The Practice of Quaker Worship

by Larry Miller

Compared to other forms of worship, particularly Christian services, the traditional Quaker meeting for worship appears to be unstructured and lacking in discipline. Actually, if a Quaker meeting is to realize its potential in spiritual depth and benefit, much is demanded of the participant, and it is necessary that he or she understand the method and its requirements. There are ways of preparing for the meeting, of deliberately making proper use of the occasion, and of disciplining oneself to be an effective worshipper. Before analyzing the process of Quaker worship, however, two important assumptions must be stated, because they underlie the meeting for worship and give it meaning.

The first of these is that methods or techniques or disciplines of worship are useless in themselves. True religion is not divorced from life; it is the mainspring of living, gives inspiration, meaning, and purpose, and provides the basis of character and social responsibility. The Religious Society of Friends particularly has emphasized this throughout its history. Quality of life is what matters most, not adherence to particular forms or creeds or methods of worship. Although they were thoroughly Christian in their belief, both as to content and its expression, early Friends recognized the integrity and value of the religious beliefs of others, such as the American Indians. Friends were content to unite with the “principle which is pure…and proceeds from God.” In other words, Christian practice, whether or not formulated in Christian terms, is the primary obligation upon us, and one which is extremely difficult in a complex and largely secular society.

With this said, a second assumption needs to be stated. It is that, notwithstanding the primacy of deed in contrast to word, a framework of religious thought, a rationale for action, is inescapable and necessary for the vast majority of persons. The moment we begin to think about worship, about right and wrong, about our relationships with other people, we are within the field of theology. We can rightly downgrade theology unrelated to religious experience which becomes what early Friends called “notional,” that is, a substitute for real spirituality, but we cannot refuse to think through our religious convictions.

The Quaker meeting for worship, because it is based on “expectant waiting in silence,” on a corporate act of “holy obedience,” is inherently congenial to those who consider themselves to be humanists or agnostics. The lack of a programmed service, with the expected recitation of prayers and responsive readings and the hearing of a sermon, makes it possible for persons at widely differing stages of spiritual growth to feel at home in a Quaker meeting. Even the most mature Friends consider themselves “seekers” in some respects, and they welcome to the meeting house any honest seeker after spiritual truth and authenticity.

Nevertheless, a Quaker meeting for worship does have a structure which Friends have expressed theologically in various ways, and it is this religious framework that ultimately provides meaning and the inner disciplines for the meetings. The idea of the immanence of God has been central. It is the belief that God as loving, creative spirit is resident in all persons, and that God is working, indeed suffering, with us in the growth of character, the development of loving relationships, and the realization of a just and good society.

Traditionally the more orthodox Christian structures of thought have been employed, with God being viewed as both transcendent and immanent. But the concept of the Indwelling Spirit, as lived out by Friends and as it has been brought into worship, lends itself to contemporary Christian reinterpretations, such as those of Paul Tillich, in which God is the ground and depth of our being. And from both viewpoints Jesus of Nazareth has been considered as the highest or deepest realization of this Inner Light, and his life enables Friends to grasp the full implications of their belief in God.

In 1656 the elders at Balby in England wrote: “Dearly beloved Friends, these things we do not lay upon you as a rule or form to walk by, but that all, with the measure of light which is pure and holy, may be guided; and so in the light walking and abiding these may be fulfilled in the Spirit, not from the letter, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” It is with this attitude and focus that most Friends today approach the necessity of having some theological assumptions regarding their meeting for worship. It is worship, not within a dogmatic frame of reference, but nevertheless an exercise that presupposes the reality of God, however difficult this reality may be to understand and however differently individuals may interpret it.

An Image of a Gathered Meeting

It is from this general understanding of the nature of true worship and from long experience with the Quaker form of worship, that the participant develops an image of the “gathered meeting.” It is very important to have a feeling for the experience sought for in the Friends meeting. That experience is rarely achieved today, perhaps because we are too intellectual in our approach to worship, but, once known, the truly gathered meeting becomes a memory that gives new meaning and hope to every subsequent meeting for worship. Early Friends frequently described the experience. Francis Howgill said: “The Kingdom of Heaven did gather us and catch us all, as in a net…. We came to know a place to stand in and what to wait in.”

An inner image, or feeling of what a meeting for worship can be if we yield ourselves to the Creative Spirit, provides the most solid basis for the disciplines of the meeting, for knowing what is appropriate and inappropriate in the spoken ministry, and for overcoming fears of speaking or feelings of spiritual inadequacy. Suggestions based on the experience of Friends can be made in all these respects, but here again “the letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life.”

There is no substitute for an ever deepening sensitivity to one’s own need and to the needs of others, and for an ever widening awareness of the reality of God. The cultivation of this spiritual sensitivity and awareness is perhaps the first responsibility a Friend has to his or her meeting for worship. George Fox said: “Mind that which is pure in one another which joins you together, for nothing will join or make fit but what is pure….”

Many excellent books and pamphlets, some by Friends, have been written on the devotional life. They all call for a discipline of daily meditation and worship, for the use of existing literary resources, and for ruthlessly cutting out from one’s life those loyalties and preoccupations that divert one from this task. Friends have considered the Bible as a preeminent resource. An increasing number of Friends are also finding that retreats, with other members of their own meetings or with members of other meetings, are useful. A time of quiet or of devotional reading just before going to the meeting for worship is considered by many to be particularly valuable. A query of one yearly meeting asks, “Do your meetings give evidence that Friends come to them with hearts and minds prepared for worship?”

Having thus far considered the basis and the frame of reference for Quaker worship and the necessary individual preparation for it, we may still ask the question, What do I do in the meeting for worship? This is a valid question, and it would help a meeting enormously if every participant, member and attender alike, would recognize the validity of the question and set about not only to answer it, but to put the answers into practice. Far too many Friends come to meeting hoping that something inspirational will be said by someone else. They have lost the art of Quaker worship, which in its traditional form has never meant going to meeting to listen to what is said by some other member. A Quaker meeting demands the participation of all, not in the sense that all must share in the vocal ministry, but in the sense that all assume a responsibility to contribute to the meeting in thought and prayer.

The Settling of the Meeting

Assuming some degree of preparation in heart and mind, an initial requirement in a Quaker meeting for worship is to help the meeting to settle by settling oneself. Some Friends find it useful to repeat a meaningful Bible passage. The Lord’s prayer can be repeated. Those with good memories can repeat to themselves longer Biblical passages or selections from other religious works.

The Psalms offer many choices:

“Lord, thou has been our dwelling place in all generations.”

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

“Search me, A God, and know my heart! Try me, and know my thoughts!”

“Teach me thy way, A God, that I may walk in thy truth.”

“Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”

Douglas Steere has said that he looks around the room at each person, lifting each one up in prayer. This act establishes a conscious connection with other worshippers and reminds him of their needs insofar as these needs may be known. It may help to put one’s own needs into perspective. It is part of the process of gathering together as a worshipping group. George Fox said: “All Friends mind that which is eternal which gathers your hearts together up to the Lord and lets you see that ye are written in one another’s heart.” The meeting for worship is a corporate act, not an individual one, so it is inappropriate in a meeting for worship to read a book to oneself.

The period of the meeting’s settling varies in length. The existence of distractions and the individual state of each person have a bearing on the length of time needed for a meeting to center down and for most of those present to feel settled. The meeting may never center down, but it is usual for the silence to develop at some point a quality of expectancy, during which individuals are not conscious of the passage of time and find themselves discarding the less important concerns of their lives. Allan Glatthorn has said, “When we are deep in the grip of this quiet, our gaze turns inward, and we begin to search for ourselves. This is a time of introspections and examination.” This coming face to face with our true natures, with our strengths and weaknesses, is an important part of the worship process and is a step that we should deliberately take.

In some meetings we may get no further than this, and this should not necessarily be regretted. There are other stages, however, to which we can aspire individually and corporately. Our minds may naturally turn to some recent experience, perhaps an inspiring one, perhaps a morally perplexing one, perhaps an emotionally disturbing one. We may turn our attention to the needs and problems of a particular individual or a special group of people. In the quiet, some useful sorting out can take place; we may see the experience or problem in a new perspective; we may learn from it. We may not have considered the experience or problem a religious one; now we see its religious dimensions more clearly. Or, at the other extreme, an experience may have been obviously a turning point in our spiritual pilgrimage, and we may eagerly seize the opportunity to reflect upon it.

Another worshipper in this period of deep quiet may be meditating upon something he has read, which clarified his own religious wrestlings. In his mind he is following this through the roads of thought to which the reading leads him. If he is capable of remembering other things which have been said or written in regard to the point of his mental focus, he will find satisfaction and inspiration in the greater realization of religious truth which may gradually come to him.

A mature worshipper, with the necessary inner discipline and training, may quickly go into sustained prayer with the inward eye fixed on God, and bringing into that focus one or more of many relationships of which the worshipper is aware. She may dwell (with or without the aid of appropriate religious passages) upon her dependence on God, her recognition of the bounty, blessing and love shown her by God. She may express a humble penitence for poor responsiveness, resistance, disobedience, moral and ethical shortcomings. She may express gratitude and trust. She may have petitions to make, for herself and others, not in the spirit of telling God what to do, but in the conviction, to quote Hugh Stevenson Tiger, “that our loving concern…opens channels for the working of God’s grace which would otherwise be barricaded by our lack of loving concern.”

Vocal Ministry

Vocal ministry will reflect different stages of worship. All stages of worship have intrinsic value for individuals and, given an experience, a train of religious thought, or a sense of the reality of God, it is appropriate for anyone to speak in the meeting for worship. Because of the various stages of worship experienced by individuals and because each of us is in any case at a different point in our lifetime pilgrimage, what is said by a first speaker may have little reference to the content of worship of others, although surprisingly, especially in a close knit fellowship, there does sometimes seem to be a communication in the silence. In any case, it is a help to the meeting—and a courtesy—for all to listen to what is said, and seek to get behind the words to the real message. It is helpful, but not necessary, that succeeding ministry connect with what has previously been said, showing that the earlier messages have been woven into the cloth of the group’s meditation. Messages should be simple, brief, and non-argumentative.

Vocal ministry will vary considerably. There is what Friends have called teaching ministry, drawing “on the richness of the cultivated mind and spirit behind the words,” as Bliss Forbush has put it. Then there is the ministry of prayer which perhaps more than any other form of ministry helps deepen the meeting for worship, pulling the group together into a corporate body and relating it to the divine Source. The simple expression of feeling, as of gratitude, joy, or sorrow, is largely unused, although available even to the least articulate. Finally, there is prophetic ministry, perhaps the highest or deepest form of ministry, during which the Light does indeed seem to be coming through the individual in a direct and authentic way. What is said is not about religion; it is a true reflection, born of religious experience and insight, of the Light itself. It is the Inward Christ speaking. Most Friends greatly underestimate the range of vocal ministry that is both appropriate and helpful, and therefore leave the field to those who are the most articulate. Consequently, many meetings for worship are too intellectual in tone, lacking simple and direct expressions of the religious life.

A stranger in the meeting for worship once whispered to Rufus Jones: “When does the service begin?” “After you leave the meeting house,” was his reply. Just as depth of ethical understanding and extent of commitment to individual and social morality are qualities of life that give substance to the meeting for worship, so the meeting for worship becomes the focus for cultivating that quality of life at its best and deepest. Week after week a er week the meeting for worship may be the time when we can attempt to see ourselves and our relationships in perspective. If we literally lay moral dilemmas before God, we may hope to leave the meeting house with new insight, new determination and new commitment. This is the long-range objective, certainly not to be realized each time we worship except for the very few. But it makes the meeting for worship an important stepping stone on the road of spiritual growth. And this growth, according to Quaker conviction, is measured by how religion is lived. The final test is, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” This is an enormously challenging yardstick in a time when lip service is all too often given to religious principles and ideals and when the world is in a chaotic state for want of a true relationship between faith and practice.

LARRY MILLER is a member of Doylestown Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania. He was General Secretary of Friends General Conference from 1954 to 1971. On a leave of absence from that position, he served in South India, 1965-66, for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). From 1977 to 1985 he was assistant coordinator of Middle East programs at the AFSC, and from 1985 to 1992, assistant coordinator of the Asia programs.