New to Meeting for Worship? 

If you've never attended a un-programed Meeting for Worship, we hope you will come worship with us -- give it a try.
   
Meeting for Worship is the heart of the Religious Society of Friends. It is a place of communion with the always present living Spirit of God. “Our worship is the search for communion with God and offering of our selves – body and soul- for doing God’s will.” ^{Faith and Practice 1974}    

This is a lofty purpose as we step out of our everyday life on a Sunday morning. Alone, without Clergy to lead our thoughts. Without music chosen for us to raise our spirits. Nor art upon the walls and windows to bring its beauty into our hearts. Yet “Some people find that almost instantly when they attend their first Friends Meeting for Worship, as they settle into the silence, they feel themselves gathered into a living Presence and they know they have come home at last. Others may experience their first Quaker worship as difficult and strange, but something keeps drawing them back until they gradually grow into a richer and richer experience of worship. And some people, including life long Quakers, never seem to find it at all and sometimes turn away to other forms of worship..” ^{Bill Tabor: Four Doors}  

As you chose to come in and sit down to worship with us, let go of any shoulds and needs. Simply know that you are loved and rest in the peace of the gathered community.

Many have found help in metaphors, like the one below about the pebble, or in reading the experience of others in Meeting for worship and/or viewing the "introductory" videos (below) to answer questions that might arise in expectation of attending a Quaker Meeting for Worship. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. We are happy to talk with you or correspond by email. 
 

A message offered during worship -- vocal ministry -- has been described as a pebble tossed into a pond. The resulting ripples are received by others in the meeting and may contribute to their own spiritual journeys. 
 

Readings about Meeting for Worship in the manner of un-programmed Friends

• Friends and Worship by Douglas Steere  a personal  remembrance of Meeting for Worship

 

Videos about Meeting for Worship

 

New to Meeting for Worship in the Manner of Friends

 

	Quaker Worship Part 1: The Challenge of Sitting in Silence What happens when you try to sit in silence for an hour? These seven Quakers discuss the challenge of being alone with one’s thoughts in Quaker worship, and the opportunity for grace and true communion on the other side.
	Quaker Worship Pt 2: Giving Vocal Ministry In the Quaker religion, adherents believe that a higher power can speak through them. We asked Quakers what it’s actually like to experience this.
	Quaker Worship Pt 3: The Gathered Meeting The potential for this worshiping experience that you’re going to be walking into, it’s one of the most inspiring things that I’ve ever witnessed and been part of, which I think is the reason I’m still Quaker with all the things that I struggle with. It’s that potential that keeps us there. But the potential is this thing that we call a “gathered” meeting or a “covered” meeting.
	Quakers believe that if we want to hear God, we need to listen. On the surface, it can seem like Quaker worship is just sitting in silence. But as Lloyd Lee Wilson explains, something much more profound is happening.
	My First Time at Quaker Meeting “My 1st impression of Quaker meeting was confusion. I really couldn't believe that people were uniting together in practice, not in dogma. This was literally incomprehensible to me. The fact that people believed different things and used different language and yet could come together to be a great community because they shared the same set of practices...” What's it like to attend Quaker meeting for worship for the first time? We asked 6 Friends what they remember about their first experience.
	Quaker Silence "Silence is the ground out of which worship comes. The silence leaves the space for the sound, the whisper, even the noise of the spirit." We asked a diverse group of Friends what they find most valuable about silence in Meeting for Worship. This is what they said.
	The Difference Between Quaker Meeting and Other Services "We are a seeking faith community. We experience the space in which we can explore our spiritual journey. We are not offering answers, but trying to ask the right questions."  How does Quaker Meeting compare to other Christian services? Quaker author Ben Pink Dandelion explores this question.