Welcome

We welcome you to our Meeting for Worship of the Religious Society of Friends, a period of expectant waiting on God. We gather in silence, with no outward ceremony, seeking to sense the presence of the Spirit. In a creative and reverent stillness we try to be open to Divine guidance. We worship without any paid clergy, mindful that each person enhances worship.

During silent worship a Divine leading to share may come to anyone. When a person speaks we listen with an open heart, realizing that a message may speak to us or to another. To be true to a Spirit filled leading, it is helpful to speak simply, briefly, audibly and from personal spiritual experience. A period of silence after each message gives listeners time to discern its meaning.

The absence of outward rites and ceremonies in Friends worship is a result of our emphasis on the reality on the inward experience. Friends seek to view all of life as sacramental.

This form of unprogrammed worship is one expression of our faith. We invite you to share this experience with us.

Your children are welcome to participate in our First Day School programs.

Quakerism began in the 17th century in England in the wake of the protestant reformation, a time of social and religious transformation. Among its first proponents were George Fox and Margaret Fell. In contrast to the established state churches of their time, they emphasized experience over doctrine. Every person has equal access to the Divine, or Inner Light.

While Quaker origins are Christian, we have no creed. We believe in continuous revelation. Thus, many Quakers today consider themselves Christians and many do not. Friends are in unity on the belief that there is that of God in everyone. This belief finds expression in our testimonies of peace, simplicity, integrity, unity, equality and community. In our decision making, we seek for unity in the Spirit rather than majority rule.

A number of Quaker organizations are engaged in concerns of social justice, peace, humanitarian aid and the environment, locally as well as globally. Among them are:

American Friends Service Committee (www.afsc.org)

Friends Committee on Legislation (www.fclca.org)

Friends Committee on National Legislation (www.fcnl.org)

Friends World Committee for Consultation (www.fwcc.org)

Quaker Earthcare Witness (www.fcun.org)

Quaker United Nations Organization (www.quno.org)

Friends Western School is located on the premises of Orange Grove Monthly
Meeting and is under the care of the Meeting. The K-6 school can be reached at
(626) 793-2727 and www.friendswesternschool.org.

First Day Schedule:

10:00-10:50 Adult Education Hour: Varying programs around spirituality and peace and social concerns (childcare provided)

10:50-11:00 Quiet time for preparation for Meeting for Worship (parents get children from childcare)

11:00-12:00 Meeting for Worship

11:00-11:10 Children join their parents for beginning of Meeting for Worship

11:10-12:00 First Day School (children's education program; childcare available for infants and younger children)

12:00 Children return to Meeting to report on what they did in First Day School (afterwards, children rejoin their parents)

12:15 Fellowship (Potluck on 2nd Sundays)

In addition to First Day activities, we hold regular discussion groups, film evenings, etc. Please inquire

ORANGE GROVE MEETING HOUSE

A Historical Reference

Belonging to the Concord Quarterly and Philadelphia Yearly Meetings in Pennsylvania, the Orange Grove Friends was organized on December 8, 1907, and met in homes of members until they commissioned the building of this meeting house. The Meeting house was built in 1908 at a cost of $3200. The first meeting was held here on February 28, 1909. Services and meetings were held on the first day of each week.

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The Orange Grove Friends Meeting House is an excellent example of the Craftsman style used in the design of a religious structure. Its inception and geographical location is representative of both the emerging social and economic influence of Quakers active in business and the community, and the general development in the north side of Pasadena during the first decade of the 20th century.

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This Craftsman influenced building is of frame construction and sits on a brick foundation. The main building (1909) has a high pitched cross-gabled roof with a broad porch spanning the entire facade. The simplicity of the roof line, almost Gothic in angularity, belies the Craftsman touches most evident in the shingled gables, exposed rafters, and overhanging eaves. Other Gothic elements are also seen in the lancet vent treatments in the gables. Fenestration is predominately 1/1 double hung sash windows with transoms. A chimney with intricate brickwork rises from the west elevation. A new wing (1918) to the east on the lot is perfectly matched in materials, trim and roof pitch to the original meeting house.

Centennial History of Orange Grove Monthly Meeting, 1907-2007

Orange Grove Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends was founded in 1907 by a group of twenty Eastern “Hickisite” Quakers who had migrated to Pasadena in the latter part of the nineteenth century. These Friends found a congenial home in Pasadena, where Friends of the Orthodox and Conservative Quaker traditions had already established a strong Quaker presence. Quakers of the Hicksite tradition worship in silence, believe that everyone is capable of having a direct relationship with God, and acknowledge that God may call upon anyone to offer vocal ministry in the meeting for worship.
The Quaker convictions of unity, simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality are derived from the fundamental belief that the Divine Spirit or “Inner Light” is present in everyone. From this fundamental belief, it follows that committing violence of any sort against another is tantamount to committing violence against God. Therefore, Quakers have played leading roles in opposing war, working for peace, promoting racial and gender equality, and supporting environmental and other causes.
In the past one hundred years, Orange Grove Quakers have actively practiced their faith. After World War I, Orange Grove Meeting members were active in support of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which engaged in post war relief efforts in Western Europe and Russia. Later, Orange Grove members were instrumental in establishing AFSC’s Pacific Coast branch.
During Word War II, the Meeting served as a hostel for Japanese-Americans being sent to internment camps, and Pasadena Friends sent aid to those already interned. The Meeting members also provided hospitality and financial support to area conscientious objectors and their families. After the end of the war, Orange Grove Friends hosted families displaced by the war and its aftermath.
In 1954, Orange Grove Meeting came face to face with McCarthy-era repression when the state of California enacted a law requiring all tax-exempt entities, including churches, to sign a loyalty oath. Because Friends do not take oaths of any kind, Orange Grove Meeting refused to obey this law and thereafter lost its tax-exempt status. The Meeting paid taxes under protest and supported a judicial challenge to the law. Eventually, the United States Supreme Court nullified California’s loyalty law, and taxes paid by Orange Grove Meeting were refunded.

In the midst of the Meeting’s challenge to McCarthyism, Hollywood came calling in the personages of Gary Cooper and Jessamyn West, who attended Meeting in preparation for the film adaptation of Ms. West’s novel, Friendly Persuasion, a story of how a Quaker household contended with the effects of the Civil War on their family. After Meeting for Worship, Gary Cooper stayed for social fellowship. Reportedly, few of the older Meeting members recognized the actor, who was then at the zenith of his career.
During the Viet Nam War years, Orange Grove Meeting Friends protested the war in many ways. In December 1968, the Meeting provided “sanctuary” to a group of AWOL soldiers, draft resisters, and their supporters. From January to March 1969, a number of conscientious objectors lived in the meetinghouse, slept on benches, and were fed and clothed by Meeting members. Although military police and other government officials stood watch outside the meetinghouse throughout the sanctuary period, they never entered, even when invited to join the Meeting in worship.
Orange Grove Meeting members have frequently led the way in civil rights and social justice movements. Meeting members took part in freedom rides in the South, the Selma, Alabama protests and efforts to desegregate the Pasadena school system. In 1972, the Meeting acknowledged the equal rights of homosexuals and the validity of same-sex unions. In 1989, the Meeting announced that it welcomed applications for marriage between same-sex couples, and in 1990 the first such wedding took place.
Following Quakers’ long tradition of supporting both public and Quaker education, Orange Grove has been instrumental in founding five educational institutions. Pacific Ackworth Friends School (1942) and Pacific Oaks School (1945) were established by Meeting parents to provide a nurturing educational environment for community children. In 1961, Mara Moser, an Orange Grove member, established Mothers’ Club on the Meeting property to support the families of imprisoned men; Mothers’ Club later evolved into a child development and family center serving low income, primarily immigrant families. In 2001, the Friends Western School, which provides a Quaker-based kindergarten to seventh grade education, opened its doors on the Orange Grove Meeting site. In 2002, responding to the crisis in Afghanistan, Orange Grove and Claremont Quakers established a school for Afghan refugee girls in a camp in northwest Pakistan. There are now two schools in the camp, providing elementary educational opportunities to more than 500 girls.
At the time the present meetinghouse was built in 1909, members planted five stone and canary pines that have grown to over 90 feet. Four of these magnificent trees have come to the end of their natural lives and will be taken down this year. Several years ago, the Meeting planted replacement California native pines in anticipation of the demise of these landmark trees. Orange Grove Meeting strives to be equally forward thinking in cultivating and sustaining its membership. The Meeting is increasingly sustained by younger attenders and families committed to raising the next generation of Pasadena Quakers. The Meeting celebrates its proud history, while planting the seeds of the future.
This is a revised and expanded version of the Press Release that was prepared for the Centennial Celebration by the Centennial Committee of Orange Grove Monthly Meeting.

The Meetinghouse

The Meeting met in the homes of members from its inception in December 1907 until the erection of the current meetinghouse on the corner of Orange Grove Boulevard and Galena (now Oakland) Avenue. It was first used for worship on February 28, 1909. The meetinghouse is an excellent example of the California Craftsman style adapted for use in a religious structure. The frame construction building has a high-pitched cross-gabled roof with a broad porch spanning the facade. The simplicity of the roof line, almost Gothic in angularity, contrasts with the Craftsman touches most evident in the shingled gables, exposed rafters, and overhanging eaves. Other Gothic elements are the lancet vent treatments in the gables. A new wing (1918) to the east on the lot is well matched in materials, trim, and roof pitch to the original meetinghouse.

Source: City of Pasadena Architectural and Historical Inventory. Survey Area Two: Madison-Oakland Neighborhood.

To learn more about Quakers: http://www.quaker.org/

For more information about the meeting, or to ask specific questions, please contact:

info@ogmm.org