About Bloomington Friends Meeting
Our History
The Bloomington Monthly Meeting began in the late 1940s and was officially established in February 1950 with six adult founding members. Rooted in Quaker beliefs of pacifism and non-violence, the group initially attracted many Indiana University students. By 1970, the community had grown to 89 members.
The Moores Pike Meeting House
After years of gathering at various campus locations, the Meeting purchased a house on Moores Pike in 1966. Members transformed the property through extensive volunteer work, and an architecturally distinct worship room was added in 1968. In keeping with the value of simplicity, the room was furnished with reclaimed 19th-century wooden benches.
We Live and Worship in Bloomington, Indiana.
Today, BFM has close to 100 members and attendees from Bloomington and the surrounding area.
We wish to acknowledge and honor the Indigenous communities native to this region, the ancestral homelands of the Miami, Delaware, Potawatomi, and Shawnee people, past, present, and future caretakers of this land.
Environmental Stewardship and Modern Renovation
The Meeting established an Earthcare Witness committee to address sustainability and climate change. On-site efforts included restoring the local ecosystem with native plants and installing 30 solar panels by 2019.
To address serious health hazards like lead paint and mold, a major $400,000 renovation was undertaken starting around 2011. While the original worship room was renovated to meet modern codes, the older fellowship part of the house was demolished and replaced with a new structure featuring fellowship rooms, a library, and an office. The community joyfully returned to the re-occupied meetinghouse in July 2019.
Our Meeting
Meeting for worship is held on Sundays at 10:30 am. A Meeting lasts an hour, followed by fellowship, and then an optional second hour program.
On most Sundays, some Friends gather at 9:45 am for hymn singing.
A children's program is provided from 10:30 to 11:45 every First Day - no request is needed. Children spend about 15 minutes in the meeting room at the beginning of meeting for worship, then move to one of the children's rooms for the remainder of worship time.
Bloomington Friends Meeting practices unprogrammed worship, something Quakers have done since our beginning. It is a time where we sit quietly expecting that God will speak directly to us as we put away the "stuff" of everyday life. Often God will speak to an attender (or more than one) who will then share that message with the rest of us.
Our Meeting Structure
Our meeting does not have a pastor or minister who leads us. Instead, we believe that members and attenders are collectively responsible for what happens during worship and for the practical work of sustaining the meeting.
However, Friends do take turns serving in various positions of responsibility within the meeting, in accordance with their gifts and leadings. These include:
Welcoming
Clerk
Peace, Earthcare, & Social Concerns
Treasurer
Property & Finance
Ministry & Counsel
Library
Digital Communication Committee
Maintenance & Grounds
Advancement
Social & Fellowship
LGBTQ+ Inclusion
Bloomington Friends Meeting seeks to be an open, affirming, and inclusive community that welcomes the full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer persons in all roles within our faith community.
We have a long history of belief in and support for same-sex marriage, both spiritually and legally. Following the Book of Faith and Practice of Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting, the regional Quaker body with which we are affiliated, we call “for full equality for people of all gender identities and sexual orientations, and for the elimination of legal barriers to marriage and full equality.”
About Quakerism
“We are not for Names, nor Men, nor Titles of Government, nor are we for this Party, nor against the other, because of its Name and Pretence; but we are for Justice and Mercy, and Truth and Peace, and true Freedom, that these may be exalted in our Nation.”
- Edward Burrough, author & early Quaker leader
Faith in Action
Explore the links below to learn more about Quaker organizations, activism, practice, and spirituality.