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Miami Monthly Meeting 169 South 4th Street PO Box 731 Waynesville, Ohio 45068 (513) 897-5946 |
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Religious Education 9:30: Sunday Morning Meeting for Worship 10:45: Sunday Morning Meeting for Business 9:30: Monthly on 1st Sunday |
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Quaker Beliefs and Practices Hicksite Meetings became affiliated through the United States with Friends General Conference (FGC), which arise in the early 1900s. Miami Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) in Waynesville followed suit. FGC meetings continued the 350 year tradition of silent worship, there being no presiding pastor, priest, or minister. Friends believe that within each human being there is a divine spark or “inner Light,” and that every person is a vehicle of God. There is no creed, no prepared order of worship, or sermon. This simple Christian form of worship seeks for direct communion with the Divine without an intermediary. The sense of worship may be experienced in the awe that is felt in attentive silence on the awareness of our profound connectedness to nature and its power. In worship can be found repentance and forgiveness in the acknowledgement of God as the ultimate source of our being and the serenity of accepting God’s will. Each experience of worship is different. There is no right way to prepare for spiritual communion, no set practice to follow when worship grows from an expectant waiting in the Spirit. Worship depends far more on a deeply-felt longing for God than upon any particular practice. “Ask and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” During Meeting for Worship, a member of the group may be moved to speak out of the silence, to share a leading from God, or a prayer, a passage of Scripture, or even words of an inspirational poem of hymn. Fellow worshippers are called to listen with openness of heart and mind. Messages may be meant for a member of the gather meeting or for all in attendance. Sometimes the silence remains unbroken. After a suitable time, usually not longer than an hour, Meeting is ended by two worshippers shaking hands, followed hand shakes by all in attendance. |
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From the beginning of the Religious Society of Friends, the respect for “that of God in everyone” has led Friends to oppose war and capital punishment. Women and men have been considered equal in worship, ministry, and conducting the business affairs of the Meeting. Eighteenth and nineteenth century Friends, such as John Woolman, were early abolitionists. Many Quaker women, including Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott, were in the forefront of the women’s movement for the right to vote, family planning, and prison reform. Friends were early and strong advocates for a public education system in America. In a materialistic society, Friends strive to “live simply so that others may simply live.” Friends’ Testimonies have historically been distinctive and definitive. They are a common set of deeply held, historically rooted attitudes and modes of living in the world. Testimonies bear witness to the truth as Friends in community perceive it, truth known through relationship with God. These include peace, simplicity, community, and equality. Friends conduct business in a spirit of worship and listening. Decisions are reached only through the unity of the Meeting by utilizing a model of consensus decision-making with an emphasis on divine guidance. Some modern business practices have patterned themselves based on this Quaker model.
For more information concerning Quaker Beliefs and Practices, there are a number of resources on the web. Two sites that serve as good places to start are QuakerBooks.org and Quaker.org. Other resources can be found on the Related Links page. |
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"Do not swear oaths at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'." Matthew 5. |
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Last updated: 08/31/2010 Comments to: Webmaster |