Welcome!

We are currently holding outdoor meeting for worship on the meetinghouse grounds at 9:00 AM and hybrid meeting for worship both in the meeting room and online at 10:30 AM.  We recommend that those who attend the in-person component of worship be fully vaccinated.  For more information or to receive the link to join online, sign up for our email newsletter here or email worship@chestnuthillquakers.org. 

Updated 11/13/2021

“Walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone.”  George Fox, founding Quaker (1656).

Our meetings for worship have no pastor or liturgy and are “unprogrammed.”  Sitting together in the centering silence of meeting for worship, we seek a communion with the Divine and each other.  We step back from the chattering world and open ourselves to the eternal Spirit that each of us can experience directly in our own way.  

As we settle into silence, we wait expectantly for the Spirit to speak to us and through us. One who feels deeply moved may rise and deliver vocal ministry.  On occasion, meeting for worship may be completely silent, and at other times may include Spirit-led messages, prayers, songs, or meditations.

We have no creed or common theology, but we have shared understandings:

• There exists something Divine that we may describe as Spirit, God, the Inner Light, Christ, or simply Love.
• We can each experience this Divine presence, and so experience continuing revelation.
• Our experience of the Divine is enhanced when we engage as a community both in our worship and in our ministry to the world.

Although Quakerism arose as a Christian sect during the Protestant Reformation, our members and attenders come from many faith backgrounds and have varied beliefs about the role and nature of both the Bible and Jesus.  As a Quaker community, we seek to “let our lives speak” through the testimonies of peace, simplicity, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship.

All are welcome to our meetings for worship, and visiting children are welcome to our First Day School program.  Visitors may wish to read our page on worship for additional information about our practices.  Newcomers might also want to view “QuakerSpeak: What to Expect in Meeting for Worship.”