Your first time in a Quaker Meeting?

We welcome everyone to our Meeting.  Our worship together is through both expectant silence and spoken words.  There is no prescribed program of worship.   We do not recite creeds, sing hymns, or repeat set prayers.  There is no presider, no liturgy or ceremony. We believe that the spirit of God dwells in the hearts of all of us, and thus we are all capable of understanding God's will.

Go in as soon as you are ready.  Sit anywhere you like.  Sitting quietly here, each seeks to have an immediate sense of this Divine Leading and to know first-hand the presence of the Spirit.  Each person who enters the Meeting contributes to the depth of the group's worship experience. (Worshiping people are encouraged to arrive on time and minimize movement that could be distracting to others.)

The beginning of worship is a time of centering one's own heart and mind, for listening to one's own voice within, and for sensing the oneness of the gathered meeting.  All are trying to come nearer to the Light and to each other as we are caught up in the still spirit of the meeting. For many minutes, there will be silence.  Indeed, there may be silence the entire meeting.

You may find it easy to "center" in the silence and enter into the stillness of the meeting or you may be distracted by the strangeness of the silence, outside noises, or your own random thoughts. If this should occur, try to return to a state of quietness in the body and mind.  

The silence may be broken when one of those present, moved by the Spirit, feels that they have something to say which will deepen and enrich the experience of worship.  Anyone is free to stand and speak briefly provided that it is done in response to a prompting of the Spirit, which comes in the course of the meeting. Some moments of silence follow each message shared.  Receive what is said in an accepting,  charitable spirit.  Each contribution rightly given will help somebody.  If something is said that does not "speak to you," try nevertheless to hear the spirit that prompted the words.

When to Speak at Worship?

Meetings last for about an hour.  You'll know the meeting is over when someone turns and greets the persons nearby, and this action will spread throughout the room.

We extend this welcome because we believe that the Friends' testimony of equality requires a single standard of treatment for all human beings.  All people share in the Light.  We affirm and welcome to our Meeting all who search for Truth.  We extend to our loving care, concern, and support to all individuals, couples, and families in our Meeting and the community.