The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) is a spiritual community based on the belief that every individual can have direct access to the Divine. A central unifying concept for Quakers over the past 350 years is that there is a spark of the Divine within all people. Quakers express this in phrases like “the Inner Light”, “that of God within us”, or “the Inner Christ”. By whatever name we know this Truth, our belief and our experience are that it dwells in everyone.
This is the basis of our spiritual community. Believing this we aspire to be an open and inclusive community, affirming the diversity of our individual spiritual paths while seeking that unity which transcends our human differences.
We invite you to worship with us, regardless of your ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious background, or other worldly attribute.
We are an unprogrammed Quaker meeting, meaning that we worship together in silence, expectantly waiting on the Spirit. No minister leads us; no formal prayers are said nor hymns sung; no religious symbols are displayed. During worship we pass through distracting thoughts to the still center. We wait for the Spirit to speak in and through us. Anyone may feel moved to offer vocal ministry. Sharing in the silence and the spoken word draws us closer to God.
New to a Quaker meeting for worship?
Most Quaker meetings in this part of the United States are so-called “unprogrammed” meetings. This means that our meetings for worship are not led by a minister, but are largely conducted in silence. A member of the meeting’s Ministry and Counsel closes the meeting with a simple “Good morning friends” but otherwise the meeting may be completely silent. Members and attenders are always invited to speak out of the silence with a message about their spiritual journey, but messages are not responded to directly. A message 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.