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There are now two separate blogs for the history of Uxbridge Quakers. These are currently under construction. One deals with the history of the meeting, with pages for each century, and the other deals with the people who came to or were associated with Uxbridge Meeting.
Please let me know if you find any bad links, or require more information.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
What happens at our meeting for worship
At Uxbridge, our meeting for worship is held on Sundays at 10.30am at the Meeting House in York Road (opposite Sainsburys). You are welcome to join us then, or if you would prefer to meet us over a cup of tea, at around 11.30 am.
It may help to give you some idea of what to expect. At Uxbridge the side door is the one which is always used on a Sunday morning... I'm not sure why, apart from the fact that the front door opens onto a narrow hall which is between the large Meeting House and the Small Meeting House (which are actually all part of the same building) and so it would be a bit awkward and confined to greet people there. A sign is put up outside the building to direct people to the side entrance, to the right of the main door.
Usually there will be someone to greet people coming into meeting, and they will know whether someone is a member of Uxbridge meeting or not. It is customary for everyone to shake hands with the person who is acting as doorkeeper.
The room where the meeting for worship is held is straight ahead. There is usually a table with a vase of flowers upon in the middle of the room, and chairs and benches are arranged around it in a circular pattern. There will be bibles and a book called Quaker faith and practice around the room. You can choose to sit wherever you like.
The meeting begins when people gather together, rather than at the stroke of 10.30am. Quaker meetings are said to be silent, but in fact, people often speak at meeting. There is no programmed worship, no hymns or readings or sermon. Instead people wait in silence, and when someone feels moved to stand up and talk, everyone listens. Sometimes they read the bible, or Quaker Faith and Practice. Sometimes they close their eyes.
Quakers have a little booklet called Advices and Queries, which contains a set of numbered questions and things to think about. Often someone will have been asked to read one of the Advices and Queries in meeting.
It isn't usual to speak more than once in a meeting, and it is definitely not usual - in fact definitely frowned upon and not really allowed - to comment on or argue with anything anyone says in meeting either at the same time, or later. Sometimes people mention the fact that someone else's ministry reflected what they were thinking about, or prompted them to think about something else, but that's really as far as it goes. People practise open listening, trying to discern the meaning for them of the things that people say in meeting.
In some meetings - which are rare - no-one says anything. Usually two or three people will get up and say something in the course of an hour. Sometimes more people will speak.
An hour passes amazingly quickly, and the elders signal that the meeting is over by shaking hands with the people closest to them, and so you hear a rustle as everyone shakes hands with the people closest to them.
The clerk of the meeting will then get up, welcome everyone, and make any announcements that have come in, and then a cup of tea and biscuits is brought in and shared by everyone.
Sometimes you will hear people thanking someone for their ministry. Then people simply chat over their cup of tea. Occasionally there is a shared lunch or a business meeting after meeting for worship, but usually everything is over by midday.
It may help to give you some idea of what to expect. At Uxbridge the side door is the one which is always used on a Sunday morning... I'm not sure why, apart from the fact that the front door opens onto a narrow hall which is between the large Meeting House and the Small Meeting House (which are actually all part of the same building) and so it would be a bit awkward and confined to greet people there. A sign is put up outside the building to direct people to the side entrance, to the right of the main door.
Usually there will be someone to greet people coming into meeting, and they will know whether someone is a member of Uxbridge meeting or not. It is customary for everyone to shake hands with the person who is acting as doorkeeper.
The room where the meeting for worship is held is straight ahead. There is usually a table with a vase of flowers upon in the middle of the room, and chairs and benches are arranged around it in a circular pattern. There will be bibles and a book called Quaker faith and practice around the room. You can choose to sit wherever you like.
The meeting begins when people gather together, rather than at the stroke of 10.30am. Quaker meetings are said to be silent, but in fact, people often speak at meeting. There is no programmed worship, no hymns or readings or sermon. Instead people wait in silence, and when someone feels moved to stand up and talk, everyone listens. Sometimes they read the bible, or Quaker Faith and Practice. Sometimes they close their eyes.
Quakers have a little booklet called Advices and Queries, which contains a set of numbered questions and things to think about. Often someone will have been asked to read one of the Advices and Queries in meeting.
It isn't usual to speak more than once in a meeting, and it is definitely not usual - in fact definitely frowned upon and not really allowed - to comment on or argue with anything anyone says in meeting either at the same time, or later. Sometimes people mention the fact that someone else's ministry reflected what they were thinking about, or prompted them to think about something else, but that's really as far as it goes. People practise open listening, trying to discern the meaning for them of the things that people say in meeting.
In some meetings - which are rare - no-one says anything. Usually two or three people will get up and say something in the course of an hour. Sometimes more people will speak.
An hour passes amazingly quickly, and the elders signal that the meeting is over by shaking hands with the people closest to them, and so you hear a rustle as everyone shakes hands with the people closest to them.
The clerk of the meeting will then get up, welcome everyone, and make any announcements that have come in, and then a cup of tea and biscuits is brought in and shared by everyone.
Sometimes you will hear people thanking someone for their ministry. Then people simply chat over their cup of tea. Occasionally there is a shared lunch or a business meeting after meeting for worship, but usually everything is over by midday.
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