About

Who are the Quakers?

We offer this information to acquaint you with some of the characteristics of the people called Friends or Quakers; in particular the members of Storrs Friends Meeting. While there are no dogmas in Quakerism, there are three elements of our religious society, interwoven as one piece throughout our history: First is the faith and practice by which we live, second is our method of worship and third is our mission of service through which we express ourselves in the world.

Friends look for that of God in every person, and believe through experience in direct communication with the Divine Light. Ours is among the most mystical of western faiths. We seek the spiritual comfort and guidance found in a place beyond words.

We strive to live our faith by applying our beliefs to the actions we take. We are known as one of the “peace churches”, holding reverence for all life. Throughout our history we have been activists on social justice issues including many matters of social equality, economic justice, and stewardship of the Earth.

As constant seekers and ministers to one another, we strive to discern God’s will in our lives.

A Faith Based Community

Out of our worship flows a loving, supportive and challenging faith community.

• There is the friendship and joy of the weekly fellowship time and monthly potluck meals after worship.
• Children’s programs provide Quaker learning, sharing and community service experiences. Childcare is provided for all meeting events.
• We are a supportive but sensitive community in times of personal and health challenges. The Pastoral Care Committee pays special attention to these activities.
• Frequently, after fellowship or at special scheduled times we gather to discuss questions of Quaker faith and practice, from spirituality to our testimonies and social concerns. Our various committees sponsor many of these activities.
• Evenings on the first Friday of the month parents and others gather to discuss the specifics and generalities of Quaker parenting.
• For those active in a social witness the meeting provides spiritual and personal support. Our Witness Support Committee pays special attention to these activities.
• Each Fall, we hold a weekend retreat at Woolman Hill Center in Deerfield, Massachusetts. There are children’s and adults’ programs, worship, deep fellowship and good family fun.
• Late each Spring we have a picnic with conversation, swimming and games.
• We are a welcoming and affirming meeting.

Our Worship

Our worship together is a search for a direct experience of the Divine Light at our center, as individuals and as a faith community. It is hard to communicate in words this spiritual experience, and the resulting wisdom of the heart. Perhaps the following quote and poem will communicate some of this presence of the Inward Light.

“A Friends meeting, however silent, is a witness that worship is something other and deeper than words, and that it is to the unseen and eternal things that we desire to give the first place in our lives.”

- Caroline E. Stephen, 1908

“And so I find it well to come For deeper rest to this still room, For here the habit of the soul Feels less the outer world’s control; The strength of mutual purpose pleads More earnestly for our common needs; And from the silence multiplied By these still forms on either side, The world that time and sense have known Falls off and leaves us God alone.”

- John Greenleaf Whittier

How We Function

The Storrs Friends Meeting has no professional minister, or staff. Everything we do is done by members of our community, volunteering and nominated from within the community. The daily affairs and functions of our community are under the care of designated committees, some following longtime Quaker tradition and practice, others evolving with the times. As a friend in our Meeting once said, “We work like a co-op!”

This means that in the work of the Meeting each one brings their measure of the Inward Light. Any one might be tapped by the Divine to serve the group. As one of the founding 17th century Quakers once said, “There is that of God in every one”.

This also means that our method of doing the Meeting’s business goes beyond consensus. We hold monthly worship meetings to conduct our business, and try to know where the Divine is leading us in our actions. We find that we’re led in clear, powerful and sometimes unexpected ways when there’s a sense of unity among those present. An appointed Clerk serves to listen for the sense of the group and, as a seasoned Clerk from Philadelphia once said, “Call it out”.