Quaker Dimension

Prospective Parent Perspective on Meeting for Worship

The following is a copy of a letter from a prospective parent who attended a Meeting for Worship with Upper Schoolers at Friends School. He had been on a campus tour and had heard an explanation of what a Meeting is like but was having trouble imagining how it worked.

Thank you very much for arranging a time for me to visit a Meeting. I came last Thursday not really knowing what to expect. Upper School Collection, prior to Meeting, was very interesting. The teacher who spoke was outstanding. His talk on "appreciation" was masterful, and the response of your students was equally as impressive. They gave him a standing ovation that was obviously a result of their admiration and respect for him. I couldn't have come on a better day to get a chance to hear and see the interaction between the faculty and students at Friends.

After Collection, I was very anxious to go to Meeting for Worship. Once seated in the Meeting room, I was very impressed with the orderliness and quiet of the students as everyone came in and sat down. After the door was finally shut, I found myself anxiously looking around watching to see which student would begin. I had heard that people at Meeting stand up and speak, somewhat extemporaneously, about their thoughts. As I waited and watched, no one got up. The quiet was overwhelming. The minutes seemed to drag on and I became disappointed. I had taken off the entire morning from work to come to Meeting and "see" what Worship was all about. Slowly as my anticipation faded, I found that my own thoughts began wondering away in the quiet of the room. I started thinking about the Collection topic of "appreciation," about my children, their values and my expectations for them. As I drifted in my thoughts, I became less aware of the students all around and found I was no longer concerned about hearing their thoughts since I was deep in my own. Several students that morning eventually did get up to volunteer their concerns and thoughts. I was very impressed by their maturity. But by the end of Meeting, I realized my expectations had been wrong. I came expecting to "see" a Meeting and I left feeling that, on my own, I had "experienced" a Meeting.

Maybe Meeting should be mandatory in life. We each should set aside time to stop, step back and take a good look around and inside ourselves. Perhaps some of us achieve this same introspection on a daily or weekly basis, in a less formal way. Nevertheless, the value of Meeting for Worship for children and young adults in a school environment during such a critical time in their lives is now obvious to me.

Thank you once again for the experience.