About
Solebury Meeting was founded in 1806 by members of Buckingham Meeting who wanted a place to worship nearer their homes. The Meetinghouse was built during the summer and fall of 1806 by members who were skilled in the use of local stone and timber. Solebury Friends have an active First Day (Sunday) School for children. Solebury Friends have a strong belief in community involvement. Learn More.
Testimonies
Embracing new revelations through recognizing “that of God in everyone.” Thoughtful questions guide our lives. Learn more.
The Religious Society of Friends
Emphasizes that God is present where people gather in His name. Learn more.
Solebury Friends Meeting
The Solebury Friends Meetinghouse was built in 1806 to accommodate local Friends. Prior to 1806, the nearest Quaker house of worship was Buckingham Friends Meeting which distance was inconvenient at the time. Friends from Buckingham Meeting joined the construction effort and finished the project within the same year. The simple sturdy fieldstone and frame structure was built from local materials. The building remains in original condition incorporating architecture unique to Friends’ worship. The only additions of electricity and central heat were installed in the 1960s. The Meetinghouse was listed as an historic structure in 1997 on the National Register of Historic Places.
Surrounding the building were three carriage sheds used to shelter horses and equipment on First Day (Sunday) during worship. One of the carriage sheds has undergone multiple transitions to become the Education Building. Beginning in the early 1950s, members of Meeting began improvements on it to become more useful for modern purposes. The latest remodeling upgraded the kitchen to facilitate the many social activities of the Meeting. Today the building is used for children’s and adults’ religious education, social events and numerous community activities.
Adjacent to the Meeting House, across Sugan Rd., stands a resident caretaker’s house, built of quarried stone around 1830. Over the years it has been a Quaker school, a social hall and a rental property.
Graveyard Other sections were laid out during the 1800s as the need for additional graves arose. In 1949, an additional 7.4 acres was acquired where we now have small graves intended for cremations only as well as a section for local residents who are not members of Solebury Friends Meeting.
One of the distinguishing features of our Graveyard is the fact that all grave makers are of a uniform size. In keeping with the Quaker principle of simplicity, all gravestones are the same size and only include the names and birth and death dates of those buried. In the oldest section of the Graveyard, many of the earliest graves have no grave markers as it was the Quaker practice in the early 1800s to not distinguish one grave from another as “this was contrary to the direction of the discipline”.
Testimonies
Quakers (we call ourselves “Friends”) remain open to new revelations of truth through “that of God in every one.” Though we have no set doctrine or creed, we do have queries (probing questions) that help guide our thoughts and actions. (link to Faith and Practice here). In addition there are testimonies of our witness to common values acted out in the world. Each Quaker searches for how these guides can best be expressed in their own life. Quakers believe in living life in the spirit of love and truth and peace, reaching for the best in oneself and answering that of God in every one. Quaker testimonies are expressions of the commitment to put those beliefs in practice. The Testimonies bear witness to the truth as Friends in community perceive it, truth known through relationship with the Divine.
They do not exist in any rigid form, nor are they imposed in any way. Each Quaker searches for how the Testimonies can best be expressed in their own life. While attempting to live these testimonies, we sometimes don’t hear or follow them with Divine Guidance. When we fall short, Quakers are supportive with themselves and with each other, ready to recommit and to continue to endeavor. Being in community with other Friends helps us all to be faithful.
As a group, we discover that listening to and seeking God’s will leads to our most celebrated testimonies, remembered with the acronym:
SPICES
Simplicity
Choosing a well balanced and unhurried lifestyle with priorities based on our values and letting unnecessary clutter fall away.
Peace
Seeking justice and healing for all people, and taking away the causes of war in the way we live.
Integrity
Acting on what we believe, speaking the truth, and doing what we say we will do.
Community
Supporting one another in our faith journeys and in our times of joy and sorrow; sharing with and caring for each other.
Equality
Treating everyone as equally precious, recognizing that all of us have gifts to share.
Stewardship
Valuing and respecting all of creation; using only our fair share of the Earth’s resources; working for policies that protect our planet.
An Introduction to
The Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends (known as Quakers) was formed in England in the 1600s by a man named George Fox and a group of like-minded seekers. Early Friends took literally Jesus’s words in Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” Because the Religious Society of Friends was born out of a Christian tradition, the life and teachings of Jesus Christ remain central to the ministry of many Quaker meetings, and the Bible is an important spiritual resource. Early Friends believed that the Light Within could be experienced by all who seek it without the help of trained clergy and liturgy, however. God spoke to them and through them in the silence. Thus they chose a form of worship that nurtures direct encounter with the Divine.
Early Friends rejected the idea that someone must swear an oath or recite a creed to prove they were in good order with God. They also rejected the idea that only people with an advanced education could hear and share God’s messages. Because their
ministry was given by untrained speakers filled with spiritual inspiration, they sometimes trembled. This led to the early nickname “Quakers”.