quaker meetings

Some of my ancestors were Quakers way back when in the Lake District. One of my daughters is also interested in them, I think they have a lot of prayer at their Meeting houses. Good people.

My good friend goes regularly to the Quaker meetings and find them a great comfort… Very peaceful, she tells me…

I don't know anything about Quakers but think it's great that you're open minded enough to try something different, I hope you find it fulfilling.

Why not give it a go? Quakers are at least pacifists and I think we need all of those we can get these days...

red1

Im thinking of visiting a quaker meeting anyone have any experience,ive read a brief background in the beliefs but they seem a little lofty? i guess that applies to all religions, but then some say quakerism is not a religion, im confused!

Dear friends of ours were quakers. They were the most down to earth people; and also incredibly kind and non-judgemental.

I never went to Quaker meetings but I often saw both at other meetings in multiple different contexts. Listening respectfully; inclusive, courteous, positive.

When George died I went to his quaker funeral at the crematorium. We all went in and sat down quietly. There was no minister, leader, or person in charge. No service, prayers readings music. From time to time, someone would stand up and say a bit about George then sit down. Informal; sometimes serious, sometimes funny (just like G himself).
Some spoke, some did not. So peaceful, thoughtful. The goodness of George was palpable in that meeting of people, just as it had been every time I was with him. .

From George when he told me he was dying.

" The way I see it, this cancer is going to die of George".

One of my grandparents was a Quaker. I went to a meeting once as a child and it was very quiet, calm and peaceful. As butterandjam says, if you feel moved to speak, you can. "Lofty" is not a word I would ever use to describe Quakers or their meetings. The opposite, really.

My grandparents were Quakers - G'pa was a conscientious objector during WW1.
My dad was mainly a Methodist but also a member of the Quakers and attended meetings quite regularly. Mum reckonned it was just to get some peace and quiet but it meant a lot to him. His Methodist Minister also sometimes attended.

thanks for replies, the tenets of quakerism are, truth, equality, simplicity and peace, in this crazy, broken world they don't seem achievable or practical ,that why i used the word, lofty.

They seem eminently achievable to me, and therefore very practical. The problem is some people are not even willing to try...

I come from a Quaker family and there seem to be a great deal of myths about what they practise and believe.

They meet for worship in a Quaker meeting house and there is no form of clergy leading the meeting. The meeting lasts an hour and is silent except for when the spirit moves someone to stand up and speak. The meetings are run by elders who are regular attenders but they do not lead prayers or hymns. That is very briefly what happens in a meeting.

My father was an elder and like all Quakers, he was anti violence and a pacifist. There is no form of baptism but attenders can become members at sixteen. I was married in a Quaker meeting house and the was no officiating priest, we stood and said our vows in front of an officiating Quaker registrar, our guests and the members of the meeting.

Many Quakers are vegetarian or vegan.

A fuller explanation of The Religious Society of Friends' (Quakers) beliefs is available online.

They are free church Christians. I don't think that the aims of Quakerism are any loftier than other religions many of which are far more doctrinaire and prescriptive.

I don’t have any religion but surely truth, equality, simplicity and peace sound like wonderful things to try and attain

I regularly attend a C of E church. Sometimes I go to a mid week Quaker meeting. It is half an hour of silence which I use to pray and just to 'be'. Not all Quakers are Christians but a lot are.

I went to Quaker meetings some years ago, occasionally only (when my children were small and a meeting house let a group of us meet there for play) and then i went back after we went into Iraq. I was drawn there by my "swords into ploughshares" feeling. This group meet in a local Anglican church "lobby" area.

It was simply a quiet hour of personal thought/meditation and internal conversation with our God (with occasionally a thought spoken aloud).

Some of the nicest people I ever knew were Quakers - I really felt they lived a life of genuine kindness.
We had a number of Quaker friends when we lived in America.
Non judgemental and warm (to a fault?) - they made me want to be a better person.

I'm a Quaker. Magenta has explained very well.
You can read all about it on the Quakers in Britain website.
I would add that no two Meetings are
the same and it would be good to try a few.
I value the quiet worship and find it uplifting. DH was a Quaker too but seldom sat through meeting. He put his beliefs into action which led him to building the community hub which is his legacy.

We have no written creed or paid ministers. There are Advices and Queries and a Book of Discipline
both packed with thought provoking and comforting writings. And the bible! We are basically Christian but non conformist.

Quakers' proper name is "the Religious Society of Friends"
commonly known as Quakers - a nickname dating from the 17th century.

Grammaretto
I had quietly wondered if you might be a "Friend" - you are (online) SO like my lovely friend, Annie, in America. It was she who truly opened my eyes to being a better person with her love and generous spirit.
🙏

red1

Im thinking of visiting a quaker meeting anyone have any experience,ive read a brief background in the beliefs but they seem a little lofty? i guess that applies to all religions, but then some say quakerism is not a religion, im confused!

For some years we volunteered to help at Xmas day dinners for the homeless/ lonely etc.
The Quaker one was the very best. So gentle, kind and most of all, non judgemental, unlike other organisations who could be.

NotSpaghetti what a lovely thing to say ☺️
I will surely disappoint in RL!😄 🤣

red1

thanks for replies, the tenets of quakerism are, truth, equality, simplicity and peace, in this crazy, broken world they don't seem achievable or practical ,that why i used the word, lofty.

" truth, equality, simplicity and peace" These are not lofty prescriptive theoretical values, they are basic aims without which people become false-hearted, discriminatory, and cruel, and relationships (personal and between sections of the community or between different communities) are tangled and antagonistic. Religions, demoninations, sects and cults which emphasise how much better their beliefs and practices are than those of other groups contribute to this.

Grammaretto

NotSpaghetti what a lovely thing to say ☺️
I will surely disappoint in RL!😄 🤣

Well of course that is exactly what she might have said!
🥰

I’m a Quaker attender. The responses on here are so helpful. I hope you will try a Meeting for Worship , I find them both peaceful and challenging!

The Quakers hzve not always opposed violence. During the English Civil War in the 17th century many fought in the New Model Army against the monarch. They adopted pacifism at the Restoration in 1660.

Whilst discussing our local church with a neighbour who was choir leader and church warden at times, she told me her husband had joined the Quakers.

She said he was a non theistic member and felt welcomed and at peace when there and had also felt they aligned with his beliefs wishes for world peace.

I have been a Quaker for about thirty years. The posts here are lovely and I think true and show what a high regard Quakers are held in. But we are just ordinary people and a funny old lot sometimes.

Quakers have a Christian heritage starting in the 17th century through the teachings of a preacher called George Fox. The insights of the early Quakers are still very much valued but we believe that though some things are eternal the way they are talked about and understood can change over time. I still use the word God but many Quakers today might use the words "spirit" or "love' instead. The Quaker book of discipline has been updated several times since the seventeenth century. It is being updated at the moment.

There are no set words or beliefs you have to hold to be a Quaker. Quakers are advised to listen to the promptings of love and truth in our own hearts and to cherish them and let them grow within us and guide us. We believe that silent listening helps us to hear what is of God in us. And we believe that there is that of God in everybody, people of all faiths and of none. We are challenged to live simply, to be truthful, to be peaceful, to treat all people as equal and to let our lives speak for us. But of course it is not easy for any of us to always attend to what love requires of us. I know I don't always do so. But I do find the Quaker way very helpful. It is the right way for me but it may not be so for everybody.