Four Quaker meetings on the South Coast. Whoever you are, there is an open door near you.
Visiting a Quaker meeting for the first time is low-key by design. There is nothing you need to know, bring, or believe beforehand. Come as you are. Here is how a first visit actually goes.
Come a few minutes early if you can. No need to sign in, dress up, or tell anyone you are coming. Parking is usually simple; if you are unsure, the meeting will happily tell you.
Someone will quietly greet you and show you where things are. Sit wherever you like. The chairs or benches usually face one another rather than a stage.
Worship starts in stillness. There is no announcement, no music, no leader up front. Settle in, breathe, and let your mind quiet. That is the whole practice.
Mostly silence. Now and then a person may stand and speak briefly out of the quiet, sharing something on their heart. You listen; there is no discussion or reply. You are never expected to speak.
After about an hour, one Friend will shake hands with a neighbor, and everyone follows. That gentle handshake ends worship.
Often there is coffee and friendly conversation, and newcomers are usually welcomed by name. It is a good moment to ask anything. Or slip out quietly. Both are completely fine.
Pick the meeting nearest you on the Find a Meeting page for its worship time and address. You are welcome to simply show up.
Quakers (the Religious Society of Friends) hold that there is that of God in everyone, and that anyone can know it directly. There is no required creed and, in our unprogrammed meetings, no clergy.
Out of that simple conviction grow the testimonies that shape how Friends try to live. They are not rules so much as a direction of travel, worked out together and lived imperfectly. Open each to see what it means in practice.
Friends on the South Coast welcome people of every background, orientation, and gender identity, and people at every stage of doubt or belief. You do not have to have it all figured out to belong.
These trusted Quaker sources go deeper: New England Yearly Meeting, Friends General Conference, and the short videos at QuakerSpeak.
Worship happens every Sunday at each meeting. Beyond that, here are the wider gatherings the whole community is welcome to.
Held since 1888 on the third Thursday of August, the Allen's Neck Clambake is one of the South Coast's most beloved summer traditions.
Allen's Neck Friends Meeting, South Dartmouth. A community tradition since 1888.
Every Sunday at each meeting. See Find a Meeting for each meeting's time.
Each meeting also holds its own gatherings through the year, from book fairs to seekers groups. Check the meeting nearest you for what is coming up.
Quakers have gathered on the South Coast for more than three centuries. The story below is shared by all four meetings, each carrying part of it.
The Dartmouth Monthly Meeting was founded in 1699, among the oldest gatherings of Friends in the United States. From that root the meetings here grew over the following centuries: Westport (then called Coaxet) was set off in 1766, and New Bedford in 1792.
Among the meeting houses still standing are Allen's Neck, completed in 1761, and the New Bedford meeting house of 1822. In Westport, the 1813 meeting house was built under the leadership of Paul Cuffe, the Black Quaker sea captain and abolitionist, who is buried behind it.
These meetings have long been part of the region's witness for equality and peace, and they remain active, welcoming communities today.
Dartmouth Monthly Meeting founded, the root of the others.
The Allen's Neck meeting house completed.
The Westport meeting house, built under the leadership of Paul Cuffe.
The first Allen's Neck Clambake, a tradition still going strong.
The best way to reach any meeting is through its own page. Choose a meeting on the Find a Meeting page for its contact details.
This site is a shared welcome mat for the Friends meetings of the South Coast, all part of Sandwich Quarterly Meeting within New England Yearly Meeting. It is a directory and a guide for newcomers. Each meeting is independent and governs itself; this site simply helps people find the meeting nearest them.
If your meeting would like to update its listing or has a correction, please get in touch and we will take care of it.
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