University Friends Meeting

What are services like?
In the Religious Society of Friends we worship together in expectant silence and through spoken words. There is no human leader and no prearranged program. Each person who enters the Meeting helps to determine the depth of our worship as a group. The silent hour is a time of seeking awareness of the Divine — dropping our usual patterns of thought, analysis and worry. We wait patiently for a kind of consciousness which Quakers have traditionally called the Light. The Light may come as a new insight with regard to oneself, a deep sorrow for mistakes and wrong attitudes, an embrace of life and its joys, a new courage to face life, or power to obey the Light. This is the ministry of silence, of opening ourselves to feel the presence of the Divine Spirit with us and within all of us. The Light may also lead on to feel he or she has an insight to share with the Meeting. This is vocal ministry, and is offered in the sense and hope that the worship of others may be deepened by this ministry. After such a message, the group should have ample time to truly listen and sink back into silent waiting before the silence is broken again, if at all, during the rest of the Meeting. There is the ministry of listening, of listening behind the words that are spoken, of holding up those words to the Light, to hear that of God in the speaker. Because we value the experience of worship so greatly, we want to share it with the children of the Meeting, who join us in the first ten minutes of worship. At the end of the worship hour, someone will close Meeting with a handshake followed by introductions of newcomers.

What is the community like?
On Sunday mornings, First Day School for children is conducted by the Religious Education Committee. Frequently, there is a 9:30 a.m. study hour coordinated by the Adult Education Committee. Topics and details of these sessions, as well as other activities and programs, are included in the monthly bulletin, Gleamings. Meeting for Worship is followed by a social hour arranged by the Hospitality Committee. Light lunch is served on some weekends. Much of the business of the Meeting is carried on by committees. The Oversight Committee and the Committee on Worship and Ministry jointly carry out the pastoral work of the Meeting; membership in the Society of Friends is required in order to be a member of these committees. Both members and attenders are welcomed and needed on the Meeting's other committees.

What if I'm not a Christian?
Everyone is welcome to share in worship, whatever beliefs you may hold. Messages sometimes refer to Christian traditions and Biblical passages but often derive from other spiritual traditions.