About Our Meeting for Worship
Please join us at San Francisco Friends Meeting for unprogrammed meeting for worship: we gather Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. and Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m.
Our meeting for worship, which is at the core of Quaker practice, is focused on the response of the human spirit to the call of the Divine. Worship begins when the first worshippers settle into the silence in the main meeting room. Some people arrive before the appointed time and begin to worship, so please enter the worship room quietly. Worship ends when the Clerk of the meeting shakes the hand of another person seated nearby. At that signal, people generally shake hands and greet each other.
Many of us find it helpful to close our eyes for most or all of the worship hour to reduce distractions and increase our focus on the presence of God among us. During worship people may meditate, pray silently, inwardly offer praise or thanksgiving or confession to the Spirit, or reflect on a passage from the Bible or other spiritual reading. In our corporate worship, we seek communion with God. We wait and listen together, seeking divine guidance or inspiration from a source known among us by many names: Wisdom, the Light, the Inward Christ, the Seed, the Word, Jesus, the Lord.
We also profit from texts, including Faith and Practice published by Pacific Yearly Meeting. Once a month we read the Advices and Queries for that month taken from Faith and Practice.
"Friendly" Advice for First-Time Visitors
Visitors are welcome to join us for Meeting For Worship Sundays from 11am until Noon, Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. For those new to Friends or Unprogrammed worship we offer an Orientation to Meeting For Worship at 10:40 every Sunday.
You are encouraged to sign our guestbook and wear a name tag so that we might greet you after the rise of meeting.
AS A COURTESY, PLEASE TURN OFF ALL ELECTRONIC DEVICES BEFORE ENTERING OUR MEETING HOUSE. If you are a medical professional or required to be "on call" during the service, please set your pagers or cell phones to silent operation mode.
Unprogrammed meeting for worship is a wonderful time of prayer and worship for many, yet the silence and absence of structured activity during meeting can be challenging for some. Please arrive prepared to listen patiently in the stillness of our gathering.
YOUR CHILDREN ARE WELCOME
Please see the separate Welcome to Children page.
We offer a First Day School for children during Meeting For Worship. Children generally sit in Meeting For Worship with parents/guardians for the first 15 minutes, and then leave to attend activities upstairs for the remainder of the time. Children may stay for the entire Meeting for Worship if they or their parents/guardians choose.
If you are bringing children or youngsters, please introduce yourself to a member of the Welcoming Committee in the lobby. They will introduce you to our child care providers.