Welcome Friend!
Welcome to the official site of Quakers in Switzerland. Please look around, learn about us, contact clerks of Switzerland YM or local groups with any questions. We look forward to meeting you.
Who are Quakers? We believe that there is the divine nature in ourselves and in each one we meet. Our faith in this Truth challenges us to live lives based in Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and sustainability.
How do we worship? We meet in silence, usually for about an hour.
Swiss Friends do not have ministers nor staff, and responsibilities are shared within the structure of the Yearly Meeting and regularly scheduled Meetings for Worship for Business.
Local worship groups
Local groups gather regularly in silent meeting for worship. Ffriendly Family gatherings occur every quarter.
There are two residential meetings - retreat in February and annual gathering in late Spring of each year.
Swiss Friends also participate in gatherings beyond our borders. Consult the calendar of FWCC-EMES.
links to Quaker resources beyond Swiss borders.
Meeting in silence
We meet in silence to hear what the Spirit has to say to us. From the silence, we may speak when we feel strongly led to share what we hear in our hearts. After we have settled into the meeting, we feel an urge to speak or have a thought that will not go away no matter how much we try to set it aside, this may mean that it is a message to be shared as it is a message not only for the individual but for the group.
We gather in a circle because we believe that the Spirit may reveal itself to anyone. It is for this same reason that there are no ministers within this tradition. We believe in direct access to the divine and that all share in the priestly role.
We gather in a circle because we believe that the Spirit may reveal itself to anyone. It is for this same reason that there are no ministers within this tradition. We believe in direct access to the divine and that all share in the priestly role.
We meet regularly to build community and together to discover where the Spirit leads us. Many people appreciate the time to rest, reflect, pray, meditate, find peace, connection, be with God, ask questions or seek answers. This may be some of the reasons people come to Quaker meeting.
About Swiss Quakers
Local worship groups
There are five local groups (Geneva, Lausanne-Riviera-Valais, Zürich, Bern, and Basel) with their schedules for Meetings for Worship and additional gatherings. more
Local groups together form Switzerland Yearly Meeting (SYM). Together the Yearly Meetings of Europe and the Middle East form the regional group of Friends World Committee for Consultation.
Social Action Working Groups
At the 2023 annual gathering, Swiss Friends created three working groups to organize work in three areas of concern: Economy, Peace, and Ecology. more
We support
Swiss Quakers support both Quaker organisations and non-Quaker organisations. more
Upcoming Events
Consult the calendar (scroll below)
SYM hosts four annual events. In addition, local groups host events: talks and gatherings, friendly family events, spiritual deepening and spiritual reading groups.
Contact local groups for details on their events.
Young Friends
Ffriendly Families meets quarterly in Romand region to gather and play while exploring Quaker values. Friendly families contact here
For teenagers and young adults, there are additional opportunities to meet via FWCC Europe and Middle East Young Friends.
Social Action working groups
Friendly Economics works to promote the creation of economic and financial systems - at local, national and global levels - that ensure the well-being of all people within planetary boundaries. Our goals are: to determine what Quaker testimonies and traditions might offer toward the emergence of "friendly economics," identify interested Friends beyond Switzerland, and reach beyond Quaker circles to other faith groups and communities to form coalitions around reshaping economic systems.
Peace Not War
Peace Not War
The Peace not War Social Action Group was established by Switzerland Yearly Meeting to discern, stimulate and coordinate Swiss Friends’ efforts toward ending war and violence (both personal and structural). Building on the Quaker Peace Testimony, we are seeking unique Quaker contributions to ending war and violence. Current efforts have focused on supporting conscientious objectors in the war in Ukraine and contributing to organisations that work across the Muslim and Jewish communities in the Middle East to achieve a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Contact Peace not War here.
Spiritual Reading
Monthly conversations are virtual. Contact for details on our current reading and upcoming meetings.
Quaker Library
The Geneva meeting library is specialized with a focus on the Society of Friends: history, biographies, practices, and Quakerism in Switzerland.
Swiss Quaker Life, Belief and Thought
This anthology in French, German, and English provides rare insight into the lives of Swiss Quakers.
Governance
Practices and traditions of each Quaker group are different. Swiss Quakers use the Us et coutumes/ Bräuche.
Switzerland YM is a religious association as defined by Swiss civil law with these statutes.
We support
Swiss Quakers financially support and are active in Quaker organisations:
Friends World Committee for Consultation World Office and Europe and Middle East Section (FWCC-EMES)
We also support Actares and Church and Peace.
Links to other Quaker organisations can be found at the bottom of the FAQ page here
Be patterns, be examples
"Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations wherever you come: that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone; whereby in them you may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you." - George Fox, Statement of 1656
