I was born and raised Roman Catholic. I left the Church at age 25 when I came out as gay. I spent the next 10 years drifting, and the following 5 years (starting from just before John got cancer) developing my own theology (the Spiritual Laws). Pete and our friend Jim and I were having dinner, and Jim invited us to try out a Quaker meeting. I had thought Quakers were Amish, or had died out with the Shakers, and so didn't understand how they could be in San Francisco. Pete told me how a Quaker teacher of his (in one of his religious studies classes) explained how Quakers follow the Inner Light.
After this 15 minute conversation, I was a Quaker. I'd realized that Quakers had developed what I was trying to recreate, only better. I spent the next month or so learning all I could about Quakerism, by attending discussion groups and meetings and such, and by reading everything I could get my hands on. After attending San Francisco Friends Meeting for 6 months or so, Pete and I have applied for membership. Some say we are moving very quickly, esp. for Quakers. I say I've been a Quaker all my life, I just didn't know it. Also, I've been searching for many decades, so from my perspective it has been a long process.
Quakers believe that God (or the Light) is in everyone. During a Meeting for Worship ("church service" in other religions) we sit in silence listening to the Still Small Voice Within. I do contemplative prayer, others meditate, others pray and listen quietly. Sometimes someone will be moved to stand and speak a message that God gave them. I find it exhilarating to hear what God says through people.
Below are several concepts in Quakerism, with quotes from Pacific Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice. A great place for more info is the Quaker Bookstore. There's also a discussion group.
Inward Light:
The religious practices of Friends are founded in direct communion with God and the conviction that the Divine Light is accessible to each person; yet it is one Light, one Truth. We wait with hearts and minds open to the Divine so that Truth will be made known among us.
Our corporate search for God’s word is the heart of the Quaker Meeting for Worship. We believe that God, the Light, the Truth, is part of our being. We say, “there is that of God in everyone.” Truth is continually revealed to us, often through a gathered mystical experience. We learn to recognize the truth by experience. (Faith and Practice, pg. 1)
Testimony of Equality:
Friends testimony on equality is rooted in the holy expectation that there is that of God in everyone, including adversaries and people from widely different stations, life experiences, and religious persuasions. All must therefore be treated with integrity and respect. The conviction that each person is equally a child of God opened the way for women to be leaders in the Religious Society of Friends: both women and men ministered in Friends Meetings from earliest days. (Faith and Practice, pg. 40)
Now more aware of the socially inflicted suffering of people who love others of the same sex, we affirm the power and joy of non-exploitative loving relationships. As a Society and as individuals, we oppose social, economic, or legal abridgement of the right to share this love. (Pacific Yearly Meeting, 1972) (Note that this was just a few years after Stonewall)
Testimony of Integrity:
The testimony of integrity calls us to wholeness; it is the whole of life open to Truth. When lives are centered in the Spirit, beliefs and actions are congruent, and words are dependable. As we achieve wholeness in ourselves, we are better able to heal the conflict ad fragmentation in our community and in the world. (Faith and Practice, pg. 38)
Testimony of Simplicity:
Simplicity is the right ordering of our lives, placing God at the center. When we shed possessions, activities, and behavior that distract us from that center, we can focus on what is important. Simplicity does not mean denying life’s pleasures, but being open to the promptings of the Spirit. (Faith and Practice, pg. 41)
Testimony of Unity:
Friends believe that it is possible for the human spirit to be in direct communion with the Divine. Seeking God’s will together, we believe way will open and unity will emerge. (Faith and Practice, pg. 39)
Testimony of Peace:
We utterly deny all outward wars, and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatsoever, and this is our testimony to the whole world… The spirit of Christ which leads us into all Truth will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the kingdom of Christ, nor for kingdoms of this world. (George Fox, Declaration to Charles II, 1660, Faith and Practice, pg. 43)