Parent & Student Handbook, 2013-2014 - Tandem Friends School

7
Meeting for Worship
Our Quaker affiliation at Tandem Friends reflects our community's belief that spiritual reflection and
expression are essential aspects of a true education. Our Wednesday Meeting for Worship is the heart of
such exploration and expression. Whether gathering in small worship­sharing groups, in Middle or
Upper School Meeting for Worship, or in All­School Meeting for Worship, we carry to Meeting the belief
that each of us carries within an Inner Light.
Sometimes, after an initial period of settling into the silence, one or more members may be moved to
share aloud a thought, a question, an awareness. One week's Meeting may be enriched by a number of
voices; another may be deepened by unbroken stillness. Every Meeting for Worship is different, not only
because we have no liturgy or leader, but because the concerns that weigh on our minds and hearts are
continually changing.
Like our kindred Friends schools, we experience Meeting for Worship not as a method of indoctrination,
but as a natural gift of spirit. Meeting for Worship can comfort the afflicted or afflict the comfortable,
allow the Quaker testimonies of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality and Service to resonate
more fully, and provide a welcome respite from the busyness of our days. Meeting for Worship is a
cherished complement to the goals and values of a Tandem Friends School education.
"Kindness and Wisdom, with Kindness Always First"