Meetings for Worship
Our meetings for worship generally have a very simple format. We sit in a circle for a prolonged period of silence and focus on the presence
of God within and among us. Silent worship was described by Alexander Parker in 1660 as follows:
The first that enters into the place of our meeting ... turn in thy mind to the light, and wait upon God singly, as if none were present but the Lord;
and here thou art strong. Then the next that comes in, let them in simplicity of heart sit down and turn in to the same light, and wait in the
spirit; and so all the rest coming in, in the fear of the Lord, sit down in pure stillness and silence of all flesh, and wait in the light. Those who
are brought to a pure still waiting upon God in the Spirit are come nearer to the Lord than words are; for God is spirit and in spirit he is worshiped.
[Faith and Practice, pp. 18-19]
Silent worship may take on a variety of forms for the individual participants.
Worship in meeting may thus begin with stilling the mind and body, letting go of tensions and everyday worries, feeling the encompassing presence
of others, and opening oneself to the Spirit. It may include meditation, reflection on a remembered passage from the Bible or other devotional literature,
silent prayer, thanksgiving, praise of God, consideration of one's actions, remorse, request for forgiveness, or search for direction.
[Faith and Practice, p. 19]
Undertaking silent worship as a group amplifies its depth and power.
Worshiping together strengthens the members of the worshiping community and deepens the act of worship itself. Such communal worship is like a
living organism whose individual but interdependent members are essential to one another and to the life of the greater whole. It is like the luminous
unity and individual fulfillment that arise when musicians, responding to the music before them, offer up their separate gifts in concert. ... Friends know
from experience the validity of Jesus' promise that “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them”
(Matthew 18:20).
[Faith and Practice, p. 19]
While the silence is intended to enable direct communication with the Spirit, it is not an end in itself. The silent meeting may be proceded by or
interspersed with reading, singing, prayer, or expressions of concern or insight.
Direct communion with God constitutes the essential life of the meeting for worship. Into its living stillness may come leadings and fresh insights
that are purely personal, not meant to be shared. At other times they are meant for the Meeting at large to hear.
When a leading is to be shared, the worshiper feels a compelling inward call to vocal ministry. ... Vocal ministry may take many forms, as prayer,
praise of God, song, teaching, witnessing, or sharing. These messages may center upon a single, vital theme; often apparently unrelated leadings are
later discovered to have an underlying unity. Such ministry and prayer may answer the unrecognized or unvoiced needs of other seekers.
[Faith and Practice, pp. 19-20]
If several participants are moved to speak, it is important for the group to allow a period of silence between their contributions. The goal is to
maintain a dialogue with the Spirit rather than a dialogue between the participants.
When someone accepts the call of the Spirit to speak, fellow worshipers are likewise called to listen with openness of minds and hearts. Diffident
and tender spirits should feel the Meeting community's loving encouragement to give voice, even if haltingly, to the message that may be struggling to
be born within them. ... Anyone moved to speak following another should first allow others to absorb and respond inwardly to what has already been said.
[Faith and Practice, p. 20]
Worship meetings are the beginning, not the end, of Quakers' expression of faith.
The meeting for worship is the heart of the Religious Society of Friends. It draws us together in the enlightening and empowering presence of God,
sending us forth with renewed vision and commitment. [Faith and Practice, p. 17]
Our silence in worship does not imply passivity in our daily lives.
Friends are sometimes called “practical mystics” because Quaker worship has been the wellspring for service in the community and
world. An old story relates the whispered question asked by someone attending meeting for worship for the first time and puzzled by the
absence of overt activity: “When does the service begin?” The response: “When the meeting for worship ends.”
[Faith and Practice, p. 65]