History of Northside Friends Meeting

Northside Friends Meeting (NFM) began as a mid-week worship group on the north side of Chicago in 1962, meeting in people’s homes. The meeting developed as the Vietnam War escalated. Business sessions began in 1968. NFM became an official Meeting of Illinois Yearly Meeting of Friends (ILYM) in August 1970 with 17 founding members. NFM met in members’ homes for 20 years, transitioning to public spaces as the meeting’s needs changed. NFM began meeting in the Japanese American Service Committee Center on N. Clark Street in 1997.

Since the earliest days of Northside, we have enjoyed a gay/lesbian presence. In the 1980's we supported our members through the AIDS crisis, in 1989 we celebrated our first lesbian marriage, and Friends of our Meeting with our support have twice organized the annual North American Mid-Winter Gathering of Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns. In every way, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and questioning people are welcome in our community.