Daily Extended Meeting for Worship

Your expectations and objectives for the week.
We meet for worship after the traditional (unprogramed) manner of Friends, with the simple purpose of waiting in the Light and opening our souls to God’s love.
Some of our hopes for our daily extended meeting for worship are:
- To offer a meeting place for Friends at the Gathering who feel led to nurture their intimacy with the Divine, dedicating their mornings to divine adoration, free from the time strictures that normally surround corporate worship in modern days.
- To provide Friends with the opportunity to build a community and fellowship that will nourish and encourage them, as they seek to “wait” in the Spirit and give sustained attention to God’s presence in their souls and lives.
- To provide a grounded, centering space, where any Gathering Friend may retreat for quiet and spiritual solace during morning workshop hours, as needed.
- To have an opportunity for us, today’s Friends, to savor that power of Quaker worship that is felt when time boundaries are loosened and a larger space for experiencing God’s presence is created, which early Friends knew well.
- To be a community of devotion where the larger Gathering can be held in the Light, including the multiple activities taking place at the same time as daily extended meeting for worship.
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A list of the specific areas or topics that you expect to cover. For some workshops this might include things that the workshop will NOT cover.
We sit together in silence, with simplicity of hearts and empty hands, longing for the healing embrace of our Inward Teacher, like the little ones whom Jesus is said to have spoken of: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14.
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A rough description of the format.
"The first that enters into the place of your meeting... turn in thy mind to the light, and wait upon God singly, as if none were present but the Lord; and here thou art strong. Then the next that comes in, let them in simplicity of heart sit down and turn in to the same light, and wait in the spirit; and so all the rest coming in, in the fear of the Lord, sit down in pure stillness and silence of all flesh, and wait in the light...." (Alexander Parker, 1660)
Over the years, we have learned that the community that forms through our worship becomes a precious part of it, and that it needs attention and loving care. There is a moment for checking in after we settle at the beginning of worship, with time for introductions as needed. Before we adjourn at noon, we also have a moment where Friends can share with the group their experience of the morning.
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Specific recommendations for advanced reading, or reading assignments during the Gathering.
Friends are encouraged to follow their own leadings concerning devotional readings and practices. Reading materials dealing with Quaker worship may be particularly inspiring and helpful, especially those dealing with the spiritual discoveries of early Friends, as they boldly and faithfully ventured into the search for immediate communion with the Spirit. There are very helpful resources on the web, with important texts about Quaker history and Quaker worship, some out of print:
www.qhpress.org
www.quakerinfo.com
www.strecorsoc.org
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