Society of Friends to gather in Batesville

BATESVILLE — A group of local Quakers will gather on Wednesday nights, starting Oct. 4, in the faculty lounge on the third floor of the Lyon Building at Lyon College. Meeting for Worship will be from 6:30-7:30 p.m., with a social time following. All are welcome to attend.

Quakers, or Friends, are members of the Religious Society of Friends, a faith that emerged as a new Christian denomination in England during a period of religious turmoil in the mid-1600s and is practiced today in a variety of forms around the world. There are Quaker Meetings in all 50 states. In Arkansas, the Little Rock Friends Meeting and the Fayetteville Friends Meeting are both affiliated with the Friends General Conference.

The focus of Quakerism is upon living in accordance with the “Inner Light.” George Fox, the founder, believed that God is in everyone. Quakers rejected any specific religious creed. Today, those who attend Quaker Meetings for Worship may have been raised in any of the world’s religious traditions, or they may consider themselves humanists. When they gather, they focus only on the sacred light within as a common foundation.

Quakers have been active in the social and political movements of their time. In the United States and Britain, they accepted the equality of women and supported women’s suffrage, were pacifists and worked to prevent war, rejected slavery and became part of the Underground Railroad. Today, Quakers, individually and through the American Friends Service Committee, focus on preventing war, creating social justice and equality, living simply, promoting environmental protection and creating sustainable societies around the world.

To reach the Lyon Building faculty lounge, park in the Brown Chapel parking lot, walk past the Nichols Building (up on the hill on the left), and the Lyon Building will be on the left. It is the building with the clock tower. The faculty lounge is on the third floor.