Welcome to Santa Cruz Friends Meeting
True silence is the rest of the mind; and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.
-William Penn
Each Sunday morning we settle as individuals into a community of expectant silence to wait upon God, seeking to discern the movement of the Spirit among us.
This period of communal worship is more than just an absence of speaking: we seek not an empty but a living silence.
Gathered in the presence of what Friends variously call God, the Inward Light, the Christ Within, the Seed of God, the Holy Spirit, we try to quiet our minds, still our persistent thoughts, and open our hearts to the divine mystery; to be in communion with this living Presence.
We have no one minister who leads the Meeting; any of us may be called upon by the Spirit to give vocal ministry during our time together. This is not a sharing of one’s thoughts, ideas, or feelings; it’s not the time for expounding political opinions. A Friend rises as a minister to give voice to that which has come from a deeper Source; one rises because it’s no longer possible to remain seated.
After about an hour there is a time for introductions, for sharing joys and sorrows, and for announcements, and then the Meeting is over