Facts About Friends(Quakers) #25

Worship sharing

A relatively new form of meeting is ‘worship sharing’, sometimes referred to as ‘creative listening’. German Friends choose the term ‘Gespräch aus der Stille’ (conversation out of the silence), which beautifully expresses how the worship sharing is ‘framed’ in silence.
Worship sharing can be very useful for sharing personal experiences and thoughts on a specific theme. Normally the size of the group is about eight to twelve Friends. The facilitator of a worship sharing group usually asks the attenders to observe some general rules, such as: speak for a second time only after everyone has had a chance to speak once; speak from your own experience only; leave silence between speakers; everything said in the group is confidential to the group; do not comment directly on what others have said; listen with attention and do not lapse into discussion.