Our life is love, and peace, and tenderness; and bearing one with another, and forgiving one another, and not laying accusations one against another; but praying one for another, and helping one another up with a tender hand.
Isaac Penington 1667, Quaker Faith and Practice 10.01
We are a small, active Meeting. Our members and attenders – young and not so young – are from many walks of life.
You will find that we come from diverse, non-Quaker and Quaker backgrounds to find our spiritual home here: in the silence and deepening spirituality that it nurtures and in the friendship of our inclusive community.
Our study and discussion groups explore topics such as the “How to be Hopeful”, “The Parables” and “Humour”. Others have focused on “Walking”, ”Lives and Writings of Early Quakers”, “Eastern Religions” and “Leading More Compassionate Lives”.
You can get to know us better by clicking on the tab above: “About Us” and explore our 375-year residence in Hammersmith: “Local Quaker History”.
Meeting for Worship
Everyone is welcome to join us for Meeting for Worship on Sunday mornings at 11am to 12 noon.
Quakers worship largely in silence. There is no set form of service; individuals will stand to speak briefly if they are moved to do so.
Please visit these web pages How Quakers worship and Your first time at Quaker meeting to get a sense of what Quakers Meetings are like.
See the links at the foot of this page under the heading About Quakers for more information about us.
Hammersmith Quakers and Inclusivity
From the earliest days of the Society of Friends we have been led to work against inequality and be inclusive. We believe all people are equal and there is that of God in every man.
Originally we worked for the the inclusion and spiritual leadership of women.
Over time gender equality gave way to racial equality.
Quaker discernment around LGBTQ+ inclusion used to focus on marriage. In 2021 Quakers set out an explicit affirmation and welcome for trans, non-binary and gender diverse people.
Advice and Queries is our slim volume of often quoted suggestions to help Quakers spiritually has some useful information on our approach.
Advice and Queries 16. Do you welcome the diversity of culture, language and expressions of faith in our yearly meeting and in the world community of Friends?
Seek to increase your understanding and to gain from this rich heritage and wide range of spiritual insights. Uphold your own and other early meetings in your prayers.
Advice and Queries 18. How can we make the meeting a community in which each person is accepted and nurtured, and strangers are welcome?
Seek to know one another in the things which are eternal, bear the burden of each other's failings and pray for one another. As we enter with tender sympathy into the joys and sorrows of each other's lives, ready to give help and to receive it, our meeting can be a channel for God's love and forgiveness.
Advice and Queries 22. Respect the wide diversity among us in our lives and relationships. Refrain from making prejudiced judgements about the life journey of others.
Do you foster the spirit of mutual understanding and forgiveness which our discipleship asks of us? Remember that each one of us is unique, precious, a child of God.