The move to the Eighth Street meetinghouse presented Cincinnati Friends with an opportunity to conduct worship differently than they had at Fifth Street, including less segregation of the sexes. (Previously, men sat on one side of the worship room and women sat on the other.) At the first meeting for business in 1869, in response to the query, “Do Friends avoid unbecoming behavior [at meetings for worship and business]?,” the clerk noted that “unbecoming behavior is avoided, unless that since the opening of our new meeting house, a few Friends sitting male and female in an orderly manner on the same seats, be regarded as such.” (Ezra Baily most certainly felt that this constituted unbecoming behavior. At the 1873 yearly meeting in Richmond, Indiana, he complained about both that practice and “the growing habit of Friends not rising to their feet during prayer.” )

By 1900, the use of music was not limited to First-Day School. “We approve of singing in our meetings, as the Spirit may direct,” noted the minutes, “and the use of hymn books by those who feel called to sing.” Singing even occasionally occurred at meetings for business, as the clerk once noted that “[after] earnest thanksgiving and praise in prayer and song for God’s blessing on us during this session, the meeting adjourned.”

During this period, Cincinnati Friends also began to have refreshments after meeting for worship. This was particularly appreciated by Harriet Steer, who was in her 70s when the new meetinghouse was constructed. “For several years after [moving to her home on Eighth Avenue] she greatly enjoyed the social gatherings of some of the friends, who came in after meeting on fifth days to partake with her of a cup of good tea and a simple lunch,” wrote Steer’s daughter. “But after a time she became too feeble and helpless for even so small an exertion as that, and then friends began to prepare a lunch at the meeting-house, so that when able to attend meeting she thus enjoyed the social intercourse there.” (Since there were “[many] occasions recurring in which dishes are required, and women Friends preferring to own instead of borrowing,” the meeting authorized the women to buy a set of plates for use at the meetinghouse.)

The frequency of worship also began to change. During the ten years before they moved to Eighth Street, Cincinnati Friends had three regularly scheduled meetings for worship: one on Thursdays, one on Sunday mornings, and one on Sunday evenings. However, as more and more people moved from the city to the outlying hills, it became more difficult to sustain sufficient attendance at that many meetings. “Those for worship are attended punctually by nearly all our members (who reside within reach) on the First day of the week,” noted the minutes, “and about one third of that number attend on Fifth day and for meetings of Discipline.”

In January 1877, “[owing] to the scattered condition of our membership,” Cincinnati Friends asked the quarterly meeting for permission to discontinue the Sunday evening meetings for worship. Their request was granted the following month.

By 1907, it was proving difficult to continue the midweek meeting as well. Winter illnesses and “the scattered condition” had forced Cincinnati Friends to temporarily suspend that worship service for three months. By February, they decided to “discontinue it for the present and notify the Quarterly Meeting.” It never again resumed.

This article comes from the book Friends Past and Present: The Bicentennial History of Cincinnati Friends Meeting (1815–2015). You can obtain a copy of the printed book or a Kindle version from Amazon.com. The proceeds of all sales go to Cincinnati Friends Meeting.

 Print This Post