Privacy Policy

At Norristown Friends Quaker Meeting (Norristown Meeting) we collect different types of information about our users for the following main reasons:

  1. To provide a useful resource in the form of an online directory of users.
  2. To provide an interactive website where email is used to communicate with the users.
  3. To provide a security mechanism whereby we can restrict content to certain groups of users.
  4. To help us to improve the service we offer.

Our principles

We are absolutely committed to protecting your privacy. Our policy can be summarized in one sentence:
We will not share your information with others (other organizations or with people who are not registered users on this sitewithout your consent.

We have established the following four principles:

  1. We will respect your privacy. You can choose whether we send you news (e.g. weekly newsletters, monthly bulletins and occasional announcements) or not.
  2. You can choose how we communicate with you (telephone, email or postal mail). 
  3. We will not share information about you (including your email address) with any third party without obtaining your prior consent.
  4. We will only allow individuals to register on this site who are members or attenders of a monthly meeting within Norristown Meeting or those we ask to help maintain or provide technical support for the website.

What information do we collect?

We collect information on our users through registration on our website.
The minimum information we need to register a user is your first and last name and a password. We also ask for some further, voluntary information so we can provide a richer, more useful address book.

Third party data collection

Our policy does not cover any information collected by third-parties, such as other websites, content, or applications that may link to or be accessible from or through our site.              
Some content or applications, including advertisements, on the website are served by third-parties, including advertisers, ad networks and servers, content providers, and application providers. These third parties may use cookies alone or in conjunction with web beacons or other tracking technologies to collect information about you when you use our website. The information they collect may be associated with your personal information or they may collect information, including personal information, about your online activities over time and across different websites and other online services. They may use this information to provide you with interest-based (behavioral) advertising or other targeted content.
We do not control these third parties' tracking technologies or how they may be used. If you have any questions about an advertisement or other targeted content, you should contact the responsible provider directly.

Cookie Policy

In common with most other websites, we use cookies. A cookie is a small piece of text sent from a website and stored in your web browser. The cookie can be retrieved by the website the next time you return to the website, so that the website can, for example, remember your saved preferences.
By continuing to use this website you agree to us placing cookies on your device. Most web browsers accept cookies by default, but you can change these settings to prevent this if you wish. You should consult the documentation of your web browser for advice on how to do this.

Cookies used on this website:
 

Cookie Name Cookie Description
 
ASP.NET_SessionId
 
 
This holds an ID to identify your session. It is deleted when you close your browser.
UserAuth_[id], UID
 
These cookies are used to determine whether or not you have previously logged in on this device.
CookiesNotificationSeen_
 
 
This cookie is set when you dismiss the notification message about our cookies policy so that the message is not displayed in future.
 
hubb_app_visitor
 
This cookie is set when you visit /Hubb and are not logged-in. It is used to track which content you've viewed in the various sections of the app so that an indicator can be shown when there is new content for you.


Who will have access to your information?

You have control over who is able to access specific items of information. By default, your personal information will be visible to other authenticated users of the website. You can change these settings from your personal profile page. Your information will be used to build the online address book.

Accessing and Correcting your Information:

You can review and change your personal information by logging into the website and visiting your account profile page.
You may also send us an email at office@norristownfriends.org to request access to, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. We cannot delete your personal information except by also deleting your user account. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect.
If you delete your User Contributions from the website, copies of your User Contributions may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or might have been copied or stored by other website users. Proper access and use of information provided on the website, including User Contributions, is governed by our Terms and Conditions.
 

What else you should know about privacy

Remember to close your browser when you have finished your user session. This is to ensure that others cannot access your personal information and correspondence if you share a computer with someone else or are using a computer in a public place like a library or internet cafe. You as an individual are responsible for the security of, and access to, your own computer.
Please be aware that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information over the internet that this information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information in publicly accessible online forums, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your usernames and passwords and any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you are using the internet.
Our pages may contain links to other websites, and you should be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices on other websites.

Data security

We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers behind firewalls. Any payment transactions and other information will be encrypted using SSL technology.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. We urge you to be careful about giving out information in public areas of the website like message boards. The information you share in public areas may be viewed by any user of the website.
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the website.

Changes to privacy policies

It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page with a notice that the privacy policy has been updated on the website homepage. If we make material changes to how we treat our users' personal information, we will notify you by email to the primary email address specified in your account and/or through a notice on the website homepage. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the bottom of this page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our website and this privacy policy to check for any changes.
 

Any Questions?

Contact us via email at Office@norristownfriends.org
 

Last modified date: 2/2/2024
 

Hello
Hello and welcome to our meeting. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Planning your Visit

 

Newcomers


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The key that unlocks the door to the spiritual life belongs not to Peter, or to some other person, as an official. It belongs to the individual soul that finds the light, that discovers the truth, that sees the revelation of God and goes on living in the demonstration and power of it. - Rufus M. Jones

If you've never attended a Meeting for Worship, we hope you will come worship with us -- give it a try.   

Many have found help in viewing the "introductory" videos (below) to answer questions that might arise in expectation of a Quaker Meeting for Worship.   

Most Quaker meetings, at least in this part of country, are so-called "unprogrammed" meetings.
This means that our meetings for worship are not led by a minister, but are largely conducted in silence.  Typically, a Clerk or other Member of the Meeting will close worship with a simple "Good morning friends" but otherwise the meeting may be completely silent. 

Members and attenders are always invited to speak out of the silence with a message about their spiritual journey, although messages are not responded to directly .

ripples

A message has been described as a pebble tossed into a pond.  The resulting ripples are received by others in the meeting and may contribute to their own spiritual journeys. 


 

Videos About Quakerism 


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While there is much to read on this website, if you are new to Quakerism, or have questions about deepening your faith, this list of videos may prove helpful.

QuakerSpeak issues new videos each week, so check back with this page frequently to learn more (or better yet, subscribe directly to QuakerSpeak and you will receive notification as each new video is released.

Some of our favorites are:

 

Quakerism Explained

9 Quaker Beliefs

9 Core Quaker BELIEFS


"There is a living, dynamic, spiritual presence at work in the world which is both within us and outside of us." 

As a lifelong Quaker, Arthur Larrabee was frustrated that he couldn’t answer the question, “What do Quakers believe?” So he set out to do just that.
 
DifferenceofQuakerMeeting

The Difference Between Quaker Meeting
and Other Services

 
"We are a seeking faith community. We experience the space in which we can explore our spiritual journey. We are not offering answers, but trying to ask the right questions." 

How does Quaker Meeting compare to other Christian services? Quaker author Ben Pink Dandelion explores this question.
 
what-do-quakers-believe-FB3

What Do Quakers BELIEVE?

 
"I believe that there is a spirit that delights to do no evil. A spirit that yearns for me to be happy and to be able to connect on deep levels with other people. A spirit that wants me to search and to find and to act. A spirit that wants me to be responsible and at the same time to be bold and take risks."

What do Quakers believe? As an experiential religion with no creed, there isn’t always an easy answer. We asked 26 Quakers about belief, and the resulting conversations were powerful.
 


Quaker Meeting: What to Expect

 
Newcomers

The Experience of Newcomers


I liked the principles that I see the Quakers standing for.... I like that there's not an authoritarian power structure and that everyone brings something to Quakerism.”

“My first Quaker Meeting was a wonderment. I remember walking into that meeting and feeling a power.”

What draws seekers to Quakerism, and what keeps them coming back? Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and QuakerSpeak asked seven people who have been attending Meeting for 2 years or less..
 
first-time-at-quaker-meeting

My First Time at Quaker Meeting


“My 1st impression of Quaker meeting was confusion. I really couldn't believe that people were uniting together in practice, not in dogma. This was literally incomprehensible to me. The fact that people believed different things and used different language and yet could come together to be a great community because they shared the same set of practices...”

What's it like to attend Quaker meeting for worship for the first time? We asked 6 Friends what they remember about their first experience.
 
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Quaker Silence


"Silence is the ground out of which worship comes. The silence leaves the space for the sound, the whisper, even the noise of the spirit."

We asked a diverse group of Friends what they find most valuable about silence in Meeting for Worship. This is what they said.
 


The Quaker Experience

 
how-quaker-meeting-changed-my-

How Quaker Meeting Changed My LIFE


"What I like about the unprogrammed style is the power in the silence. The silence just allows the spirit to move within us. And when it does its very powerful and very enriching and uplifting."

Lidney Molnari was “church shopping” when he had an experience that spoke to his condition at Live Oak Friends Meeting in Houston, TX.
Leaving Quakerism BETTER-862x

Leaving Quakerism BETTER


"We are the inheritors of a tremendous history of people who of change the world. We should be willing to let people know who we are at that we still exist."

Norval Reece was giving a tour of his Quaker meetinghouse when someone asked, “What is this space used for now?” That’s when he realized we’ve got to do a better job of telling our story.
 
 

Quaker Process

 
ParkerPalmer - Clearness

Parker Palmer Explains a Clearness Committee


We have all kinds of sacred questions inside us, big questions of meaning like “What is the purpose of my life?” The Clearness Committee is a process invented by 17th century Quakers to help us find the answers to these questions.

n a Clearness Committee, a small group of people form a community around a focus person and use honest, open questions to help the focus person discern more clearly their own inner truth. In this video, Parker J. Palmer, renowned author, speaker and activist, explains Clearness Committees.
 
Quaker Glossary

Quaker Glossary


"Quakers have a set of vocabulary that can be useful and can be confusing to newcomers. Part of the reason that it exists is that, as a non-dogmatic religion, there are ways that things need to be framed that are both specific and broad.

"Meeting for Worship",“Monthly Meeting”, “Clerk”, “Convincement”, “Clearness”, “Minutes”... All these words mean something specific to Quakers! In this video we teamed up with Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to define 12 common Quaker terms.
 
 

 

Hubb Manager, 10/15/2019