Welcome! Join us for Worship.
We are a Quaker Meeting based in Louisville, Kentucky and a branch of the Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting. Our meeting house is located at 3050 Bon Air Avenue, Louisville KY, 40205. Worship begins at 10 AM and Friends gather after worship for freshly brewed coffee and conversation.
All Are Welcome
We are a Quaker faith community that recognizes the Divine Light is present in every individual. We value and seek to practice simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality. We welcome all people — every race, spiritual history, age, socioeconomic status, nationality, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender identity, and mental/physical ability — who seek a community guided by those beliefs and practices.
Joining us for the first time
Coming to any group for the first time can sometimes be a little intimidating. We promise we are very “Friendly” . Below we attempt to answer some of basics question you may have like: What about kids? Where do I park? and What do I wear?
CHILDREN/FIRST DAY (SUNDAY) SCHOOL
During silent worship our younger humans- with shorter attention spans- are invited to participate in First Day School,-our version of Sunday school.
PARKING
Our Meeting is located at 3050 Bon Air Avenue (corner of Alanmede Ave.) Do not be shy about parking in the grass adjacent to Alanmede. Pull in and park with your front bumper facing the Meeting House to accommodate more vehicles.
DRESS
Simplicity has been a central message of Quaker discernment since its outset. As a result you will probably notice more blue jeans, shorts, and comfortable shoes on Sunday morning at our meeting house.
WHAT TO EXPECT AT OUR QUAKER MEETING (WORSHIP)
Friends gather in silence to seek divine guidance and listen to the Inner Light. During worship, one may be inspired to speak. This is our ministry. There is a living stillness that has great power. Anyone may minister. Spoken ministry comes from the spiritual depths of the collective worship, and a humbling sense that it must be shared.
We start each Meeting for Worship service at 10am each Sunday with a “settling message” from a Friend that calls us into our reflection for the hour. We then sit in Waiting Worship, speaking when we feel moved to do so, until 11am when we then share prayers, thoughts, and concerns, and introduce ourselves to the meeting.
After Meeting, we share fellowship and periodically hold community potlucks or “Second Hours” where we discuss issues relating to or of interest to Friends in the Meeting. Click below to read more about our religious practices.
“To consider mankind otherwise than brethren, to think favors are peculiar to one nation and exclude others, plainly supposes a darkness of understanding. For as God’s love is universal, so where the mind is sufficiently influenced by it, it begets a likeness of itself and the heart is enlarged towards all.”
John Woolman
Faith & Practice
The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers, is a diverse and global community. This introduction offers insight into Quaker beliefs, practices, and history, while also situating the Louisville meeting within the broader Quaker traditions.
What we believe
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) was founded in Britain in the late 1600’s. Many new sects were splitting off from the Church of England and other mainline Christian faiths. A young preacher, George Fox, had a revelation that Christ, or the Light, is within every person. We hold as the basis of our faith the belief and experience for many of us that Divine Truth and the gift of God’ s presence are available to all people in all ages. The indwelling presence of God implies the equal worth of all members of the human family and the capacity in all to discern spiritual Truth and to hold direct communion with the Divine Spirit.
Beyond that, we have collectively worked to discern certain pieces of the truth which we attempt to articulate in our Testimonies but we don’t offer creeds. Instead, we try to help each other access the Divine and work out how we should live in harmony with it.
How we practice
Our central shared spiritual experience is the meeting for worship. Friends seek to experience communion with the Divine and—through the Divine—with one another. No mediator, rite, or outward sacrament is a necessary condition of worship. All that is necessary is a seeking spirit on the part of the worshiper. When Friends gather in meeting for worship, we begin in silent expectancy awaiting the guidance and inspiration of the Spirit. This guidance is communicated directly to individuals and may be brought forward in vocal ministry. Through our shared experience of worship, we gain a clearer vision of God and God’s will for our lives.
Our History
Our Meeting
In 1937 a few Friends began to hold Sunday afternoon Quaker worship meetings. In 1964 the Louisville Friends acquired our permanent Meetinghouse at 3050 Bon Air Avenue. From the beginning, meeting members were involved in the Quaker social concerns for peace and justice.
Quaker History
The Religious Society of Friends, popularly known as the Quakers, began in the 17th century as a reaction against the hierarchy and rituals that dominated the Church of England. Founder George Fox believed each person was guided by an “inner light” to make choices pleasing to God, rather than relying on the decrees of a priest or king. Quakers also have advocated for abolition, universal suffrage, and prison reform. Their non-violent aggravation of authorities is a hallmark of their beliefs.
Upcoming Meetings, Gatherings & Events
We gather every First Day (Sunday) at 10 AM for Worship. We also regularly gather to share food, meet for business, and Quaker study. You are invited to join us in any or all of these activities.
Meeting for Worship
We gather every First Day (Sunday) at 10 AM for Worship.
Monthly Potluck
Third Sunday of the month
Bring a dish to share, or just partake of the delicious food and warm fellowship.
Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business
Second Sunday of the month
Each second Sunday of the month, members and attenders of Friends Meeting of Louisville gather at 11:30 to tend to the business needs of our community..
WE ARE PROUD MEMBERS OR SUPPORTERS
Louisville Friends Meeting does not stand alone. We are proud members and participants in the wider Quaker and Louisville communities.
Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting
Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting is a spiritual community of 17 Monthly Meetings in Indiana, Kentucky, and southwestern Ohio. A Yearly Meeting is the central organizing unit of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) with no larger body exercising authority over it. The Yearly Meeting ties the Monthly Meetings together and exists as a support organization to those Monthly Meetings
Friends General Conference
Founded in 1900, Friends General Conference is an association of local and regional Quaker organizations primarily in the United States and Canada.
Friends Committee on National Legislation
The Friends Committee on National Legislation is a national, nonpartisan Quaker organization that lobbies Congress and the administration to advance peace, justice, and environmental stewardship.
American Friends Service Committee
Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light of each person, AFSC works with people of all faiths and backgrounds to challenge unjust systems and promote lasting peace. Often found on the forefront of social movements, AFSC pursues systemic change. In their work for a better future, they focus on three strategic goals – just and sustainable peace, just economics, and just migration.
Friends World Committee for Consultation
The Friends World Committee for Consultation encourages fellowship and understanding among all the branches of the Religious Society of Friends.
They bring Quakers together in multiple ways to celebrate God in our lives, to gather the Quaker voice, build networks to address issues of our time, and to unite Friends within our diversity.
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Giving and Donations
Donations may be dropped in the box at the meeting house or mailed. In the future a link will be added for online donations.
