Raleigh
Friends Meeting
625 Tower Street,
Raleigh, NC 27607, (919) 821-4414
All are welcome at Meeting for Worship each First-Day at 10 AM
Raleigh Friends
Meeting welcomes you to worship with us and to take part in our
activities. We meet for worship each First-Day (Sunday) from 10 AM to
11 AM.
How we worship:
We follow the "unprogrammed" style of worship. That means that we do not employ a pastor to lead our services. Attenders should expect to enter quietly and take any seat. The Meeting room is on your right, as you enter. Seats face the center. Some Friends may arrive early to sit in silence and quiet their thoughts (centering down) before the start of Meeting for Worship.
In our worship we try to keep an expectant attitude, waiting for the "still small voice" of God. Occasionally someone in Meeting will feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit to give a vocal message. Friends are urged to wait until they are sure that the prompting is genuine and then speak loudly enough that all can hear. Since we believe that "that of God" is within every person, we listen carefully to each message, seeking together for the truth. Sometimes the reason for a message may be unclear, even to the speaker, but we often find out later that it "speaks to the condition" of another listener. It is our custom that speakers be brief (not continuing beyond what they feel they are required to say), and that ordinarily they speak no more than once. Also it is our custom that a respectful period of silence follow each message. Occasionally an entire Meeting for Worship is spent in silence. The silence is spent in prayer or meditation. Friends often report that they have been enriched by meeting in the silence, or alternatively that a spoken message had a meaning for them. We have no single style of medidation, except that we expect it to be a group experience. Many of us find that worship is most rich if we sit quietly with feet on the floor, hands folded, and head bowed in expectant silence. Friends are urged to come to meeting without prepared materials, without a plan to speak, but also with an expectation that it may turn out that they are prompted to speak during a particular Meeting.
Children
Children are invited to attend Meeting for Worship, expecially the first 15 minutes of it. Then, most of them go to First-Day school sessions that last for the remainder of the hour. Visiting children are more than welcome to join in our First-Day school activities, though children occasionally choose to remain with their parents for the whole hour.
Following Meeting for Worship, at approximately 11:00 AM, the Clerk or another appointed member gives a signal of closure (rise of Meeting) by shaking the hand of a person sitting near them. All are invited to shake hands and share greetings. Newcomers will be invited to introduce themselves, and often everyone in the room introduces themselves as well. Announcements usually take about 5-10 minutes.
Refreshments
Then, at about 11:15, everyone is invited to have hot drinks, juice, and whatever snacks have been set out. This is also a social time when you can meet your fellow worshipers.
You are invited to sign out books from the library shelves in the Meeting room. You may take various pamphlets from the rack in the entranceway to the building. In addition, there are always many old issues of Friends Journal and other Friends publications that you can borrow or take.
Adult Religious Education and Meeting for Business
Depending on which week of the month it is, there is usually an optional activity during "second hour," starting at about 11:20. These may include adult-education topics, discussion, or an invited speaker. The subject is almost always announced at the rise of Meeting for Worship. Visitors are more than welcome to stay.
Second hour of the third First-Day of each month is always reserved for "Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business" (or just "Meeting for Business" for short). This is the time when Friends meet to discern a "sense of the Meeting." In other words, we gather in worship to find what it is that God calls us to decide and do. We make decisions in worship, waiting for concensus to develop. We wait until the concensus has a feeling of rightness to all members present. It is the role of our Clerk to recognize and restate our consensus in words, seeking always to make sure that each member has had a chance to be heard and that none feel a prompting to oppose the decision. The Clerk asks for reports from the Treasurer and from the convenors of various committees and from the Clerk of Ministry and Counsel (an over-sight committee comprised of Meeting members that are appointed for that task). Meeting for Business is a serious, but fascinating process. It can take a lot of time, though we are usually done in about 90 minutes.
For More Information
Information about the history of our Monthly Meeting can be found on our history webpage.
Those who want to learn more about The Religous Society of Friends are invited to borrow books from our library at the Meeting House. In particular, you might want to read a copy of "Faith and Practice." Though Friends try to avoid requiring a certain set of doctrinal beliefs (allowing Christ to speak freshly to us from the silence), we also listen closely the teachings of the Bible (especially the gospel of John and the book of James). Our "Faith and Practice" book, developed by a committee of a regional Friends organization, contains historical information, quotes from well-known members of the Religious Society of Friends, and items we call "advices" and "queries." The queries play an important role for us, especially when we choose to focus on one of them for a Second Hour meeting. The queries from "Faith and Practice" are questions that challenge us to look at our lives and practices in a fresh light, trying to follow the leadings of Christ as they apply to us today.
Our Facilities
Our Meeting House is located on a residential street not far from downtown Raleigh, NC. We meet for worship in a room that can easily seat about 50, with a maximum of about 75. Many people have commented that our octagonal worship room provides a nice atmosphere for worship, dance, or meditation. We have a kitchen, two adjoining rooms for the very young children, and two upstairs rooms for First-Day school for "middle" and "older" children. The definitions and compositions of the groups are modified, as needed, as our children grow.
We are happy to rent our facilities to other organizations that have purposes that do not conflict with Friends values. Presently we are more or less fully booked. Please ask if you want to find out if there are some times available that might work out for your organization. Our rental fees are set based on a sharing of the costs of maintenance and heating. Questions can be left on our phone answering machine at (919-821-4414).