{"id":167,"date":"2021-08-09T05:36:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T05:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/?p=167"},"modified":"2025-04-13T05:38:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T05:38:01","slug":"we-tried-it-a-quaker-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/2021\/08\/09\/we-tried-it-a-quaker-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"We Tried It: A Quaker Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"62fd\">This past Sunday, August 8, AJC held its first&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ajesuscommunity.ca\/aboutus.html#borrow\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cLet\u2019s Try It\u201d Sunday<\/a>. These Sundays are all about trying out one of the many Christian practices that have been developed across time and around the world since the church got started two thousand years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"7391\">For this meeting, we chose to try a practice that several of us have been pretty excited about trying: a Quaker unprogrammed meeting for worship. If you are wondering what that entails, this video from the Quakers is immensely helpful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What to Expect in Quaker Meeting for Worship\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hxjH4sa2RFI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"e4ea\">We had some people getting over a cold, so we decided to do things via Zoom this time around. Apparently, meeting over Zoom has been a common practice among the Religious Society of Friends&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.friendsjournal.org\/worshiping-online-with-friends\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">during the pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"c374\">After a brief introduction, where we talked a bit about the specific ways a Quaker meeting for worship unfolds, we agreed on a length of time we would aim for \u2013 25 minutes \u2013 and who would close the meeting with a handshake (as is the practice).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"cc30\">And then we were silent. Some people had their eyes open; some were closed. The youngest kids slipped off to play in a different room, but the older kids and the rest of us stayed. Still, in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"b139\">Silence isn\u2019t a requirement of a meeting for worship. If a friend (what one calls each other in their congregations) senses inwardly that God is urging them to say something, then they can and should share. And anyone is allowed to share \u2014 there are no educational, gender, or other constraints that must be followed. Quakers believe in the equality of all people and reject all hierarchies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"76a8\">In our group, one thing was shared near the end, and even this was only shared via the Zoom chat rather than spoken aloud \u2014 nervous to break the silence. The person shared a quote from St. Therese of Lisieux that ends: \u201cEverything is grace.\u201d It was certainly something that I needed to hear. In some ways, it reminded me of my own experiences in the Open Brethren\u2019s breaking of bread service, which historically has emphasized quietness and unprepared lay-ministering to one another. I remember as a young person often being struck by how the Holy Spirit was stirring people in similar ways during these services. (And, interestingly,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.ca\/books\/edition\/The_Growth_of_the_Brethren_Movement_Nati\/suJJAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=quaker+influence+on+open+brethren&amp;pg=PA47&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;bsq=quaker+influence+on+open+brethren\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the Quakers influenced the early Christian Brethren<\/a>&nbsp;as they developed their practices).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"409a\">After 25 minutes elapsed, we started shaking hands with one another, marking the end of the service. We then did a debrief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"306e\">There were a couple of comments reflecting on the appeal of the service to introverts. This makes a lot of sense. As someone who perhaps leans more to the extroversion side, I still found the service very moving and insightful \u2014 particularly because it consisted in silence and reflection being undertaken together. It felt different from, say, a prayer retreat, where solitude plays such an important role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"0d68\">We also discussed the challenge some of us had of corralling our thoughts in clear ways, quieting the noise to try to hear God speak. Some suggested journalling or writing while sitting in silence \u2014 I did some brief research after the service, and apparently these and other \u201ccentering\u201d practices (including reading during the service)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Quakers\/comments\/cvgtb6\/your_experiences_with_writingjournaling_during\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">are relatively common<\/a>! My sense is that each meeting has its own etiquette and that most groups are happy to be asked about what is typical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"a3f4\">The consensus was that we definitely wanted to try it again sometime! And, as much as Zoom certainly worked (and was great because it allowed a friend from Ontario to participate), we are looking forward to borrowing from our Quaker brothers and sisters again in the future and hopefully doing it in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"6a70\">Resources<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"24b4\">In addition to the video above (and other videos on that same channel), I found the following resources helpful in trying to understand what was involved in a Quaker meeting for worship and the background of it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pym.org\/faith-and-practice\/experience-and-faith\/meeting-worship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What is a Meeting for Worship?<\/a>\u00a0(Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadpodcast.co.uk\/jennifer-kavanagh-the-quaker-way-n242\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cThe Quaker Way\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(Nomad podcast interview with Jennifer Kavenaugh)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This past Sunday, August 8, AJC held its first&nbsp;\u201cLet\u2019s Try It\u201d Sunday. These Sundays are all about trying out one of the many Christian practices that have been developed across time and around the world since the church got started two thousand years ago. For this meeting, we chose to try a practice that several [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,16],"class_list":["post-167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-a-jesus-community","tag-experiment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168,"href":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacecommunity.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}