Ditchling Quakers

Meeting for Worship

The Nature of Meeting for Worship

Meeting for Worship is a humble waiting on the promptings of God in a worshipping group within a community of faith. It is not a dialogue or a discussion. Such a Meeting for Worship is a venture of faith, and it is to this venture that you are invited.

Meeting starts when the first worshipper arrives, sits down and waits quietly in silence to become aware of God's presence. As others come in, they share in the stillness. Though we come as individuals, our aim is a sense of communion both with the others present and with God. The silence is one of listening and of obedience. We should all be free of any advance determination to speak or to remain silent; rather, we should seek to maintain an openness to guidance by God's Spirit - a Spirit which is among us - and a willingness to share what may be given to us out of the silence.

Centring Down
You may find that the Meeting for Worship has a pattern. It begins by us allowing time for the traffic of the mind to be stilled and to be replaced by an expectant waiting and awareness. Friends call this process 'centring down'; coming to the still point of spiritual balance, where all things may be held in love, even as we are held in that greater love.

Vocal Ministry
When our hearts are still and our minds sensitive and waiting in reverent expectation, we may feel that God is calling on us, and be moved to stand and speak to the meeting.

Among a group of people expectantly opening themselves to the Spirit, a person may, imperceptibly and unaccountably, be enabled to speak a message from God. It may be that some truth long known suddenly takes on new life, or the message we receive may be completely fresh and unexpected. Others in the group may recognise the message, or find in it an answer to a situation or a development of their own experience.

However, we believe that worship is primarily communion with, and listening to, God and it is part of our discipline that we exercise restraint if we feel moved to speak. So, if you are prompted to speak in Meeting for Worship wait until you are sure that what you have to say is right, both in terms of the course the Meeting is taking and of the particular time when you speak. If you are sure you have a message to give have confidence that the words will be given you.

Friends use the expression, 'Speaking Out of the Silence', recognising that through the silence we already communicate with God and with one another. Thus worship may sometimes be in complete silence, without anyone speaking at all.

Words, when they are aglow with life, will not break the silence, but deepen and enlarge it, so it is important that we leave space between spoken contributions to allow us to reflect on what has been said. The value of what is said depends as much on the listener as the speaker. We all share a responsibility for the Meeting for Worship, whether that service be in silence or through speaking: We are all equal before God.

Close of the Meeting
As the Meeting for Worship moves towards closure we may have become aware of travelling together on a spiritual journey, and sharing the gifts of the Spirit. As we arise from worship, we can carry the sense of sacred space and time into our everyday lives.

Our worship in Spirit and in Truth is in God's hands - God is the initiator; we are the responders.

We close the meeting by shaking each other by the hand, this being initiated by two appointed Friends.

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Adapted from 'Introduction to Meeting for Worship' published by Quaker Committee for Christian and Interfaith Relations, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Friends House, Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ, United Kingdom.