Worship

Today in Burlington

Worship Group

Those practicing Quakerism in the Burlington Meeting House do not form a large, official Monthly Meeting but rather a smaller, practicing Worship Group. They include adults and children, and have both a variety of spiritual beliefs and social and economic backgrounds.  All are welcome.

Meeting for Worship

The Burlington Quaker Meeting House  is pleased to announce that our Worship Group meetings have resumed.    

The Worship Group gathers for Meeting for Worship at 4: p.m. on Sundays.

It is unprogrammed — people gather in silence, without prearranged prayers, readings, sermons, hymns, or musical orchestrations.

From time to time, someone might stand and speak a message that comes from the heart and is prompted by the Spirit. Following a spoken message, everyone returns to silence and examines themselves in the Light of that message.

After 45 minutes, a designated Friend (Quaker) says “Good Morning, Friends.” Then, people greet one another. After worship, there is another 10-20 minutes of socializing.

Doors open at 3:50 p.m. Check the Facebook page for cancellations.

Food and Fellowship

POSTPONED UNTIL OCTOBER

Occasionally on the first Sunday of every month, at the conclusion or “Rise of Meeting,” Friends gather in Ockanickon Hall for fellowship and pot-luck refreshments.

Come to Meeting for Worship at 9:45 a.m. and stay for Food & Fellowship starting at 10:30 a.m. It lasts about an hour.

1776

A list of the Member of the Monthly Meeting of Burlington 2nd d 12th mo 1776 can be found here.

Origins in England

Quakerism began in England about 1650 in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation. Seeking spiritual reality, these reformist found that they could experience God directly in their lives without benefit of clergy or liturgy or steepled church.

Those who practice Quakerism are called “Quakers” or “Friends” and form the Religious Society of Friends. Friends form local “Monthly Meetings.” Although they might have “Meeting for Worship” weekly, they have “Meeting for Business” monthly, hence the name Monthly Meeting. Several Monthly Meetings in close proximity form Quarterly Meetings. Several Quarterly Meetings form a regional, or Yearly Meeting.

Friends common experience of the Spirit’s presence within and among us has led us to realize that there is that of the Spirit, or something of the Divine, in everyone.

We meet in plain, unadorned rooms because we have found that, in such places, we are less distracted from hearing that the Spirit. There are no pulpits in our meeting rooms because we minister to each other. Our benches or chairs face each other because we are all equal before the Spirit.

Early Friends quickly realized that both men and women experience this presence and became the first religious group to recognize the equality of women and men before God. Consequently, since our beginning in the mid-seventeenth century, Quaker men and women have shared equally in the work of Friends, and Quaker schools have educated both girls and boys.

Because we recognize that there is that of Spirit in everyone, Friends value life as sacred and try to avoid violence. We try to find nonviolent solutions to conflicts and differences and to help others through service, the promotion of social and economic justice, kindness in daily living, and the support of each other’s search for that of God within.

https://www.fgcquaker.org/resources/silent-worship-and-quaker-values