Going to Meeting for Worship

By Liliane Sharpless. Germantown Friends School, 2024. 23 pages. $20/hardcover.

In 2022, the Early Childhood Quakerism Committee at Germantown Friends School (GFS) in Philadelphia, Pa., evaluated its Quaker curriculum, and this book was a result of that examination. Designed to introduce the concept of meeting for worship to young students at GFS, Going to Meeting for Worship could also be used more widely: certainly in other Quaker schools, as many students may have never attended meeting for worship before they enrolled. I also believe it could be used in First-day school at individual meetings.

The book explains the behavior expected in meeting for worship: such as sitting quietly, settling into the silence, and sharing a message. Important Quaker principles are introduced. We are told that Friends believe every person has a unique Inner Light and that everyone is equal. We are informed that meeting for worship may be held in many places, including outdoors. The book is illustrated with beautiful photographs with small wooden figures representing the students and teachers.

I have often been asked by non-Quakers, what do Quakers do in silent worship? (I was not raised as a Friend, so I remember the constant “activity” of prayers, hymns, Bible readings, communion, etc.) Perhaps it would be helpful to have a copy of this book available for visitors to introduce them to the norms and goals of meeting for worship. Many meetings have pamphlets with this information for adults, but this book would be a better alternative for young families who come to worship.

Many years ago, I arrived at meeting for worship to discover we had more visitors than Friends among us. Due to a family reunion, an invitation to join us in worship had been extended to a group with Quaker ancestry. A female visitor decided to share a message, and she began by saying she was not sure if women were allowed to speak. Although that question is not directly addressed in this book, our visitors might have benefited from other explanations. There could be many uses for this publication.

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Eileen Redden is the young Friends book review editor at Friends Journal. She worships with the Lewes Worship Group in Lewes, Del.