Worship and Ministry
The mission of the Worship and Ministry Committee is to attend deeply to the spiritual life of the Meeting. Members of the committee are sensitive to this concern in their own lives and in the lives of the community.
Worship and Ministry
Worship and Ministry is responsible for the spiritual life of the Meeting. The committee attends to the spiritual needs of the community. It carefully considers ways to deepen, strengthen and enhance the quality of Meeting for Worship that supports the recognition and sharing of the Inner Light in each individual participant.
Members of the committee seek to nurture and deepen Meeting for Worship by giving attention to the quality of vocal ministry, as well as to the ministry of stillness that comes from centered, silent worship. We may at times offer guidance to ensure that diversity of expression is enriching, not divisive.
Outside the Meeting for Worship, we encourage Friends to take time to study, meditate, pray and otherwise prepare themselves to be open, tolerant, and faithful. In our monthly meetings, we consider what we have observed in ourselves and others. We strive to discern ways to best support members and attenders to be obedient to the leadings of the Spirit in their daily lives.
Meeting for Worship
A member of the committee sits at head of Meeting to begin and end the worship period. Here we hold a space where the promptings of the Divine may be experienced by all. It is hoped that by our example, all members and attenders will share the responsibility for drawing the community together in expectant waiting and prayer.
There is a guest book located at the front of the Meetinghouse, for visitors to sign so that we may have a record of your visit. To learn more about Friends we encourage visitors to inquire with any one of us and to pick up further literature from our library area.
To expand our deepening of corporate worship, we offer periodic opportunities for educational sessions on topics related to Friends’ faith and practice. Seekers Groups, Worship Sharing and the Gathering Garden are all programs that fall under the oversight of this committee. Additionally, Worship and Ministry maintains a bibliography of recommended readings for the use of the community to assist individuals in spiritual development.
Where is the Minister?
There is no hired minister at Gwynedd Friends Meeting. Friends do not feel the necessity for intermediaries between God and our selves. Through a structure of committees we all share responsibility for vocal ministry, care for each other, and work for social good. We each participate in the life of the Meeting, as we feel the call. Pastoral work is a Meeting-wide responsibility and privilege, which we all carry out by helping others and being helped, by needing and being needed, by healing and being healed.
Lives and Callings
To expand our deepening of corporate worship, we offer periodic opportunities for educational sessions on topics related to Friends’ faith and practice. One of the programs Worship and Ministry offers is a series called
Lives and Callings in which members and attenders are invited to share their spiritual journeys and how this relates to their daily work and other pursuits.
Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business
On the third Sunday of every month, at the rise of Meeting for Worship, we hold a Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business to carry out our business affairs. This work includes the care of Individuals in the community; stewardship of the physical environment; financial oversight; etc. Quaker business meetings are conducted with the same sense of the working of Divine as in our worship. All are invited to attend and participate in the Meeting for Business.
Greeting/Ushering
The Subcommittee for Greeting and Ushering provides for welcoming persons attending meetings for worship.
Documents
Download the Announcement Form
Assistance in the Event of Death
Statement in the Event of Death
Additional Coordinator Responsibilities
Welcome Brochure
Lives and Callings Sessions
Publications:
Faith and Practice
Our Quaker History, Our Faith and Our Practice: An Annotated Bibliography for Gwynedd Readings
Arthur D'Adamo, 12/22/2020