State College Friends Meeting
How We Worship
"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24, NRSV)
To those not familiar with Quakerism or with our manner of worship, it may at first seem strange that upon gathering at the appointed time we sit in silence, that there is no appointed minister or programmed service, and that we take no offering.
We have no sacraments or rituals because all living is to us a sacrament. We have no paid ministers because each of us should share in the responsibility of the ministry. We have no prepared prayers because our unspoken prayers are a direct communion with the infinite. We worship in a living silence where dwells the eternal presence of God.
God is, to us, not a far-off, unapproachable being, but a loving presence. Every human soul is akin to the Divine and therefore every person may in some degree understand Divine Will and respond to it as Jesus, the prophets and devout men and women of all times have done. But to attain this understanding calls for definite action on our part.
Therefore, we gather in silence to seek together a fuller knowledge of that Will and an understanding of its practical outcome for our lives. In silence we wait that God may speak; we endeavor to yield ourselves up to the Divine Will and to come into harmony with the great spiritual force of the Universe. Worship is not dependent on the outward actions of any one person, but flows through the meeting from the time the group settles into silence.
A handshake terminates the period of worship.
Effective worship requires an earnest effort from all of us to bring a sense of oneness into the meeting. We should all explore the "inner chambers" of our own souls. Frequently we become conscious of a Presence pervading the meeting. The silence may become eloquent or the impulse to share a thought may compel one of us to rise and express a message or a vocal prayer.
In a Friends Meeting anyone who feels called to speak may do so. It is well to remember, however, that the basis of our worship is silence, and that spoken messages should be brief and of a spiritual nature, not deliberately argumentative or contentious. It is not uncommon for a meeting for worship to be completely silent, and such a meeting may give worshipers a special of participation and spiritual uplift.
In this bustling world of ours, there are far too few chances for calm meditation, for sane thinking or for attaining a spiritual vantage point from which to view life in better perspective. We are reminded of the words of the Quaker poet, Whittier:
And so, I find it well to come
For deeper rest to this still room,
For here the habit of the soul
Feels less the outer world's control;
The strength of mutual purpose pleads
More earnestly our common needs
And from the silence multiplied
By these still forms on either side,
The world that time and sense have known
Falls off and leaves us God alone.
"Be still and know that I am God!" (Psalm 46:10)
"As many candles lighted as put in one place do greatly augment the light, and make it more to shine forth, so when many are gathered together in the same life there is more of the glory of God, and His power appears to the refreshment of each individual, for each partakes not only of the light and life raised in himself, but in all the rest."
-- Robert Barclay (1648-1690)
"For where two or three are gathered in my name; I am there among them." (Matthew 18:20, NRSV)
Return to State College Friends Meeting home page.