We are Friends and friends. We are the Midlothian Friends Meeting, a monthly meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers. We are also friends who gather each week in worship, seeking the guidance of the Inner Light through simple silence. We invite you to join us.
Directions: We meet every First Day (Sunday) at 11 am in our meetinghouse on Huguenot Springs Road, 3 1/2 miles west of the village of Midlothian, Virginia off Rt. 60 (Midlothian Turnpike). We are easily accessible from state Rt. 288. Click here for more detailed instructions and a map. If you need assistance, please call and leave a message at (804) 598-1676.
First Time at Quaker Worship?
Newcomers to Quaker worship may find it a different experience from a traditional church service. We have no priest or pastor, nor is there a formal program of events. We are an "unprogrammed" meeting.
Instead of a program, we sit, mostly in silence, in rows of chairs formed in a rough semi-circle. Attenders enter, find a seat of their liking, and begin worship. For the first 15 minutes, children join their parents. At the quarter hour (11:15), the children leave and join religious education classes for the remainder of the hour. After worship ends at 12:00, we have about 1/2 hour of social time with refreshments.
What do Quakers Believe?
Quakers have beliefs, but not creeds or dogma. To Quakers (or Friends) the primary source of spiritual inspiration, and the central belief, is that each individual is endowed with a measure of the divine, called the 'Inner Light', or 'that of God'. Quakers hold that each person can experience the Inner Light in their daily lives without the need for formal creeds, theologies, or doctrines. Seeking this measure of the divine is at the heart of Quaker worship and life.
Read more about Quaker beliefs
Are you a Quaker in Disguise?
A popular web site called BeliefNet is sponsoring a 20 question multiple choice quiz that helps categorize your religious beliefs.
According to the August 13, 2001 issue of Newsweek magazine, a "disproportionate number" of respondents to the quiz identified themselves as "liberal Quakers." The article notes that the page on the BeliefNet web site devoted to Quakers has become of their top 50 links.
To find out more, and to take the 20 question 'Belief-o-matic' multiple choice quiz,click here (you will be taken out of this web site).