MATINECOCK QUAKER MEETING 300TH ANNIVERSARY
Celebrating three centuries of Quaker community on Long Island.
Celebrate three centuries of divine guidance at Matinecock Quaker Meeting. Join us on September 20, 2025, for a special event marking 300 years of unbroken worship, service, and fellowship at this historic Quaker meeting house in New York State.
Whether you're a longtime Friend, spiritual seeker, or curious neighbor, come discover how the Quaker Way has guided us and continues to illuminate our path forward. This milestone celebration honors our past while embracing our future as a vibrant Quaker community in Locust Valley and Glen Cove.
EVENT DETAILS
Quakers In Community. A day of reflection and celebration.
You are invited to join us on September 20, 2025, to celebrate the Past, Present, and Future of the Quaker Faith and Matinecock Meeting.
Our 300th Anniversary event brings together the rich history of Long Island Quakers with contemporary voices exploring how Friends continue to build community in today's world.
The celebration includes special presentations on Quaker history and spiritual renewal, the Alternatives to Violence Project, panel discussions on growing Quaker meetings, and commemorative worship in our historic meeting house.
We'll gather for lunch and networking at Friends Academy, giving you opportunities to connect with both longtime members and fellow seekers.
We welcome everyone—from those curious about Quakerism and seasoned Friends, to local community members and visitors from across the region. Come as you are and experience firsthand why this Quaker community has thrived for 300 years.
EVENT DETAILS
Schedule
10:45 AM
Registration & Welcome
Event registration opens at both our historic Quaker meeting house and Friends Academy.
11:00 AM
Meeting for Worship
Begin our celebration with a welcome from our meeting clerk with traditional Quaker worship.
11:35 AM
Quakers in Community: Past
Explore the foundations of Quaker faith and spiritual renewal that have sustained our community for three centuries. The presentation is led by Paul Buckley, a Quaker historian and theologian visiting from Clear Creek Meeting in Richmond, Indiana.
12:05 PM
Walk to Friends Academy
Short walk across Duck Pond Road to Friends Academy Commons.
12:30 PM
Lunch & Networking
Connect with fellow celebrants over lunch while learning about our historic relationship with Friends Academy.
1:10 PM
Matinecock Quaker Meeting History
At the Friends Academy Library discover the unique story of our meeting and its role in Long Island Quaker history from Tom Jaske, Meeting Clerk.
1:30 PM
Quakers In Community:
Present
The Alternatives to Violence Project. Learn about contemporary Quaker peace witness through this internationally recognized program.
1:55 PM
Quakers In Community:
The Future
Explore the concept of “Family As The Way Into the Future,” presented by Melinda Wenner Bradley. She is an educator, storyteller, and published author visiting from West Chester Meeting in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
2:20 PM
Quakers In Community:
The Future
Explore how the “Embracing of Spiritual Gifts” helps meetings create a beloved community. The session is led by Adria DiCapua, a lawyer, mediator, and teacher visiting from Chatham-Summit Monthly Meeting in Chatham-Summit, NJ.
2:45 PM
Panel: "How to Grow our Meetings"
A panel discussion across the speakers sharing insights about building vibrant Quaker communities.
3:25 PM
Closing
Concluding reflections on our 300-year journey and the path ahead.
HOW TO ATTEND
All are welcome to join our historic event on Long Island.
MATINECOCK QUAKER MEETING HISTORY
One of the oldest continuously used meeting houses in New York.
Our celebration honors the extraordinary legacy of Long Island as one of the birthplaces of American Quakerism—decades before William Penn's Pennsylvania colony.
The story of religious freedom in America actually begins here on Long Island. When Dutch Governor Stuyvesant persecuted early Friends, residents of Flushing drafted the Flushing Remonstrance in 1657, a plea for freedom of conscience that became the origin of religious freedom in America.
![Meeting House1[1]](https://www.matinecockquaker.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Meeting%20House1%5B1%5D.jpg?width=963&height=686&name=Meeting%20House1%5B1%5D.jpg)
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Image Credit: TriCollege Libraries Digital Collections
John Bowne's courageous stand—opening his home for Quaker meetings despite persecution—led to his arrest and eventual victory in Holland, establishing religious freedom twenty-six years before the English Toleration Act.
When George Fox visited Long Island in 1672, he found fertile ground for the Quaker message. By 1671, Friends were already meeting in private homes in Matinecock, alternating with Oyster Bay meetings.
In 1724, after Thomas Chalkley suggested building a meeting house during his visit to nearby Glen Cove, local Quakers commissioned John Mott to construct our simple meeting house for twenty pounds, nine shillings.
Long Island Quakers' 300-year journey includes standing against slavery (achieved consensus by 1775), maintaining our peace testimony through the American Revolution, founding the Charity Society in 1794 to support formerly enslaved people, and the establishment of Friends Academy.
With the Quakers in New York City, we pioneered educational initiatives from Westbury Friends School to Friends World College, and the development of the internationally successful Alternatives to Violence Project in 1975.
This 300th Anniversary celebrates not just our past but our continuing growth. The Light continues to move among us today, calling new generations to discover the transformative power of community worship and faithful witness. Our historic meeting house stands not merely as a monument to the past, but as a living space where we continue to commune with the divine and with one another today.
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Image Credit: TriCollege Libraries Digital Collections