WHAT DO QUAKERS BELIEVE?

MEETING FOR WORSHIP

The Meeting for Worship is the foundation of Quaker life. On Sundays we gather to worship with others, sitting in silence, seeking God together.

We welcome you to Meeting for Worship quietly, as you join together with others in thought, prayer and thanksgiving. Imagine you are sitting in some peaceful, beautiful part of God's creation. 

Friends meet in silence:  there are no set words or ceremonies in unprogrammed Meetings. We are asked by the guidebook, Advices and Queries, to gather "with heart and mind prepared."   

A few Friends may be moved to speak, however, our feelings can be shared without any words being spoken.  Sometimes nothing is said during the whole Meeting, although if God wants us to speak, we believe that we will be given the words to say.  One person may offer a prayer, another may read from the Bible, a third may give a message that has come during the Meeting or has grown out of past experience or study.  Thank God for the world, and for the people in it.  Tell God your worrying concerns, then release them into the silence.  In time,  you will find your own comfortable way of connecting with the "of God" spirit in each of us.  

If you leave before Meeting ends, go quietly as other Friends are still waiting on God. 

Taken from "The Quaker Way" - revised and updated by Friends General Conference. Feel free, as you read, to interchange the word God with another that suits your vision. 

San Diego Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) believes governments should be sensitive and responsive to public protests and human suffering. We favor a guarantee of adequate food, housing, health care, education and employment for all citizens and residents of the country. We are disturbed by the increasing concentration of wealth in this country and the prevalence of investment practices which enrich the few and fail to bring and benefit to the majority of the population.

The Hebrew scriptures--and Jesus' interpretations of these, the historical source of our own religious practices--proclaim that the good things of this world are intended for the support of human needs, not the enrichment of a privileged few.  Thus, an economic system can not be safely left to narrow private interests, but must subordinate these to spiritual considerations as reflected in Friends' testimonies of simplicity, equality, community, stewardship, integrity, and peace.
 

The "Occupy" movement of some years ago sought an end to the destructive and fraudulent investment practices; dysfunctional concentration of financial wealth; neglect of the public's employment, education, food, housing, and health care needs; and the corrupting effect of the financial sector's disproportionate influence in the nation's affairs. Those practices are a greater danger today.
 

We ask that everyone think seriously about the willingness of so many people to undertake the hardships and risks of that past movement. Think about those who continue today--resisting; putting themselves at risk; doing what they can to salve the deep and widespread human suffering, alienation, and distrust of our political processes.  Now is a time for us all to join in a spirit of worship and work for the best interests of the country and all of its residents--rather than the privileged few.