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26-577: The Brighton Friends Meeting House is a Friends meeting house ( Quaker place of worship) in the centre of Brighton , part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex , England. The building, which dates from 1805, replaced an earlier meeting house of 1690 what was then a small fishing village on the Sussex coast. Located at the junction of Ship Street and Prince Albert Street in The Lanes ,

52-639: A designated meeting house. Quakers have quoted Matthew 18:20 to support this: "Where two or three meet together in my name, there [is God] in the midst of them." Therefore, theoretically, meeting for worship may be held anywhere. Before the advent of meeting houses, Quakers met for worship outdoors, in homes, or in local buildings. In the late 17th century, Welsh Quaker Richard Davies (1635–1708) described his experience meeting Friends outdoors: I went to visit [four] young men, my former companions in profession of religion. Two of them were convinced [Quakers]...we agreed to meet together; but none of us had

78-580: A house of his own to meet in. We determined therefore to meet on a hill in a common, as near as we could for the convenience of each other, we living some miles apart. There we met in silence, to the wonder of the country. When the rain and the weather beat upon us on one side of the hill, we went to the other side. We were not free to go into any neighbours' enclosures, for they were so blind, dark, and ignorant, that they looked upon us as witches, and would go away from us, some crossing themselves with their hands about their foreheads and faces. In 1662, John Bowne

104-771: A large meeting in the justice's barn, for [the justice's] house could not hold the company." This shows that holding meeting for worship at home was common in areas where a meeting house was not available. In 1682, the Third Haven Meeting House in Talbot County, Maryland was built. This is considered the oldest surviving Friends meeting house in America. Some Friends meeting houses were adapted from existing structures, but most were purpose-built. The 1675 Brigflatts Meeting House in Cumbria , England

130-402: A meetinghouse, as was seen through the continuity of the use of Testimonies within meetinghouse design. While meetinghouse design evolved over time to a standardization of the double-cell structure without explicit guidelines for building, the meeting house's reflective architecture revealed a deeper meaning. The meeting house design manifested and enhanced Quaker Testimonies and the cultivation of

156-431: A more modern design will usually consist of: a large meeting room, smaller rooms for committees, children's classes, etc., a kitchen and toilets. The meeting room itself is a place for Friends to withdraw from the world. The windows are set sufficiently high that worshippers will not be distracted by the activities of the world's people outside, or in some cases they provide a view into the meeting house garden. The seating

182-405: A time for participants to share. Some ask for joys and sorrows; others for something a person considered sharing during worship. Pastoral meetings, as the name implies, have a pastor or minister whose job is to preach and provide pastoral care. They have programmed worship which includes many elements similar to Protestant services, such as a sermon and hymns. Many programmed meetings also include

208-453: Is an example of the latter. The hallmark of a meeting house is extreme simplicity and the absence of any liturgical symbols. More specifically, though, the defining characteristics of the Quaker meetinghouse are simplicity, equality, community, and peace. Though never explicitly written or spoken about, these tenets (or "Testimonies") of Quakerism were the basic, and only, guidelines for building

234-616: Is arranged over two storeys and is topped by a corniced pediment and a gabled roof. There are twin arched entrances in a covered porch, which has an entablature carved with the words friends' meeting house . There is one window on each side of the porch, and three round-arched windows at first-floor level; these have architraves and are connected by a long sill. The attached cottage and adult education centre are included in English Heritage's listing for their "group value"—they are considered architecturally complementary to

260-677: Is based on silence and inward listening to the Spirit, from which any participant may share a message. In unprogrammed meetings for worship, someone speaks when that person feels that God/Spirit/the universe has given them a message for others. After anyone speaks, several minutes are allowed to pass before anyone else speaks, to allow the message to be considered carefully. Friends (members of the Religious Society of Friends) do not answer or argue about others' messages during meeting for worship. Many unprogrammed meetings follow worship with

286-510: The Prince Regent , and sold the building separately; it was immediately demolished by its new owner. They used the £1,800 funds to buy a plot of land east of Ship Street for £1,000 and build a new meeting house, accessed by a narrow passageway next to two cottages which came with the land. It had an attached caretaker's cottage, and opened for worship in 1805. A large extension was added to the north in 1850; and in 1876, another extension

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312-550: The Inner Light that was essential to Friends. Quakers easily moved from one place of meeting to another, but when given the opportunity to design and construct their own place of meeting, Friends infused their Testimonies in the planning, design, and construction of the building. Quaker meeting houses generally lack spires, steeples, and other architectural decorations to embrace simplicity. Colonial American Quakers built meeting houses that resembled residential homes to display

338-438: The building's role in the community, avoiding "churchly" ornamentation. While imprisoned for his beliefs in 1665, Quaker founder George Fox had a conversation wherein he explained "church" terminology and derided steeples : George Fox : What dost thou call the church? Dr. Cradock : Why, that which you call the meeting house. George Fox : Has Christ shed his blood for the steeple-house; and purchased and sanctified

364-499: The community acquired a former malthouse and some adjoining land, which became their first permanent meeting house and a burial ground respectively. This stood near the junction of North Street and New Road, where the Pavilion Theatre now stands. When some pleasure gardens were laid out next to the meeting house in the 1790s, the community sold its grounds (known as Quaker's Croft and extending to 1 acre (0.40 ha)) to

390-435: The extension on two sides. Friends meeting house Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Ornamentation, spires, and steeples are usually avoided. When Quakers speak of a "church," it generally refers to the persons of the worshipping community, rather than the building itself. Generally, Quakers believe that meeting for worship can occur in any place - not just in

416-694: The growth of the Religious Society of Friends , or due to discrimination, there arose a need for buildings to house meetings. In 1670, Friends in England built the first worship-purposed meeting house. The Hertford Meeting House is located in 48 Railway Street, Hertford, East Hertfordshire. This is the oldest Quaker building in the world, still in use for worship meetings. It was thrice visited by Quaker founder George Fox . In December 1672, while traveling in Wales , Fox stated that his group "had

442-521: The heart of Brighton's "old town" area, its architectural and historic importance has been recognised by English Heritage 's granting of Grade II listed status . The Quaker community in Brighton had been prevented from congregating in public by the 1664 Conventicle Act , but some freedom was granted after the Act of Toleration 1689 was passed under William III and Mary II 's joint sovereignty. By 1690,

468-420: The meeting house. The cottage is on the south side of the meeting house, and has a slate roof and exterior Flemish bond brickwork decorated with flint and stone dressings. The 1876 extension, on the left (north) side, was built in a similar style to the first extension of 1850; it has two storeys, each with two paired windows on each side of the entrance. The former graveyard is now a garden which surrounds

494-496: The people, to an old house, and you have taught the people to believe so. The meeting house/church distinction is shared by a number of other non-conformist Christian denominations, including Unitarians , Christadelphians , the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and Mennonites . Meeting Houses built in a traditional style usually had two meeting rooms: one for the main meeting for worship, and another where

520-414: The registration number 4542. The original (1805) section is of three storeys with a single entrance at the southwest corner. The windows on the storeys above the entrance are bricked up; the original sash windows remain to their left. Each window is a different height, and those on the ground and first floors are arched at the top. The main section of the meeting house is the 1850 centre section. This

546-405: The steeple-house with his love? And seeing the church is Christ's bride and wife, and that he is the head of the church, dost thou think the steeple-house is Christ's wife and bride, and that he is the head of that old house, or of his people? Dr. Cradock : No, Christ is the head of the people, and they are the church. George Fox : Then but you have given the title "church," which belongs to

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572-563: The women's business meeting may be held (often referred to as the women's meeting room). Meeting houses of this style usually have a minister's gallery at one end of the meeting room, where traditionally those traveling in the ministry would have sat, with an elders bench immediately in front of this. Wooden benches facing this occupy the rest of the room, often with a gallery for extra seating. Meeting houses of this style usually have high windows so that worshippers sitting in meeting for worship cannot see outside. Meeting houses built in

598-725: Was arrested by Peter Stuyvesant for holding Quaker worship at his 1661 house in Flushing, Queens , then part of New Netherland . Bowne was deported to Holland and placed before a panel from the Dutch West India Company . After claiming that the Dutch colony had reached a religious-freedom agreement with his community, Bowne was set free. Two years later in 1664, the British took control of New Amsterdam and promised more religious freedom for colonists. Perhaps due to

624-424: Was built to house educational facilities. This is now used for various cultural activities as well. When the meeting house opened, it included a graveyard, but its size was significantly reduced when Prince Albert Street was built in 1838. A new burial ground, then in the parish of Rottingdean to the east of Brighton, was created in 1855. This in turn was built over in 1972, when the link road to Brighton Marina

650-465: Was built; bodies were disinterred and taken to another cemetery. The meeting house and its associated buildings were listed at Grade II on 11 April 1995. It is one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove . The meeting house is licensed for worship in accordance with the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 and has

676-678: Was originally long, hard and wooden. Today it is usually separate chairs but the layout remains the same – a square or rectangle facing inwards to a central table. See also the list of Friends Meeting Houses in England Meeting for worship A meeting for worship is what the Religious Society of Friends (or "Quakers") call their church service. Different branches of Friends have different types of meetings for worship. A meeting for worship in English-speaking countries typically lasts an hour. Unprogrammed worship

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