March Query

LEYM ADVICES AND QUERIES: MEETING FOR WORSHIP

The most powerful ministry is a wordless radiation of the love of God.--William Taber, “What canst thou say?” Deepening Worship & Ministry, Feb, 1998.

Meeting for worship is the heart of the Religious Society of Friends. Worship is our response to the awareness of God’s presence. Go regularly to meeting for worship, including those times when feeling tired, angry, or spiritually low. Bring to worship joys, hurts, hopes and fears, and awareness of the needs of other people.

Are our meetings for worship held in expectant waiting for Divine guidance? Is there a living silence in which we feel drawn together by the power of God in our midst? What has helped us to find the quiet center and to hear the promptings of the Spirit? Can I let distractions drop away?

Prayer springs from a deep place in the heart. Vocal prayer, though it may be expressed in imperfect words, can draw those present into communion with God and with one another. What helps me find that inner place of prayer?

Do I attend worship clear of any predetermination to speak or not to speak? Do I allow a sense of unworthiness turn me away from a true leading to speak? Am I apt to speak too often, too predictably, or too soon after someone else has spoken? Do I receive the spoken ministry of others in a tender and understanding spirit, recognizing that what may not be helpful to one listener may speak to the condition of another?



From Advices & Queries, for Use by Individual Friends, Meetings, and Worship Groups (Lake Erie Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends: Ann Arbor, 2012). Find the whole document online at http://leymquaker.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/aq3f2.pdf, or in printed form in the GRFM library at the Browne Center.