The Amazing Fact of Quaker Worship

“Some Friends are able to recall with clarity the first occasion on which they attended a Quaker meeting. While I cannot remember when or where I did so, I do have a vivid recollection of the meeting which I began to attend regularly.

It was held in a rather hideous building: the meeting room was dingy. We sat on rickety chairs that creaked at the slightest movement. The whole place gave little hope that those who worshipped there might catch a glimpse of the vision of God. It was in stark contrast to the splendour of the Anglican churches to which I had been accustomed, where through dignified ritual the beauty of holiness was vividly portrayed. However, it was in this unlikely setting that I came to know what I can only describe as the amazing fact of Quaker worship. 

It was in that uncomfortable room that I discovered the way to the interior side of my life, at the deep centre of which I knew that I was not alone, but was held by a love that passes all understanding. This love was mediated to me, in the first place, by those with whom I worshipped. For my journey was not solitary, but one undertaken with my friends as we moved towards each other and together travelled inwards. Yet I knew that the love that held me could not be limited to the mutual love and care we had for each other. It was a signal of transcendence that pointed beyond itself to the source of all life and love.”

—  George Gorman, 1973
Quaker Writer

Find the way to the interior side of your life, at the deep center of which you are held by a love that passes all understanding.

What do you value about silence?

What are the fruits of sitting in silence?

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  • George H. Gorman

    George H. Gorman (1916-1982) was a Quaker writer and active in Friends committees. In the 1940s George served as Clerk of what was then Young Friends Central Committee, now Young Friends General Meeting. He worked out of an office at Woodbrooke College in Birmingham. George moved on to work for Friends Home Service Committee based at Friends House in London and became its General Secretary in 1952. He stayed working in that role until his retirement in 1981.

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