id: quaker-meeting-for-worship
title: Meeting for Worship
description: >-
  A Quaker silent worship practice in which participants gather in
  expectant silence, speaking only when moved by the Spirit. Originating in
  17th-century England with the Religious Society of Friends.
source: Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
source_url: https://www.quaker.org.uk/
tags: [quaker, worship, silence, contemplation]
forked_from: null
image: null
steps:
  - headline: Settle into silence
    description: >-
      The meeting begins as participants enter and settle into silence
      without a leader or liturgy. There is no programme or hymn.
  - headline: Speak as led
    description: >-
      Anyone who feels moved by the Spirit may rise and speak a brief
      message. After each message, the group returns to silence.
  - headline: Hold the silence
    description: >-
      The meeting may pass entirely in silence, or include several messages.
      Silence is not emptiness but worship.
  - headline: Close with handshakes
    description: >-
      After about an hour, an elder turns to a neighbour and shakes hands,
      signalling the close. All exchange handshakes.
outcome: >-
  Participants experience communal worship through silence and any spoken
  ministry that arises, without liturgy or hierarchy.
practice: >-
  The discipline is the silence — do not fill it. If you speak, stand and
  speak briefly; do not debate or reply to another's message. Let the
  silence hold what is said.