Friends General Conference

Together we nurture the spiritual vitality of Friends

Lake Forest Friends Meeting

A Quaker meeting in the northern suburbs of Chicago
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Lake Forest Friends Meeting

Join us for First Day (Sunday) Worship in-person or online. (see the listing of worship times for links to online sessions.)

Face coverings and social distancing are encouraged but not required for those who attend in-person.

We invite all to worship with us.

Please join us for unprogrammed Quaker meeting for worship. We center without words or music to listen as a community in expectant worship. Out of the silence as called by the Spirit, someone may spontaneously rise and give vocal ministry to the group. We are nourished by our mutual search for our understanding of the Divine. We welcome visitors to our meeting. 

Concurrently with meeting for worship we welcome children of all ages for a program that includes the study of Friends’ principles, testimonies, history, and Bible stories. 

Once each month we have a meeting for business when we worshipfully consider care of our community and our witness to the world seeking integrity, peace, simplicity, stewardship of the earth, and equality.

Lake Forest Friends Meeting is part of Illinois Yearly Meeting, Friends General Conference, and Friends World Committee for Consultation.     

Join us in Peace.

For further information: lakeforestquakers@gmail.com

Meeting Times

Meeting for worship: First Days (Sundays) at 10:30 a.m., both in person at the meetinghouse (following CDC guidelines) and online (Online link: Zoom link - Meeting for Worship (Sunday))

First Day School (Children's program): 
First Day School is held in-person during meeting for worship for children of all ages.
Please email lakeforestquakers@gmail.com or come visit us at the meetinghouse for further info on placing your child/children in First Day School classes

Adult Religious Education:
Seventh Days (Saturdays) at 7:00pm (Online link: Zoom link - Adult Religious Education)

The 3rd Saturday of each month, in lieu of Adult Religious Education, an online Game Night is held at 6:30pm. 
Please email lakeforestquakers@gmail.com for the Game Night link.

Wednesday noon meeting for worship: Fourth Days (Wednesdays) at noon (Online only: Zoom link - Wednesday noon Meeting for Worship)

Midweek meeting for worship: Fifth Days (Thursdays) at 8:30 a.m. - 9 a.m., online only during the month of Feb 2023 (Online link: Zoom link - Meeting for Worship (Midweek))

Meeting for worship with a concern for business: 1st First Day (Sunday) of the month 9:00 a. m. (hybrid in-person/online: Zoom link - Meeting for Business)

Potluck lunch: Currently suspended (normally following worship on 3rd First Day of the month)

Music & Muffins: 9:45 a.m. 4th First Day (Sunday) of the month

What's New

In her heartfelt and much appreciated State of Society report, Cathy Garra includes a joyful shoutout to the frogs singing on the meetinghouse grounds. I have been enamored of ephemeral wetlands ever since I first heard the term and learned of their importance to the Illinois-endangered Blanding's turtle. Because they typically dry out by midsummer, ephemeral wetlands are important to semi-terrestrial aquatic animals, like frogs and turtles, as it provides resources with no competition from water-locked aquatic animals. They are a habitat where frogs and toads and turtles can thrive.
Public
Posted by Lisa Thompson on 05/19/2023 - 12:10pm

This month’s query choice was inspired by this passage from Climate Lyricism by Min Hyoung Song, a book written with the goal “to ameliorate the sense of being overwhelmed and feeling unable to do anything to combat climate change.”

Public
Posted by Lisa Thompson on 05/13/2023 - 1:30pm

April’s query was offered by Jessica Easter.

In uncertain times how do you make space for songs of joy and hope?

Borrowing from a Wendell Berry poem, How do we, individually and as a Meeting, “practice resurrection”?

Public
Posted by Lisa Thompson on 04/13/2023 - 12:26pm

Back in the time when most Quakers wore plain dress, Quaker women often wore gray as part of their plan to live simply. “Quaker Gray” is now an official color name for various paints and products, and it has an official Merriam Webster definition. But Quaker Gray can be a metaphor as well.

Public
Posted by Lisa Thompson on 04/13/2023 - 12:25pm

March’s query was offered by Gail Becke:

“I have been thinking about personal authenticity, and have come to understand it as the stewardship of one’s self and one’s unique gifts. In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus teaches us that using and developing one’s talents is good. The Illinois Yearly Meeting’s Faith and Practice puts self into a broader stewardship context in the query: How do I weave self, nature and the divine into spiritual unity?”

Public
Posted by Lisa Thompson on 03/16/2023 - 5:45pm

About 15 years ago, the Meeting discerned that we had 5 values that motivated our committees - Stewardship of the Meeting (finance, hospitality, nominating, naming, clerks and individual roles), Nurturing LFFM Friends (pastoral care, ministry and worship, religious education), Maintaining the Meetinghouse (building and grounds), Connecting to the Wider Quaker World (wider Quaker world), and Witness (environmental, peace, social justice). Over time, those values have remained, but we shifted the structure of committees as the Meeting's needs changed.

Public
Posted by Lisa Thompson on 03/16/2023 - 5:43pm

Worship with us!

Contact Us

Lake Forest Friends Meeting
101 W. Old Elm Rd.
Lake Forest, IL 60045
United States
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 95
Lake Forest, IL 60045
United States
Meeting Times: 

Meeting for worship: First Days (Sundays) at 10:30 a.m., both in person at the meetinghouse (following CDC guidelines) and online (Online link: Zoom link - Meeting for Worship (Sunday))

First Day School (Children's program): 
First Day School is held in-person during meeting for worship for children of all ages.
Please email lakeforestquakers@gmail.com or come visit us at the meetinghouse for further info on placing your child/children in First Day School classes

Adult Religious Education:
Seventh Days (Saturdays) at 7:00pm (Online link: Zoom link - Adult Religious Education)

The 3rd Saturday of each month, in lieu of Adult Religious Education, an online Game Night is held at 6:30pm. 
Please email lakeforestquakers@gmail.com for the Game Night link.

Wednesday noon meeting for worship: Fourth Days (Wednesdays) at noon (Online only: Zoom link - Wednesday noon Meeting for Worship)

Midweek meeting for worship: Fifth Days (Thursdays) at 8:30 a.m. - 9 a.m., online only during the month of Feb 2023 (Online link: Zoom link - Meeting for Worship (Midweek))

Meeting for worship with a concern for business: 1st First Day (Sunday) of the month 9:00 a. m. (hybrid in-person/online: Zoom link - Meeting for Business)

Potluck lunch: Currently suspended (normally following worship on 3rd First Day of the month)

Music & Muffins: 9:45 a.m. 4th First Day (Sunday) of the month

Members & Attenders