Tradition in Common - Michael Sheeran, S.J. - Quakerism and Jesuit Communal Discernment

Sep 29, 2026

Traditional accounts describe a shared decision-making thread between Quakers and Jesuits, framed as spiritual discernment that seeks unity beyond majority vote. The discussion traces this commonality through religious history, beginning with the First Council of Jerusalem and its resolution toward harmony under the Holy Spirit. It then extends through later church councils, legal debates about election agreement, and reflections on whether unanimity reflects divine guidance or mere political convenience, culminating in the practice recognized today as communal discernment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

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Pages4

Reading Time10 min

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Quakerism and Spiritual Discernment

Jesuit Communal Discernment

The First Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15

Church Councils, Consensus, and Divine Peace

October 7.1986 On May 15,1733,a substantial-looking gentleman clad in asnuff-colored coat and wearingthe broad-brimmed hat of a Quakersigned a deed for a plot of Phila-delphia ground south of WalnutStreet and east of Fourth.The site wasjust across the fence from the clusterof small houses known as the Friends'Almshouse. The signer,although“well knownand well liked by his Quaker neigh-bors and (living)on terms of perfectequality with them,"was not exactlya Quaker.For Joseph Greaton,aliasJohn Crayton,alias James Crayton,was a Jesuit priest.(Among Phila-delphia Quakers,he usually baptizedhimself with a Friendlier name likeIsaiah Greaton orJosiah Greaton.) Father Greaton's house near Fourthand Walnut contained 10 rooms,plusan attached chapel designed to look # QUAKER WHENGEORGEFOX BEGANBUILDINGQUAKERISM FROMTHE SEEKERCOMMUNITIES OFENGLAND IN THE1650s,HEINTRODUCED THERELIGION OFSPIRITUALDISCERNMENT.'THAT OFGOD"WAS TO BE FOUNDIN EVERYONEWORSHIPWAS TOBE IN COMMUNALSILENCE.ASEACHSEARCHEDWITHIN FOR DIVINELEADINGS,THEMEETING BECAMEGATHERED"... # A TRADITION IN COMMON MICHAEL SHEERAN,S.J. like an out-kitchen to the casualpasserby.Thus was founded SaintJoseph's Church.And the 10-roomhouse was to become the first home ofSaint Joseph's University 120 yearslater. Father Greaton's attire is in thebest tradition of the stereotypicalJesuit in disguise.It certainly is consis-tent with a Jesuit custom.When theSociety of Jesus was founded in 1540,Saint Ignatius counseled his comradesthat they should not wear a distinctivehabit,but should dress in the modeof respected clergymen of the townsthat they served. With this in mind,Matteo Riccibegan the evangelization of China in1583 by shaving his hair and beardand donning the cloak of a Buddhistmonk so as not to offend his hearers.When he decided that Confucianthought was a more apt vehicle forChristianity,he traded his Buddhist robes for the garb of a Confucianscholar.2 Roberto de Nobili walked India foryears attired as an Indian sage. From what we can tell,FatherGreaton's guise was not assumed somuch to deceive his neighbors as totake the pressure off them.Penn’s"Frame of Government"demandedthat all monotheists—no matter howsilly and scandalous their mode ofworship—should be free of religiouspersecution.And Philadelphia Quak-ers lived by Penn's principles.But theLondon Government prefered thatCatholic services be repressed,notignored.So Greaton's"low profile”seems to have helped Catholics toblend into the Quaker community,thus lowering the number of com-plaints to London about disloyalQuaker government from the Angli-cans and the Scotch Presbyterians whoalso lived in Philadelphia.3 # JESUIT ..NEITHER QUAKERNEIGHBORSNORJESUIT PASTORSREALIZED THAT THEIRVERY DIFFERENTFORMS OFRELIGIONHAD ONE UNUSUALCOMMON THREAD,THEIR METHOD OFDECISION MAKING.TODAY'SJESUITSCALLIT"COMMUNALDISCERNMENT."FRIENDS SPEAK OF"THEQUAKERMETHOD"ORPOINTTO THE PROCEDUREOF DECISION MAKINGIN WHICH THEGROUPIS NOTSATISFIEDWITHTHE MAJORITYVOTE BUT FEELSCONSTRAINED TOSEEK UNITY ORCONCORD. Although Pennsylvania Catholicstook their original root in the shade ofsturdy Ouakerism,it would appeatthat neither Quaker neighbors norIesuit pastors realized that their verydifferent forms of religion had oneunusual common thread,theirmethod of decision making.Today'sJesuits call it "communal discern-ment."Friends speak of "the QuakerMethod"or point to the procedure ofdecision making process in which thegroup is not satisfied with majorityvote but feels constrained to seekunity or concord.And_when suchunity is attained,both Quakers andTesuits see in it a reliable sign thatGod is calling the group in that direc-tion. In this talk,I'd like to sketch thehistory and practice of this commontrait ofJesuits and Friends. It all began with the First Councilof Jerusalem in Acts 15.Paul andBarnabas had been preaching to theGentiles that they could becomeChristians by being baptized.TheJerusalem Church had argued that amale must

FAQs

What decision-making approach do Quakers and Jesuits share in the talk?

Both traditions emphasize communal discernment, where the group is not satisfied with majority vote and instead seeks unity or concord.

How does the First Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) relate to this tradition?

The council resolves a doctrinal dispute and affirms that converts should be baptized without circumcision, highlighting concord interpreted as divine guidance.

Why is unanimous agreement not always enough according to the discussion?

The talk argues that consensus can lack religious peace; there must also be harmony marked by prayer and divine presence, not political animosity.

Sep 29, 2026

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