) William Taber.
A nice pamphlet on how to come to meeting for worship with heart and mind prepared. - "The Burning Oneness Binding Everything" (PHP 332) Bruce Birchard.
A popular pamphlet among Third Haven Friends with a Quaker Universalist perspective. - "The Prophetic Stream" (PHP 256), William Taber.
A good pamphlet on the tradition of prophecy and Quaker mysticism. - "Holding One Another in the Light" (PHP 382), Marcelle Martin
- A Peaceable Kingdom, Jan de Hartog.
A historical novel based on the early Quakers in England and the US.
Historical Background on the Religious Society of Friends:
- Barclay's Apology in Modern English, Dean Freiday editor.
In a faith without creeds or doctrines as such, a primary foundational theological work for the Religious Society of Friends. - Quakerism on the Eastern Shore, Ken Carroll.
Out of print but in the Third Haven library and Talbot County Free Library. - First Among Friends: George Fox and the Creation of Quakerism, Larry Ingle.
A very good biography of Fox. - Quaker Classics in Brief: Penn, Barclay and Pennington, Pendle Hill
- The Quakers, Hugh Barbour and William Frost
- The Quakers in Puritan England, Hugh Barbour
- A Certain Kind of Perfection: An Anthology of Evangelical and Liberal Quaker Writers, Margaret Post Abbott and Carolyn Wilhelm editors
- Early Quaker Writings, 1650-1700, Hugh Barbour and Arthur Roberts editors
- Quaker journals and biographies, including Margaret Fell, Elizabeth Fry, William Penn, Mary Dyer, Elias Hicks, Rufus Jones, Henry Cadbury and Stephen Carey.
Christianity:
- Holy Bible
- Gospel According to Jesus for Believers and Unbelievers and The Gospel According to Jesus, Stephen Mitchell
- The Heart of Christianity, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time and Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg
- The Sermon on the Mount, Emmet Fox
- The Historical Jesus, John Dominic Crosson
- The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, Matthew Fox
- The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels
Quakerism and Other Religions:
- "Living from the Center: Mindfulness Meditation and Centering for Friends" (PHP 407), and "The Mindful Quaker: A Brief Introduction to Buddhist Wisdom for Friends," (PHP 386) Valerie Brown
- World's Religions, Houston Smith
- Varieties of Religious Experience, William James
- A History of God, Karen Armstrong
- God in All Worlds, Lucinda Vardey, editor
- The Body of God and Models of God, Patricia McFeague
- The Miracle of Mindfulness and Peace is Every Step, Thich Nhat Hanh
- A Course in Miracles, Foundation for Inner Peace