What undergirds Quaker worship

“Underlying and undergirding the unprogrammed worship of Friends is prayer; the prayerful corporate waiting which takes place in any meeting when it has centered down. As we go deeper and deeper, prayer is our task as individuals and as a group.

As those present are stirred and uplifted as a result of the silence or the ministry which comes from it, vocal prayer may provide a focusing point which witnesses to the spirit at work in the meeting. At other times a prayer may instill life into a silence which has previously appeared dead, or bring unity to a meeting whose ministry has seemed scattered and discordant, or gather up and bring into focus a number of fragmentary messages.”

— Helen G. Hole, 1962
Quaker author and educator

Today’s Invitation

When silence appears dead or your group is scattered and discordant, try vocal prayer.

This Week’s Query

How do you use silence outside of Quaker worship?

What role does it play in your daily life?

Share your response!

Read the source of today’s quote
Banner art by Mark Pratt-Russum

Authors

Maeve Sutherland

Maeve Sutherland is a communications professional who never recovered from her wonderful childhood at a Quaker elementary school. She has spent her career helping nonprofits share their stories, from schools and universities, to museums, to radio stations. As a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Maeve spent a year living in “Peaceable Kingdoms,” pacifist intentional communities around the world, where she learned that everyone has a role to play in shaping a better world. She worked as a freelance social media manager before joining Thee Quaker Project. After returning to Quakerism as a young adult, Maeve now attends Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting in Philadelphia.
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Helen Hole

Helen Griscom Hole (1906-1983) taught in the English department at Earlham College. In 1970 she was named the college’s first provost. A well-known Friend, she was the author of a history of Quaker education, All Things Civil and Useful.
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