Features

What happens in a Quaker Meeting House?

Meeting houses are in most towns but Carol is commonly asked what happens in them. One curious couple in Cockermouth, who'd lived across the road from the town's Meeting House for years, say they always wondered what happened inside, but it wasn't until recently their question was answered. They attended Quaker Quest, an information evening introduced for non Quakers.

Carol goes to the Carlisle meeting house every Sunday to sit in silence for one hour. Anyone who feels an urge to speak is welcome to share their thoughts with a group of around 20 people.

Ironically it was bumping into friends in a meeting house..

...on Carol's first visit to the Carlisle Quakers that encouraged her to get involved. Brought up a Christian, a friend asked her to try the Quakers where she met lots of her friends whom she never realised were involved.

Would you know a Quaker if you saw one?

Carol says probably not. But there are clues you can look out for. Quakers prefer to live a simple life, so their homes are not likely to have the latest wide screen TV, nor will they have a gas guzzling car as Quakers try to be 'green'.

Quakers and Cumbria

Swarthmoor Hall in Ulverston was the birthplace for Quakerism. Carol says most Quakers know its history,  but non Quakers are only likely to know this fact if they're a tourist.

The site of the Carlisle Meeting House is on an old Quaker burial ground. The distinctive gravestones have been moved but a stone memorial remembering the site remains.

Quakers can't be spotted in the street so Carol says she's never had a problem explaining her faith to others. In fact, Carol wears her Quakers badge to prompt people into asking her what it means. Typically, it's been the Quaker belief that people will find the faith independently. But Carol welcomes the shift which could see more people understanding Quakers and the county where they came from.