How to Deepen Quaker Meeting for Worship

Though many Quaker meetings happen in silence, there is a distinct feeling when a meeting really “goes there.” What can we do to encourage that experience? We talk with Friends from New England Yearly Meeting about how to deepen Quaker meeting for worship.
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⇒⇒Transcript:
Debbie Humphries: Sometimes our silence is silence, and sometimes it’s “gathered.” And when it’s gathered, sometimes there’s messages, and sometimes there are not messages, but there’s a different quality in the room, that is alive.
How to Deepen Quaker Meeting for Worship
Brian Drayton: When our meeting has tried to, has grappled with, the question of how to deepen its worship when we’re in a dry spell, a thing that has worked more than once is to take a deep breath and to ask each other-set aside some time and ask each other-what we mean by deep worship. What are we missing? What are we longing for? What do we mean by worship? And any Friend will tell you that if you get into that conversation, you’ll hear really wonderful stuff and really surprising stuff.
What is Deep Worship?
Roger Vincent Jasaitis: Deep worship in the Quaker meeting is about possibility. It’s the possibility of the Divine breaking in. And in order for that to happen, there’s a certain level of openness that has to be there-openness to that Divine.
Abby Matchette: When I feel I’m in deep worship, I feel like my feet are grounded, as if in, like, the sand; I’m on the ocean shore, and the sand has really sucked my feet in but the waves are continuing to crash at my waist or chest and that crashing-that uncertainty-my feet are just grounded.
Brian Drayton: What I feel when the worship feels deep is that there’s a sense of freedom, and openness, and complete safety. It starts, I think, with a feeling of my moving out of a sense of my own quietedness to a real awareness of the other people in the room.
Honor Woodrow: One of the things that I value so much about Quakerism in particular is the way in which I think that we are all on this journey together. In theory, I could worship at home and have as much connection with God, but our tradition tells us that we do it together, and that we can hear God more clearly when we’re in worship together. So I think I come for communion with the other people of the meeting and looking for guidance and wisdom in how to most fully do the work of the rest of my week.
Greg Williams: And maybe you’re not thinking about anything in particular, but you just have this peace, this calm, this sense that God is with me, Spirit is with me, Christ is with me-however one wants to name the Divine. And you’re quite comfortable just sitting there. And there are some days they start shaking hands and you’re like, “Oh, that was quick.”
More: fdsj.nl/how-to-deepen-worship
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The views expressed in this video are of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Friends Journal or its collaborators.

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[@veiloflight]

I have met quite a number of Quakers and have found them to be extraordinary people. I am very curious about your practices.

[@Cardozo1900]

Do quakers believe in the Christ Jesus? In the gifts of the spirit and the role of members of the church as stated in the letter to the corinthians? I'm just asking out of sincere curiosity since I just came across a quaker video for the first time. Thank you, shalom.

[@courtneyrichards3895]

M GVL For the most part yes, they do believe in Jesus. The only exception would be a Muslim Quaker, or an Atheist Quaker. They would self identify in their subcategory though.

[@swissnor]

Yes.