People of all ages are welcome to worship with us. We try to welcome everyone on arrival and to give you, as a newcomer, some brief information before you go and sit in the meeting room.
The Meeting for Worship, though scheduled for 10.30 am starts as soon as the first person enters the room and settles into quiet worship. The Meeting ends after about an hour. The children tell us what they have been doing in Children’s Meeting and after notices we have tea and coffee. This is a good time to ask us any questions you might have. We have a well-stocked library and you are welcome to borrow books.
Leadership of a Quaker Meeting is shared widely. There are many roles which people fill for a few years at a time. Elders are responsible for the spiritual life of the Meeting and members of the pastoral group ensure that everyone in the Meeting feels cared for.
We all support the Meeting for Worship by our silence, but it is not always unbroken. Someone may rise to speak if they are, as we say, inspired or moved to do so. Ideally each spoken contribution is in keeping with the atmosphere of worship and what is said is heard in the same spirit. We talk of being ‘called to speak’. Quakers who have spoken say that they feel an irresistible urge to stand and speak, and it is then that the words come from a deep place.
Recent newcomers to our Meeting have said:
“I was deeply impressed with the Quaker approach to both spiritual and earthly matters . . . the members of the meeting are very supportive of other people’s freedom to determine their own path . .”
“I find the hour of silent worship leaves me feeling uplifted and allows me to focus on what is important in my own life and the wider world. I can’t describe it but there is something very important about sharing a silence with others. . . . . I am particularly attracted by the way they (the people at the meeting house) are welcoming but not proselytising.”