My Neighbor's Faith: The Friends (Quakers)

I wanted to catch an early service this morning, so I chose the 7:30 am Friends' meeting in downtown DC.

I approached the house and buzzed the doorbell.  A young man with a German accent answered.  I explained that this was my first time attending a Friend's meeting.  He brought me into room where several chairs faced each other in a circle. He was not a Quaker either, but had come from Germany to do charity work in retribution for Germany's crimes during WWII and was working with the Friends to assist with social justice work.  We shared a Friends worship service which involved sitting together in silence for about 30 minutes.

The Friends believe that since all humans are made in God's Image, that God communicates with all of them - all we need to do is listen.  So their worship services involve sitting together and listening.  If God speaks to an individual, that individual might share the message with the community gathered.  Anyone can speak, but no one has to.

The chairs facing each other reflects their view of equality.  The Friends don't have clergy in the same way that most churches do.  Instead they have councils that help make them make decisions.  I don't understand this very well yet.

My German friend and I were the only ones participating in silence with God, but there were several other people moving about the house.  The house is used for a variety of social justice related events throughout the week.  They even have a hostel there with about 30 beds.  They charge little to nothing for people who need a place to stay.  There were several people waking as I was about to leave, probably in attendance from the Women's March on Washington.


Before we parted ways, my friend asked me what had brought me out today.  "I learned about the Friends in undergrad," I said.  "I was impressed by the fact that they emphasized equality in the 1600s.  I've always wanted to visit, so here I am."  He expressed a similar sentiment, then recommended that I visit one of the larger gatherings to learn more and get a better experience of how the community worships. I expect that I will do that sometime soon.