A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

(Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held. Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Ornamentation, spires, and steeples are usually avoided. Building Conservation website, ''Quaker Meeting Houses in Britain'', article by Marion Barter, Ingrid Greenhow and Linda Monckton (2019)
/ref> When Quakers speak of a "church," it generally refers to the persons of the worshipping community, rather than the building itself.

History

Generally, Quakers believe that meeting for worship can occur in any place - not just in a designated meeting house. Quakers have quoted to support this: "Where two or three meet together in my name, there s Godin the midst of them." Therefore, theoretically, meeting for worship may be held anywhere. Before the advent of meeting houses,

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

met for worship outdoors, in homes, or in local buildings. In the late 17th century, Welsh Quaker Richard Davies (1635–1708) described his experience meeting Friends outdoors:

I went to visit ouryoung men, my former companions in profession of religion. Two of them were convinced uakers..we agreed to meet together; but none of us had a house of his own to meet in. We determined therefore to meet on a hill in a common, as near as we could for the convenience of each other, we living some miles apart. There we met in silence, to the wonder of the country. When the rain and the weather beat upon us on one side of the hill, we went to the other side. We were not free to go into any neighbours' enclosures, for they were so blind, dark, and ignorant, that they looked upon us as witches, and would go away from us, some crossing themselves with their hands about their foreheads and faces.

In 1662, John Bowne was arrested by Peter Stuyvesant for holding Quaker worship at his 1661 house in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

, then part of New Netherland. Bowne was deported to Holland and placed before a panel from the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...

. After claiming that the Dutch colony had reached a religious-freedom agreement with his community, Bowne was set free. Two years later in 1664, the British took control of New Amsterdam and promised more religious freedom for colonists. Perhaps due to the growth of the

, need for non-profit tax-exempt status, or due to discrimination, there arose a need for buildings to house meetings. In 1670, Friends in England built the first worship-purposed meeting house. The Hertford Meeting House is located in 48 Railway Street, Hertford, East Hertfordshire. This is the oldest Quaker building in the world, still in use for worship meetings. It was thrice visited by Quaker founder

George Fox George Fox (July 1624 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 13 January 1691 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English Dissenters, English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Quakers, Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as t ...

. In December 1672, while traveling in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, Fox stated that his group "had a large meeting in the justice's barn, for he justice'shouse could not hold the company." This shows that holding meeting for worship at home was common in areas where a meeting house was not available. In 1682, the Third Haven Meeting House in Talbot County, Maryland was built. This is considered the oldest surviving Friends meeting house in America. Some Friends meeting houses were adapted from existing structures, but most were purpose-built. The 1675 Brigflatts Meeting House in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England is an example of the latter. The hallmark of a meeting house is extreme simplicity and the absence of any liturgical symbols. More specifically, though, the defining characteristics of the Quaker meetinghouse are simplicity, equality, community, and peace. Though never explicitly written or spoken about, these tenets (or "Testimonies") of Quakerism were the basic, and only, guidelines for building a meetinghouse, as was seen through the continuity of the use of Testimonies within meetinghouse design. While meetinghouse design evolved over time to a standardization of the double-cell structure without explicit guidelines for building, the meeting house's reflective architecture revealed a deeper meaning. The meeting house design manifested and enhanced Quaker Testimonies and the cultivation of the Inner Light that was essential to Friends. Quakers easily moved from one place of meeting to another, but when given the opportunity to design and construct their own place of meeting, Friends infused their Testimonies in the planning, design, and construction of the building. Colora Meeting House CecilCo MD interior

Colora Meeting House CecilCo MD interior

Description

Quaker meeting houses generally lack spires, steeples, and other architectural decorations to embrace simplicity. Colonial American Quakers built meeting houses that resembled residential homes to display the building's role in the community, avoiding "churchly" ornamentation. While imprisoned for his beliefs in 1665, Quaker founder

had a conversation wherein he explained "church" terminology and derided steeples: The meeting house/church distinction is shared by a number of other non-conformist Christian denominations, including Unitarians, Christadelphians,

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(Mormons), and

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

s. Meeting Houses built in a traditional style usually had two meeting rooms: one for the main meeting for worship, and another where the women's business meeting may be held (often referred to as the women's meeting room). Meeting houses of this style usually have a ''minister's gallery'' at one end of the meeting room, where traditionally those ''traveling in the ministry'' would have sat, with an ''elders bench'' immediately in front of this. Wooden benches facing this occupy the rest of the room, often with a gallery for extra seating. Meeting houses of this style usually have high windows so that worshippers sitting in a meeting for worship cannot see outside. Meeting houses built in a more modern design will usually consist of: a large meeting room, smaller rooms for committees, children's classes, etc., a kitchen and toilets. The meeting room itself is a place for Friends to withdraw from the world. The windows are set sufficiently high that worshippers will not be distracted by the activities of the world's people outside, or in some cases they provide a view into the meeting house garden. The seating was originally long, hard and wooden. Today it is usually separate chairs but the layout remains the same – a square or rectangle facing inwards to a central table.

Examples

Australia

* Friends Meeting House, Adelaide

France

* The historic meeting house of Congénies (

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

), since 1788

Ireland

* Quaker Meetinghouse, Moate,

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

* Friends Meeting House, 4–5 Eustace Street,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

United States

* Abington Friends Meeting House, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania * Alloways Creek Friends Meetinghouse, Hancock's Bridge, Lower Alloways Creek Township, Salem County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

* Amesbury Friends Meeting House * Appoquinimink Friends Meetinghouse, Odessa, Delaware * Arch Street Friends Meeting House,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

* Arney's Mount Friends Meetinghouse and Burial Ground, Burlington County, New Jersey * Beekman Meeting House and Friends' Cemetery, LaGrangeville, New York * Benjaminville Friends Meeting House, McLean County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

* Birmingham Orthodox Meeting House, Birmingham Township, Chester County,

* John Bowne House, Flushing, New York, 1661 * Bradford Friends Meetinghouse (Marshallton Meeting House), Marshallton, West Bradford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania * Brooklyn Friends Meetinghouse and School, Downtown Brooklyn,

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

* Caln Meeting House, Caln Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania * Camden Friends Meetinghouse, Camden, Delaware * Catawissa Friends Meetinghouse, Catawissa, Columbia County, Pennsylvania * Centre Meeting and Schoolhouse, Centerville,

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three List of counties in Delaware, counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent County, Delaware, Kent, and Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex). As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

* Chappaqua Friends Meeting House, Westchester County, NY built in 1754 * Chichester Friends Meetinghouse, near Boothwyn, Upper Chichester Township,

Delaware County, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the List of counties in Pennsylv ...

* Clinton Corners Friends Church, Clinton Corners, Dutchess County, New York * Colora Meetinghouse, Colora, Cecil County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

* Conanicut Friends Meetinghouse, Conanicut Island, Jamestown, Newport County, Rhode Island * Concord Friends Meetinghouse, Concordville,

* Concord Hicksite Friends Meeting House, east of Colerain, Belmont County,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

* Cornwall Friends Meeting House * Creek Meeting House and Friends' Cemetery, Clinton Corners, Dutchess County, New York * Crum Elbow Meeting House and Cemetery, East Park, Dutchess County, New York * Darby Friends, Darby, Delaware County, Pennsylvania * Deer Creek Friends Meetinghouse, Darlington, Harford County, Maryland * Deep River Friends Meeting House and Cemetery, High Point, North Carolina * Dover, NH Friends Meetinghouse,

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

, Strafford County,

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

* East Hoosac Quaker Meetinghouse, Adams, Berkshire County,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

* East Nottingham Friends Meetinghouse or Brick Meetinghouse, Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland * Easton Friends North Meetinghouse, Middle Falls in

Washington County, New York Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,302. The county seat is Fort Edward. The county was named for U.S. President George Washington. The county is part of the Capital Dis ...

* Evesham Friends Meeting House, Mount Laurel Township, Burlington County, New Jersey * Frankford Friends Meeting House, Frankford neighborhood,

Frankford Monthly Meeting
Frankford neighborhood,

* Free Quaker Meetinghouse, Independence National Historical Park,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

* Friends Meetinghouse (Uxbridge, Massachusetts) * Friends Meetinghouse, Wilmington, Delaware * Friends Meeting House and Cemetery, Little Compton, Rhode Island * Great Friends Meeting House,

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

* Green Plain Monthly Meetinghouse, near South Charleston, Clark County,

* Greenfield Preparative Meeting House (Catskill Meeting House), Grahamsville, Sullivan County, New York * Haverford Friends Meeting, Haverford, Pennsylvania * Hockessin Friends Meetinghouse, Hockessin, New Castle County,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

* Honey Creek Friends' Meetinghouse, New Providence, Iowa * Hopewell Meeting House, Clear Brook, near Winchester, Virginia * Horsham Friends Meeting, Horsham, Pennsylvania * Jericho Friends Meeting House Complex,

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

, Nassau County, New York * Little Egg Harbor Friends Meeting House, Tuckerton, New Jersey * Little Falls Meetinghouse, Fallston, Harford County,

* Live Oak Friends Meeting House,

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

* Meeting House of the Friends Meeting of Washington, Washington, DC * Merion Friends Meeting House, Merion Station, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County,

* Mill Creek Friends Meetinghouse, Newark, New Castle County,

* Nine Partners Meeting House and Cemetery, Millbrook, New York * Oblong Friends Meeting House, in the hamlet of Quaker Hill, in the town of Pawling, Dutchess County, New York * Old Kennett Meetinghouse, Kennett Township near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania * Old Town Friends' Meetinghouse also known as Aisquith Street Meeting, Baltimore Meeting or Patapsco,

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

* Pembroke Friends Meetinghouse, Pembroke, Plymouth County, Massachusetts * Portsmouth Friends Meetinghouse Parsonage and Cemetery * Poughkeepsie Meeting House (Hooker Avenue), Poughkeepsie, New York * Poughkeepsie Meeting House (Montgomery Street), Poughkeepsie, New York * Race Street Friends Meetinghouse,

* Sandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse, Sandy Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland * Schuylkill Friends Meeting House, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania * Seaville Friends Meeting House, Seaville community, Upper Township, New Jersey, Cape May County, New Jersey, this 1716–1727 meeting house is the smallest frame Quaker meeting house in the United States. * Smith Clove Meetinghouse, Highland Mills, NY * Smithfield Friends Meeting House, Parsonage & Cemetery * South River Friends Meetinghouse,

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...

* South Starksboro Friends Meeting House and Cemetery, Starksboro, Vermont * Stony Brook Meeting House and Cemetery, Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey * Third Haven Meeting House, Easton, Talbot County, Maryland * Upper Dublin Friends Meeting House * West Grove Friends Spring Meeting House, Alamance County, NC * Virginia Beach Friends Meeting, Virginia Beach, Virginia https://www.vbfriends.org/ * Whittier First Friends Church, Whittier, California * Yardley Friends Meeting House, Yardley, Pennsylvania * York Meetinghouse,

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, York County, Pennsylvania

United Kingdom

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

* Brigflatts Meeting House, near

Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. It falls within the historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Since April 2023, it has been administered by Westmorland and Furness local authority. Th ...

* Brighton Friends Meeting House,

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

* Coanwood Friends Meeting House, in an isolated, unpopulated valley south of

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

, about east of the village of Coanwood, and about south of the town of Haltwhistle in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

* Come-to-Good Friends Meeting House,

Kea The kea ( ; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the Family (biology), family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green, with br ...

, near Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, UK. It was also known as Kea Meeting House and Feock Meeting House. * Quaker Meetinghouse, Woodhouse, Sheffield, England * Godalming Friends Meeting House, Godalming, Surrey,

* Howgills, Letchworth Garden City, Howgills, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire,

* Ifield Friends Meeting House, Ifield, West Sussex, Ifield neighbourhood of Crawley, West Sussex,

* Jordans Meeting House, Jordans Friends Meeting House, Buckinghamshire,

* Leicester Friends Meeting House * Littlehampton Friends Meeting House, Littlehampton, part of the Arun District, Arun Districts of England, district of West Sussex, England * Osmotherley Friends Meeting House, North Yorkshire,

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Alexander, William. ''Observations on the Construction and Fitting Up of Meeting Houses &c for Public Worship: Illustrated by Plans, Sections and Description, Including One Lately Erected in the City of York, Embracing in Particular the Method of Warming and Ventilating''. York, England: the author, 1820. * Butler, David, ''The Quaker Meeting Houses of Britain'', Friends Historical Society, 1999. . * Lippincott, Horace Mather. ''Abington Friends Meeting and School: 1682–1949''. n.p.: n.p., 1949. * Rose, Harold Wickliffe. ''The Colonial Houses of Worship in America''. New York: Hastings House, Publishers, 1963.

External links

Flickr site for photographs of British Friends Meeting Houses, arranged by CountyHopewell Centre Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends "Quakers
The Hopewell Meeting House was built in 1759 to 1761 and enlarged during 1788–1791.
Haverford College
''triptych'' tri-college digital library, collection of photographs of meeting houses in the United States
Randolph Friends Meeting HouseFriends meeting houses UK search
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friends Meeting House Friends meeting houses, 01 Quakerism Christian buildings and structures Types of church buildings