Oct11
Meeting for Business
12:15 PM · Library
Autumn budget, the roof fund and a minute on the county jail.
First Day, 10:30 AM, President Street
We sit in silence.No one leads.Anyone may speak.Most weeks, few do.Then soup, in the library.
Hollow Oak is an unprogrammed Friends meeting at the edge of Glen Helen. We have met this way since 1951: about forty people, a room of wooden benches facing one another, and an hour of waiting worship that ends when two Friends shake hands.
If you have never been to a Quaker meeting
What the hour is like from the inside
You come in, find a bench, and sit. The room is already quiet. Some people close their eyes; some look out at the oaks; one or two have a Bible or a notebook open on their knee. Nobody hands you anything.
Now and then someone stands and says a few sentences. We call this vocal ministry. It might be a verse, a worry about the news, or a memory of a grandmother's hands. After someone speaks, the room usually goes quiet again for a long while, so the words can settle.
At 11:30 the clerk turns to the person beside her and shakes hands, and everyone does the same. Then we introduce ourselves, read out any news, and walk across the hall for soup.
The meetinghouse
Four walls, two oaks and a wood stove
Our meetinghouse was a dairy barn until 1951, when the first Friends in Yellow Springs bought it for $900 and a promise to keep the pasture mown. The benches came from a meeting in Waynesville that had closed.
It is still a simple room. No pulpit, no altar, no screens. In winter the stove is lit by 9:45; in summer the doors stand open and you can hear the creek.
- Step-free entrance from the gravel lot
- Hearing loop on the front two rows of benches
- Ten minutes' walk from the Xenia Avenue shops
- Open for silent sitting every weekday, 8–9 AM
Gatherings and committees
What else happens through the week
Midweek worshipWednesdays, 7:00 PMAnyone, 30 minutes
A shorter meeting in the library with the lamps on. Good for people who work Sundays, or who want the week broken in half.
Get connectedFirst Day SchoolFirst Day, 10:45 AMAges 4 to 13
After fifteen minutes in worship, children head to the porch room for a story, a question and something to make with their hands.
Get connectedMeeting for Worship with Attention to BusinessSecond First Day, 12:15 PMMembers and attenders
We make decisions without votes, waiting until the meeting is in unity. It can take a while. Lunch is provided.
Get connectedPeace and Social ConcernsThird Tuesday, 7:00 PMAnyone with a concern
Plans the Saturday vigil on Xenia Avenue, letters to Congress and our share of the Home, Inc. rent fund.
Get connectedQuakerism 101Four Thursdays each autumnNewcomers
A small group working through Faith and Practice over tea. No reading in advance, no test at the end.
Get connected
From an early Friend
Walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one.
Coming up
On the meeting calendar
Add to calendar
Oct17
Glen Helen silent walk
9:00 AM · Trailside Museum lot
An hour on the Inman Trail without talking, then coffee at the Emporium.
Oct22
Quakerism 101, session one
7:00 PM · Library
Where Friends came from, and why the benches face each other.
Nov1
Memorial meeting for Edwin Starling
2:00 PM · Meeting room
Worship in the manner of Friends, with tea after. All who knew him are welcome.
Nov22
Thanksgiving potluck
12:00 PM · Library and porch
Bring a dish and its ingredient list. Someone always brings the pie.
Nothing in that category this month.
Sit with us on First Day
10:30 AM, 416 President Street. Come a few minutes early and take any bench.