Davidson Friends Meeting
Davidson Meeting holds unprogrammed meetings for worship, based on waiting in silence, and founded on faith that
human beings can commune directly with God. In expectant silence we strive to center inwardly. Each is aided by the seeking of others,
so that worship becomes a corporate experience.
Worship
Worship begins with the first person to sit in silent worship, and generally lasts an hour, broken by hand-shaking in greeting that is
started by a designated person. People sit where they like, and are encouraged to
leave seats closer to the entrance vacant for latecomers. Children participate for the first fifteen minutes, then leave the meetingroom to spend time
learning in First Day school or childcare.
Friends approach the meeting for worship confidently, believing that God speaks directly to us, revealing Divine Will and guiding those
who listen. Each worshiper becomes a listener ready to receive God's message, which may come in the silence or in spoken words.
The divine manifests itself to individuals in many ways.
We seek to avoid the stultification which can arise from dependence on ritual and outward sacraments.
The simplicity of Friends' worship results from an emphasis on the reality of the inward experience.
Direct communion with God - the experience of the Holy Spirit - makes the observance of outward rites unnecessary.
Worship requires discipline of mind and heart, and heeding the Holy Spirit over and above our wordly concerns.
Daily meditation and prayer, study of the Bible and other writings of spiritual inspiration, and striving to live each day
in harmony with the Divine Will help to prepare minds and hearts for the consciousness of the presence of God in worship.
(The majority of this statement has been adapted - with thanks - from text from Baltimore Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice of 1988.)