Quaker Testimonies
Detroit Friends Meeting (DFM) is a part of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), which encourages the spiritual searching of individual members and relies heavily on direct experience of God through Silent Worship. The heart of Quaker practice is the belief in an Inner Light, which is part of God’s spirit that dwells in everyone.
Practice at the DFM is rooted in traditional testimonies that have developed over years of practice and revelation. The Quaker testimonies are Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. For more detail about those testimonies and what they mean in practice, please see: SPICES
The Quaker Experience
Because the DFM views religion as a personal encounter with God rather than ritual and ceremony, the meeting is Unprogrammed: there is no pastor who acts with religious authority and members are encouraged to explore their own beliefs and leanings.
We meet each Sunday at 10:30 for an hour of silent worship, during which any person who feels moved to speak may do so. All thoughts and ideas are welcome and are tolerated without judgment. If someone speaks, we try to simply listen with open minds and hearts to the message. We let there be some silence before the next person speaks so the message has time to be reflected upon. If there are children present, they leave the room after the first 20 minutes to attend special programming called First Day School.
Prior to the rise of meeting someone will invite those present to share joys, sorrows, or concerns. There are then announcements, a First Day School presentation by the children, and a social time with refreshments.
The image below is an architectural rendering of the worships space within a meeting house. We currently have both face-to-face and virtual Meeting.
Conceptual rendering done by Kris Guccione from KMG Design
Quarterly and Yearly Meetings
The Detroit Friends Meeting is a Quaker gathering that meets weekly and is called a monthly meeting. There are also meetings that meet 4 times per year and one that meets in July each year. The Detroit Friends Meeting is part of the Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting and Lake Erie Yearly Meeting.
Detroit Friends Meeting is committed to being an anti-racist community of faith and action. Click here to read the Meeting’s Minute on anti-racism.