A meeting for worship is a practice of the Religious Society of Friends (or "Quakers") in many ways comparable to a church service. These services have a wide variety of forms, creating a spectrum from typical Protestant liturgy (one extreme of programmed worship) to silent waiting for the Spirit (called unprogrammed worship).
A Meeting for Worship may start with a query; something to think about during Meeting. The query is most of the time based on one of the Quaker testimonies. Meeting will then sit in silence for 20 minutes to an hour and a half. If an attendee is provoked to share, they can stand up and speak their mind. Attendees are encouraged to speak once "the Spirit finds you", thus meaning you should only speak if the message is good for the community and beneficial to the meeting. A traditional Quaker belief is everyone has "that of God" inside, and everyone's inner light and spirit can be shown. At a few meetings, some people will stand up and sing songs or recite poetry.
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Famous quotes containing the words meeting and/or worship:
“I would that there was nothing in the world
But my beloved that night and day had perished,
And all that is and all that is to be,
All that is not the meeting of our lips.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly rise and make them miserable.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)