Friends General Conference

Together we nurture the spiritual vitality of Friends
HOLDING ALL GOD'S CHILDREN IN THE LIGHT
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Cleveland Friends Meeting

"Love is the hardest lesson of Christianity; but, for that reason, it should be most our care to learn it." - William Penn

Welcome to Cleveland Friends Meeting (Quakers)

  • We are a community of seekers who gather for worship and fellowship on First Day (Sunday) mornings, and who attempt to carry the experience of spiritual centeredness and Divine guidance into our lives during the week.
  • All are welcome to join us as we worship in the traditional “unprogrammed” manner of Friends. We have no ritual, liturgy, creed, sermon or prepared music. Our worship consists of expectant waiting for divine guidance.
  • We seek to lead our lives according to the testimonies of Integrity, Simplicity, Peace, Community and Equality, which derive from our witness to God’s love.
  • All our activities are organized and conducted by our members and volunteers. We have no paid clergy or staff.
  • Cleveland Meeting is affiliated with Lake Erie Yearly Meeting and through it with Friends General Conference.

What is Friends' Worship Like?

Worship, according to the ancient practice of the Religious Society of Friends, is entirely without any human direction or supervision. A group of devout persons come together and sit down quietly with no prearrangement, each seeking to have an immediate sense of the divine leading and to know at first hand the presence of the Living Christ. It is not wholly accurate to say that the Meeting is held on the basis of silence: it is more accurate to say that it is held on the basis of Holy Obedience. Those who enter such a meeting can harm it in two specific ways; first, by an advance determination to speak; and second, by an advance determination to keep silent. The only way in which such a worshiper can help such a Meeting is by an advance determination to try to be responsive in listening to the still small voice and doing whatever may be commanded. Such a Meeting is always a high venture of faith and it is to this venture we invite you.

from Faith and Practice, 1955, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting

If this is your first opportunity to worship in silence, you will surely have some questions.

What can I expect?

Worship in silence is based on the expectation that the Divine teaches us inwardly. By listening with an open heart, we invite the Spirit to lead us to the deeper springs of love, energy, Light, and the Christ Within. We are practicing Christ's teaching that wherever two or three are gathered in His name, He will be present in our midst.

 What am I supposed to do?

Our spiritual task during worship is to be responsive in listening to the still small voice within, and in doing whatever it may command of us.

Here are some ways to prepare for that special kind of listening: Settle your body comfortably. Some people consciously relax the various parts of the body, in turn. Then begin to settle your mind. There are many different ways to do this. Some repeat a familiar prayer or Bible verse or a single word. Some pay attention to their breathing or heart beat. You may look at your life and ask what lessons you can draw from various incidents. You may consider your experience of the Divine, how it has touched and led you. You may pray.  

 What's going on here?

The silent periods in the worship allow the power of God's love to draw the soul to the highest level of human experience. If God gives someone a message to be shared, it may be spoken aloud for all to hear. This vocal prayer often deepens the communion and expresses the aspirations and needs of the group.

All of the things which can happen in a structured church service happen here, but inwardly, without the visible rituals. We are called into God's presence to give praise and thanks for all we have been given. We confess our shortcomings and strayings from the path God opens for us. We ask for divine assistance, and we experience the blessings of communion with God together, as a faith community.

 How does it end? 

Meeting for Worship ends with the clerk or some other designated Friend shaking hands with someone. This is the signal for everyone to shake hands and greet the people sitting nearby. Then the person who closes the meeting asks if there are people we need to hold in prayer. Time is allowed for requests.

Visitors are invited to introduce themselves, and also to sign the book on the hall table. Please join us for food and fellowship following Meeting; this is a good time to ask questions and learn more about Friends' faith and practices.

What's New

The entrance to the Meeting Room is at the rear of the Church of the Covenant. 

There is an alley off Ford Drive opposite Hessler St, which is marked one way to the east, although the alley is two-way.  Turn west into the alley. 

There is parking along the alleyway behind the church..There are signs on the sidewalk and the door marking the entrance. 

To access the entrance without encountering stairs, go past the entrance to the end of the sidewalk.

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Beginning Wednesday,  17 March from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, we will be reading aloud together from The Essential Elias Hicks

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Some of you may have taken advantage of this course last spring, but if you did not, it is being offered again from 26 April to 16 May. The course is free. The key instructor is Ben Pink Dandelion, who is an instructor at Woodbrooke Quaker Centre and frequent author of books on Quaker history and theology. A number of other scholars of the early Friends movement also participate. Many of the sessions are held at historic locations (Pendle Hill, Swarthmore Hall, Firbank Fell) so you also get a visual picture of where early Quaker history evolved.

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We are not for names, nor men, nor titles of Government, nor are we for this party nor against the other, but we are for justice and mercy and truth and peace and true freedom, that these may be exalted in our nation, and that goodness, righteousness, meekness, temperance, peace and unity with God, and with one another, that these things may abound.

Edward Burrough, 1659

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About World Quaker Day

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We are a harvest of survivors. But then, that's what we've always been."

-Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower

To Friends Everywhere:

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Worship with us!

(216) 804-3471
Worship Address
11205 Euclid Ave
Cleveland,, OH 44106
United States
Mailing Address
11459 Mayfield Road
Unit 554
Mayfield Heights, OH 44116-2363
United States
Meeting Times

Meeting for Worship: First Day (Sunday) 11:00 AM. All are Welcome!

First Day School: First Day from 11:00 AM to Noon

Soup and Fellowship following Meeting for Worship.

Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business: 3rd First Day of each month from 1:00 PM, following potluck.

Contact us at: clevequakers@yahoo.com

Officers & Committee Clerks

Jim Brinza, Clerk

Carol Laursen, Assistant Clerk

Jo Steigerwald and Scott Velardo, Co-Recording Clerks

Lynn Clark, Treasurer

Gerald Hartman, Recorder

Ministry & Care: Christopher Farrand, Clerk

Business Committee: Carol Laursen, Clerk

First Day School, Conleth Crotser, Clerk

Library Committee: Christopher Farrand, Clerk

Hospitality Committee: Tom Nowel 

Witness in the World: Rob Loftis, Clerk

Young Adult Friends: Kerri Colbert, Convenor

Fifth Monday Meal: Eric Coble, Clerk

Communications: Linda Brandenburg

Web Site Administrator: Christopher Farrand 

Trustees: Jim Brinza, Lynn Clark, Chris Farrand, Jo Steigerwald, Margaret Walden