‘We should acknowledge that the Quakers did not exactly invent silent worship.’

Silent treatment? Jonathan Wooding works on the quiet

‘He does not cough or mutter or shuffle his feet to reassure us that he is there.’ | Photo: Kristina Flour on Unsplash

The Anglican Morning Prayer includes directives such as ‘Silence is kept’, and ‘The reading(s) may be followed by a time of silence’. But the principal concern, of course, is not to keep silence: ‘O Lord, open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.’

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