IOWA CITY FRIENDS
The Quaker movement began in England in the mid-seventeenth century as a religious protest against the hollow formalism, which many saw in the established Church of that time. George Fox, born in 1624, was the first leader of the movement.
Our History in a Nutshell
Early Quakers rejected outward aids to worship: rituals, music, and elaborately decorated churches. They believed that the love and power of God were available to all people without the help of clergy or sacraments. They stressed the potential good, the “Light of Christ,” in all persons. They lived simply. Since they believed acts should be in harmony with principles, they refused military service, strove to practice absolute integrity, and refused to give false honor to any person. They called themselves the Religious Society of Friends.
In 1656 the first Friends arrived in the American Colonies seeking freedom from persecution and a chance to spread the truth they had found.
Friends began settling in Iowa before the Civil War, organizing themselves according to tradition, into an Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends. As many Iowa Friends adopted innovations such as paid ministers and programmed meetings for worship, in the 1870’s some Friends withdrew from Iowa Yearly Meeting and organized the Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative).
Iowa City Friends Meeting began as a worship group in 1950, organized by the Kuhn and Michener families. For many years the group met in the University of Iowa Memorial Union. In 1965, Iowa City Friends joined the Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends (Conservative).
Organization
Meeting for Worship meets at 10:00 a.m. each First Day (Sunday) and continues for approximately an hour. The meeting is closed by one of the clerks, who initiates the shaking of hands. Worship is un-programmed and spontaneous. Each individual is a living part of the Meeting for Worship. Any worshiper, young or old, member or attender, may feel called to speak. Whether one is moved to speak or to keep silent, it is important that one try to be sensitive to, and guided by, the inner prompting. Friends believe that the Divine Spirit dwells in each of us and that consciousness of the Spirit is nourished and quickened by sharing in group worship. A Quaker meeting is based on reverent silence, a silence of waiting, of expectancy. When you lift your heart to the Spirit you are contributing to the common worship as well as to your own renewal.
Everyone shares the responsibility for worship and shares in its blessing.
There may be sounds and other distractions during the silence, or you may be distracted by your own thoughts. Do not worry about this, but return again and again to the center of your own being
where God is, as you quite your sages, helpful for gaining strength and direction in our daily lives.
Children are welcome to attend Meeting for Worship. First Day School for children meets at 10:00 a.m. Childcare for pre-schoolers is always provided separately.
We hold Meetings for Business each second Sunday of the month following Meeting for Worship. Meeting for Business is, in essence, a Meeting for Worship focused upon specific matters. Business is to be conducted with careful consideration for each other and with responsiveness to the will of the Spirit as we perceive it. Decisions are made according to the “sense of the meeting,” rather than by taking a vote. All members and attenders are encouraged to participate.
The Meeting has several committees: Ministry and Counsel is charged with fostering the spiritual growth of the Meeting. Religious Education plans First Day School for the children. Selection of Co-Clerks of the Meeting, Recording Clerk, Newsletter Editor, Treasurer, as well as commit- tee memberships (Ministry and Counsel, Peace and Social Concerns, Building and Grounds, Religious Education, Earthcare Working Group, and Library) usually takes place in June. Newcomers are welcome to join any committee throughout the year. (The Earthcare Working Group is a coalition of people from the West Branch Monthly Meeting and the West Branch Friends Church as well as the Iowa City Monthly Meeting.)
Other Notes
Members and attenders often organize discussion groups on topics related to spiritual life.
These discussions usually occur before Meetings for Worship or, sometimes, they occur along with a potluck lunch held on the first Sunday each month after Meeting for Worship. On other Sundays attenders take turns bringing a simple snack and/or drink for refreshment and fellowship following Meeting for Worship. Occasionally we do group singing.
The Meeting Library has books on Quakerism, books reflecting Quaker values, Pendle Hill pamphlets, American Friends Service Committee bulletins, Friends Committee on National Legislation, copies of the Discipline and Minutes of the Iowa Yearly Meeting, The Friends Journal, and other materials of pertinent interest.
No “offering” is taken in the Iowa City Friends Meeting, but a collection box has been placed on the front table for contributions at any time. Special appeals sometimes require funds beyond budgeted items and letters are sent out. The major portion of our budget goes to Iowa Yearly Meeting for support of Scattergood Friends School, West Branch, Iowa.
Yearly Meeting and Mid-Year Meeting
Yearly Meeting meets mainly for business during the last week of July into the first week of August at Scattergood School. Evening sessions usually deal with issues of peace and social concerns throughout the world. Junior Yearly Meeting, Young Friends and Adult Young Friends meet concurrently.
Mid-Year Meeting convenes for fellowship and enrichment in March or April at Bear Creek Meeting near Earlham, Iowa. This is an excellent opportunity for getting to know other Friends from Yearly Meeting and beyond. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Iowa City Friends also meet twice a year for worship and fellowship with three other Meetings (Whittier, West Branch, and Decorah) at the Eastern Iowa Gathering of Friends.
If you would like to know more about the Society of Friends, or the Iowa City Friends Meeting, click on “e-mail us” on the meeting web site:
www.iowacityfriends.iymc.org
or leave a message at (319)351-2234