1. MEETING FOR WORSHIP

Selected responses from Yearly Meeting Sessions

1999

Friends noted how variable is the expectation and the response of what is received from Meeting for Worship; dry and fruitful times were experienced by all, related, perhaps to the investment made in preparation meditations or inspirational reading during the week. It is easier to go to a “prepared” service.

One F/friend spoke to the fact that the demandingness of meeting was what drew them here, and that much effort was put into being attentive and into expectant waiting; a dry time now may be because this Friend is not now bringing energy and “expectance” to worship. One Friend raised the difficulty of  expectant waiting for what? Part of the response is that we are waiting to know what God requires of us, that the Spirit may be calling us to some work not yet begun, perhaps in calling us to minister to one another, not limited to vocal ministry during Meeting.

Meeting is a corporate experience and a corporate practice.  We need to be in it for the long term, and to be willing to invite the Spirit in.  Several Friends shared their practice of willfully and consciously holding each other in the Light, especially at this time. There is a benefit from occasionally worshipping in larger (or other) groups of Friends. The experience was shared of “carrying” others during Meeting for Worship, or of being “carried.”  We recognize the value of the bonding or spiritual friendships which are developing among those who have participated in the Spiritual Nurture workshop offered by Northern Yearly Meeting; this may enrich the worship experience for all of us.

One Friend noted that each of us may feel the need for a religious community on one hand, and may also offer some resistance to being committed to that. The experience of being in a spiritual study group for 20 years was very therapeutic.

2000

Selected Response: Friends have differing responses to and interpretations for many of the terms of the queries, such as worship, Holy Spirit, communion. Some described waiting with expectation or excitement, others more with openness, seeking to be "awake," sometimes with restlessness or fear. Some wait filling the silence with prior insights, familiar passages or memories. We are at different stages of learning to be silent. One looks forward to "clarity of word and thought," and is uplifted by that of others. One misses more verbal communication, and another fears that the Divine might be spoken and not recognized. In preparation for Meetings for Worship, Friends do a variety of things; listen to music, watch an inspirational television program, think of other persons who attend now or have attended in the past, making a conscious connection with them. A parent struggles with the difficulty of readying children and finds it easier the weeks they are not here.
The Holy Spirit seems relatively free from gender in our meeting. Many of us grew up with male-oriented terminology for the divine, but it was pointed out that both male and female references can be found in the Bible. Generally if we use gender specific terms there is a discussion about it. The Divine is seen as beyond gender.
Life during the week is anchored by First Day morning. Some thought "worship" was not the best word. It was felt that Friends meetings tend to attract persons who resist hierarchy, but others felt that we will worship something whether we like it or not. Some are working for a form of communion at Meeting and in the outer world that gets down to the mystery that underlies life. Others seek communion for enlightenment or to communicate with the sacred. When we are gathered and a connectedness occurs, we're not here just as individuals. When it happens the energy is different. Some seek a safe place to feel love.
One reported at first thinking vocal ministry interrupted her meditation but has learned that if she listens, it can speak to her. Guidelines for vocal ministry were discussed; such as speaking only once, seeking to distill thoughts to their essence, and not becoming "chatty" or rambling. Sometimes it is hard to recognize a leading. We have a responsibility, when not speaking, to listen. The Philadelphia discipline urges that we not come to meeting prepared to speak or not to speak. Vocal ministries that are most meaningful are not intellectual-usually a short statement of a feeling sort. Language can be both illuminating and obscure. The silence that follows vocal ministry is a part of the ministry. "Be still and know that I am God." Sometimes a leading to speak has been discouraged by being followed too quickly by another "answering." One friend wondered, "How do we encourage vocal ministry without encouraging vocal ministers?" It is no credit to have spoken except to say "yes" to the calling to speak. It is a message for the meeting. There is a lot to ponder.
 

2001

The tone of the response to Query 1 was positive.  On the vocal ministry in the meeting, one Friend responded, “Ours is just right.”  We do not have what are sometimes called “popcorn” meetings.  Vocal ministry is puzzling and mysterious, but it is essential to the health of the meeting.  Maybe it can’t be explained.  Sometimes we are puzzled when vocal ministry sounds like announcements or anecdotes about social action, but different people approach things in different ways.  We have tried not to have announcements during the meetings, and giving people time to make announcements after meetings may help with this.

On our preparation for meeting for worship, the meeting as a whole has a midweek meeting once a month and we take opportunities to support each other spiritually.  One person meditates by gardening.  Others do reading and silent meditation.  Another does prayer and yoga in the morning.  Thinking about the people who are in the meeting and holding them in the Light also prepares us for worship.  Simply our daily lives and thoughts are worship and preparation for worship.  All these practices make us open and attentive to the meeting.

We use different terms for the divine, and no one felt that these different terms presented problems in the meeting.  One person uses the term “great spirit,” and yet remains somewhat bashful and uncomfortable about this.  It is an alias.  Another person added that it is important not to get bogged down in literalism and recommended the book Saving the Bible from Fundamentalism.  But we recognize that words can be powerful and we need to be careful how we use them.

Recognizing and nurturing vocal ministry may be a problem.  Maybe we need to especially encourage the vocal ministry of new people in the meeting.  A positive response to vocal ministry might occur within the meeting itself or after.  Being aware of Friends’ historical insistence on humility in spiritual leadings, we need to take care that our spiritual nurture is done appropriately.  We need the gifts of new insight and spontaneity, but also of tradition.

We believe that our meetings are held in a spirit of expectant waiting and communion.

2002

Vocal ministry does not need to be in the context of meeting for worship.  Friends have shared about how they know if they are led to speak or not­—several people have said that their heart starts racing, their hands get sweaty, and they know this is something that they need to say.  Nurturing vocal ministry needs to be done carefully, but it needs to be done.  When someone speaks in meeting, and a Friend encourages them following meeting, it indicates that there was a need for that message.  Lloyd Lee Wilson felt more led to speak in the time following meeting for worship, and considered that vocal ministry as well.  There have been a few times when a Friend has felt led to share during meeting, but never with the heart racing—but felt at ease to share it following the rise of meeting.  If an idea comes out of the silence, and it doesn’t go away, but keeps returning, it is an indicator that it must be a message to be shared.  One Friend wonders whether it is a fear factor that makes the heart race.  If the words are allowed to come, and the thought is not fully organized before beginning, sometimes that means the idea came from the right place.  Vocal ministry is puzzling and mysterious, but it is essential—we as individuals, seeking to be led, should not be hesitant to speak at the meeting; the idea that what I have to share is not all that profound, sometimes keeps people from speaking. Is it profound?  If I have to ask, probably not.  Meeting for worship is not something that happens to the individual, but to the faith community.  We have had some experience with mid-week gatherings for worship, which were larger than the Sunday gatherings.  What about the profound part—what to say about the Spirit calling a whole community to ministry?  Early Friends were seekers, and they were corporate seekers.  A Truth that comes to one that seems to be a Truth for more than oneself, that is something to which we are called to provide ministry.  Someone may be called to share something (profound or not), but it may need to be shared, and they need not apply the profound criteria.  One Friend suggested that the rightness of a message is sometimes known following the message, if it is shared, or if it is not.  There can be a great peace and a great release following a message if it was meant to be shared.  Likewise, there can be great discomfort of unease if a message were meant to be shared, but was not.

The other statements remind us that there is more to worship than vocal ministry; more preparation, and anticipating the meeting for worship, tends to make worship a more fulfilling experience.  It took one Friend a long time to shift from the “church” experience (where it was mostly just getting there on time) to the meeting experience, where there is even more need for preparation during the week.  Preparation can be important for most any religious service.  We noted the use of the phrase, “waiting for worship.”  What do we use to prepare for meeting?  Practicing the presence of God, or being in the presence of God, a matter of taking time to acknowledge that there is that Spirit that can enter, and be a part of me, reading of the Bible or other inspirational materials helps to focus attention.

Discussion about finding quiet times in noisy lives and noisy households, and how important ritual and routine (à la Now we Begin Again) and of the need to be thankful, and to recognize that a number of times during the day.  We recognize how important are the regular habits of quiet and recognition of God’s presence, and of giving thanks.