Meeting for Worship
We meet every Sunday (1st Day in Quaker-speak) for “Meeting” from 10AM to 11AM. To those not familiar with unprogrammed Quaker Meeting for Worship, it may seem strange that upon gathering at the appointed time we sit mostly in silence. We seek to worship in a living silence wherein dwells the eternal presence of God. In the silence we seek a direct connection to God that will, in turn, lead us to see that of God in our
experiences, in the world and in all persons. There is no appointed minister or programmed service, but any person present may be led, out of the silence, to provide a spirit-guided message. We never know what to expect: Some meetings may have no spoken messages while other meetings may have multiple messages. If you remain interested, then please read more…….
We gather together to open ourselves up to listening to both each other and to the Spirit. The silent seeking that takes place in the Meeting is therefore not a solitary endeavor: rather the Spirit often speaks through several people in the communion of the assembled group. Meeting members, whom we call “friends”, have found that God’s will for us is more easily discerned in the worshipful silence of the “gathered” meeting. A gathered meeting is when all persons present for the Meeting seem to coalesce into the same spiritual place. While a “gathered Meeting” does not occur every Sunday, it occurs with some regularity at Media Friends Meeting. Our experience over time, with the Divine, has led us, individually and collectively, to our Testimonies, which are what we call the ways we are led to live and act. If you are STILL interested and want to read more, then visit BELIEFS and/or TESTIMONIES.
History of Media Friends Meeting
In 1681 the Friends who settled along the Delaware River met in the home of Robert Wade in Upland and established Chester Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Other Meetings sprang up as the population grew, and in 1875 what is now Media Monthly Meeting moved to Media, the newly formed county seat, and built the present meetinghouse at 125 West Third Street. Not until 1955, however, was the name changed to Media Monthly Meeting to avoid confusion with the other Chester Monthly Meeting still located in Chester.
In 1876 a school for Friends and other students was started by members of the Meeting in a little room over a stable on Baltimore Pike. The present small brick school building next to the meetinghouse was built in 1886, with additions in 1908 and 1918. Three more classrooms and the social room were built in the meetinghouse in 1935, and the Meeting Room was remodeled to provide classrooms above it in 1957. The school offices were added in 1965. In 1990 a gymnasium, science laboratory, and additional classrooms were completed. In 2005, two additional classrooms were added in a new building on the north side of the property, the art and science classrooms in the small brick building were remodeled, the library in the meetinghouse was remodeled, and a new computer lab was added in the meetinghouse.
Sample Readings Coming Soon!