COVID-19 GUIDELINES FOR MEETING FOR WORSHIP
We are holding in person Meeting for Worship at the Meetinghouse at 11:00 a.m. each Sunday.
We are members of the Religious Society of Friends, The name is derived from our Christian roots and taken from John 15:14-15. We are also known as Quakers, which was originally a derogatory nickname, but has since been accepted and used commonly, even by ourselves. Our life and practice is a conviction, that there is something of God’s Spirit in us all, that we are all equal before God and that every soul can have immediate communion with the Divine. We want to worship simply, by excluding anything that for us would be insincere.
Members attend meetings for worship not primarily from sense of duty, but because they want and need to do so. For this reason the meeting for worship is the core of the Society’s life. It aims to be a gathering of people with one another in love and tenderness, sympathy and understanding, far removed from a casual, shallow passing encounter.
Nearly everyone at some time in their lives seems to want to find God for themselves, even those who find it difficult or impossible to believe that God exists. This may be because of some moving experience or because of some particular problem. No matter what is pressing on your mind at the moment, bring it with you into the silent meeting and allow your spirit to be united with the Eternal Spirit. Rather than having a predetermined program, the silence will be broken when one of those present feels that he or she has something to contribute, which will deepen and enrich the spirit of worship. Anyone is free to speak, pray, read or sing, providing that he or she does so in a response to a prompting of the Spirit, which comes to him or her in the course of the meeting. The silence is broken for the moment but is not interrupted. In the quietness of the Friends’ Meeting those present can become aware of a deep and powerful Spirit of Love and Truth that transcends their ordinary experience. United in love and strengthened by truth, the worshippers enter into a new level of living despite the different ways in which they may account for this life’s expanding experience.
When attending Friends meetings, go in as soon as you are ready. It is a good thing if meetings can settle down a few minutes before the appointed time.
The meeting closes around 12:00 noon. At the close of worship those present are given the opportunity to share after thoughts and sometimes sing a song or two. Traditionally Friends shake hands and greet one another at the close of worship.