I was moved to recommend the setting up of Monthly Meetings throughout the nation. And the Lord opened to me what I must do….

George Fox, 1667

THE MONTHLY MEETING is the fundamental unit of the Religious Society of Friends. It consists of a group of Friends who meet together at regular intervals to wait upon God in Meeting for Worship and Meeting for Business. When these are meetings in the true Quaker sense, Friends are “joined with God and with each other” and there is order, unity, and power. It is upon this concept of a meeting that the good order of Friends is based. Through the corporate life of a Monthly Meeting, Friends order their lives in relation to God and, through that relationship, to the most profound realities of life: birth and death, marriage and family, community of spirit, and concern for humanity and all of God’s creation.

Background

George Fox preached the good news that “Christ has come to teach his people himself” and that the love and power of God are available to all people without the help of priests, ministers or sacraments. Early Friends testified that they were drawn together by shared experiences of Christ, the Inward Teacher, and that-they knew that Christ to be present to all and in all, but that each person perceives the Light individually and in such measure as God wills; yet, there is but one Truth. The Light operating through each individual results in a gathered fellowship, the mystical union of individuals with each other. In this welding of many persons into one corporate body, many single openings and insights are forged into a more complete and unified understanding of God’s will.

In the first years of the preaching of Fox and the Valiant Sixty, organization was informal and was only as much as was necessary for communication and coordination among the Children of Light and for those traveling in the cause of Truth. It depended chiefly upon the personal influence and incessant work of the early leaders. As the Society grew, there came to be a need for organized nurture of groups, for communication among groups, for dealing with internal problems, and for a united response to government persecution. Fox recognized that a method had to be found for Friends as a body to take responsibility for needed decisions, rather than for it to be assumed by a few outstanding leaders.

Being aware of the hypocrisy and worldliness of the religious hierarchies and institutions of his day, Fox was led to proclaim the “true Gospel Order,” an order of which Christ was clearly the head arid in which all Friends participated fully according to the measure of Light they had received. Some meetings which were essentially Monthly Meetings were established in the north of England as early as 1653, but the systematic establishment of Monthly Meetings and Quarterly Meetings came in 1667-71 as Fox traveled extensively throughout England to set these up.

And the Lord opened to me what I must do, and how the men’s and women’s monthly and quarterly meetings should be ordered and established in this and in other nations….

Fox perceived that, in the male-dominated society of that time, women could take their rightful place in the Society of Friends only when they were freed from the control and interference of men. Therefore, in the beginning, men and women met separately to conduct business. When separate business meetings became unnecessary, they were laid down in favor of a combined meeting.

The basic framework of the Society of Friends as it exists today is essentially the system which Fox organized. It provides a channel for the Kingdom of God to be established on earth by providing both for the care and nourishment of the “People of God,” and also for the fulfillment of God’s will in the world at large. At various times in the life of the Society of Friends one or the other aspect has been foremost, but both have always been present and are necessary for healthy Meetings and a healthy Society.

Meeting for Worship

Be still in thy own mind and spirit from thy own thoughts, and then thou wilt feel the principle of God to turn thy mind to the Lord God, whereby thou wilt receive his strength and power from whence life comes, to allay all tempests, against blusterings and storms. That is it which molds into patience, into innocency, into soberness, into stillness, into stayedness, into quietness, up to God, with his power.

George Fox, 1658

When you come to your meetings … what do you do? Do you then gather together bodily only, and kindle a fire, compassing yourselves about with the sparks of your own kindling, and so please yourselves, and walk in the “Light of your own fire, and in the sparks which you have kindled?” … Or rather, do you sit down in the True Silence, resting from your own Will and Workings, and waiting upon the Lord, with your minds fixed in that Light wherewith Christ has enlightened you, until the Lord breathes life into you, refresheth you, and prepares you, and your spirits and souls, to make you fit for his service, that you may offer unto him a pure and spiritual sacrifice?

William Penn, 1678

As iron sharpeneth iron, the seeing of the faces one of another when both are inwardly gathered into the life, giveth occasion for the life secretly to rise and pass from vessel to vessel. And as many candles lighted and put in one place do greatly augment the light and make it more to shine forth, so when many are gathered together into the same life, there more of the glory of God and his powers appears, to the refreshment of each individual.

Robert Barclay, 1671

One day, being under a strong exercise of spirit, I stood up and said some words in a meeting; but not keeping close to the Divine opening, I said more than was required of me. Being soon sensible of my error, I was afflicted in mind some weeks without any light or comfort, even to that degree that I could not take satisfaction in anything. I remembered God, and was troubled, and in the depths of my distress he had pity on me, and sent the Comforter. I then felt forgiveness for my offense; my mind became calm and quiet, and I was truly thankful to my gracious Redeemer for his mercies. About six weeks after this, feeling the spring of Divine love opened, and a concern to speak, I said a few words in a meeting, in which I found peace. Being thus humbled and disciplined under the cross, my understanding became more strengthened to distinguish the pure spirit which inwardly moves upon the heart, and which taught me to wait in silence sometimes many weeks together, until I felt that rise which prepares the creature to stand like a trumpet, through which the Lord speaks to his flock.

John Woolman, 1740

We were taught by renewed experience to labor for an inward stillness, at no time to seek for words, but to live in the spirit of Truth, and utter that to the people which Truth opened in us.

John Woolman, 1747

It is indeed true, as Friends have been accustomed to say, that we cannot expect “to eat the bread of idleness” in our silent meetings. Every individual spirit must work out its salvation in a living exercise of heart and mind, an exercise in which “fear and trembling” must often be our portion, and which cannot possibly be fully carried out under disturbing influences from without. Silence is often a stem discipline, a laying bare of the soul before God, a listening to the “reproof of life.” But the discipline has to be gone through, the reproof has to be listened to, before we can find our right place in the temple. Words may help and silence may help, but the one thing needful is that the heart should turn to its Maker as the needle turns to the pole. For this we must be still.

Caroline E. Stephen, 1908

The first thing that I do is to close my eyes and then to still my body in order to get it as far out of the way as I can. Then I still my mind and let it open to God in silent prayer, for the meeting, as we understand it, is the meeting place of the worshiper with God. I thank God inwardly for this occasion, for the week’s happenings, for what I have learned at his hand, for my family, for the work there is to do, for himself. And I often pause to enjoy him. Under his gaze I search the week, and feel the piercing twinge of remorse that comes at this, and this, and this, and at the absence of this, and this, and this. Under his eyes I see again--for I have often been aware of it at the time-the right way. I ask his forgiveness of my faithlessness and ask for strength to meet this matter when it arises again. There have been times when I had to reweave a part of my life under this auspice.

I hold up persons before God in intercession, loving them under his eyes--seeing them with him, longing for his healing and redeeming power to course through their lives. I hold up certain social situations, certain projects. At such a time I often see things that I may do in company with or that are related to this person or this situation. I hold up the persons in the meeting and their needs, as I know them, to God.

Douglas v: Steere, 1937

There is a need in us to be controlled, to receive, to worship, and adore. If our service is to be real it is that we have received something in worship and pass it on; we do not imitate, we express the Spirit in us. To live by the rule is one of the most disastrous things we can do. If you try deliberately to be loving and kind because you think you should imitate, you put on something from the outside; you waste your life; and worse-you do great damage. If you live in the Spirit you live from the center within you. In worship we search for the Center in ourselves and in one another, “from whence cometh our help.”

Pacific Yearly Meeting, 1954

The Meeting for Worship is the heart of the Monthly Meeting and of the Society of Friends, for worship together is central and fundamental to Friends. Its basis is direct communion with God. The Meeting for Worship is the only Quaker practice which has existed from the beginning of the Society of Friends and which remains essentially the same without having gone through a process of development. Meetings for Worship are held at established times, usually once a week; appointed Meetings for Worship are arranged by the Monthly Meeting at the time of marriages, memorial services, or other special occasions.

Meeting for Business

Being orderly come together, not to spend time with needless, unnecessary and fruitless discourses; but to proceed in the wisdom of God not in the way of the world, as a worldly assembly of men, by hot contests, by seeking to outspeak and overreach one another in discourse as if it were controversy between party and party of men, or two sides violently striving for dominion, not fellowship of God, in gravity, patience, meekness, in unity and concord, submitting one to another in lowliness of heart, and in the holy Spirit of truth and righteousness….

Edward Burrough, 1662

It is a weighty thing to speak in large meetings for business. First, except our minds are rightly prepared, and we clearly understand the case we speak to, instead of forwarding, we hinder the business and make more labour for those on whom the burden of work is laid.

If selfish views or a partial spirit have any room in our minds, we are unfit for the Lord’s work. If we have a clear prospect of the business and proper weight on our minds to speak, it behooves us to avoid useless apologies and repetitions. Where people are gathered from far, and adjourning a meeting of business attended with great difficulty, it behooves all to be cautious how they detain a meeting, especially when they have sat six or seven hours and a good way to ride home.

In three hundred minutes are five hours, and he that improperly detains three hundred people one minute, besides other evils that attend it, does an injury like that of imprisoning one man five hours without cause.

John Woolman, 1758

The spirit of worship is essential to that type of business meeting in which the group endeavors to act as a unit…. To discover what we really want as compared with what at first we think we want, we must go below the surface of self-centered desires…. To will what God wills is … to will what we ourselves really want.

Howard Brinton, 1952

The Meeting for Business is a Meeting for Worship where Friends care for their corporate business. It is essential for the functioning of the Monthly Meeting. It takes place in the same expectant waiting for the guidance of the Spirit as does any Meeting for Worship. Friends’ manner of conducting business is an expression of their basic faith that the Light which is in all, when heeded, draws all into agreement in their common affairs, and is an expression of their commitment to follow that Light. A Meeting for Business is usually held once a month and it is often referred to as “monthly meeting.” Care must be taken to distinguish between the Monthly Meeting, the fundamental unit of the Society of Friends, and the monthly meeting, the occasion for conducting business.

Responsibilities and Organization

The Monthly Meeting is the “family” of Friends. It receives and records new members; terminates membership when necessary; provides spiritual and, if need be, material aid to those in its fellowship; counsels with members in troubled circumstances; oversees marriages; gives care at the time of death; collects and dispenses funds for its maintenance and work; witnesses to Friends’ testimonies; relates itself to its Quarterly and Yearly Meeting, to other bodies of Friends and to other organizations with common concerns; and carries on any work or assumes any function consistent with the faith of Friends and not specifically referred to some other Friends’ body. Good records are kept of all its proceedings.

The degree of organization of a Monthly Meeting depends upon its circumstances. Organization does not exist for its own sake but to provide what is needed for the Meeting’s orderly and effective operation, while allowing each person a maximum of freedom, participation, and responsibility. Simple in its early stages, a Meeting’s organization evolves with its needs. Experience has shown that organizational structure which has proved useful should not be changed unless there is good reason to do so, but that which no longer serves a vital function should be laid down.

Friends’ Method of Reaching Decisions

Friends conduct business together in the faith that there is one divine Spirit which is accessible to all persons; when Friends wait upon, heed and follow the Light of Truth within them, its Spirit will lead to unity. This faith is the foundation for any group decision. Since it is of prime importance that Friends understand and follow this procedure for business in the Monthly Meeting, its basis and method are discussed in the present chapter, but the principle underlies all activities of the Society of Friends.

The basis for the Quaker method of reaching decisions is a religious one. . Friends are expected to come to a Meeting for Business in expectation that the Holy Spirit will lead the assembled body to unity and correct action, and that unity is always possible because the same Light of Truth shines in some measure in every human heart. In practical terms this means that such meetings are held in a context of worship and that those present repeatedly and consciously seek Divine guidance. It is important that every Meeting for Business begin with a period of worship rather than “a few moments of silence,” so that the spirit of worship will pervade the transaction of business. To emphasize this interdependence, some Friends speak of Meeting for Worship for Business. Only as Friends are aware that they are functioning in the Divine presence does the Quaker method work. The commitment to search for unity depends upon mutual trust, implies a willingness to labor and to submit to the leadings of the Spirit, and grows as members become better acquainted with one another.

The Quaker method for reaching decisions involves searching for the right corporate decisions and arriving at a “sense of the meeting,” or reaching unity. A matter requiring Meeting action may be brought before the Meeting for Business by the Clerk, a committee or another member. In the latter two instances, the Clerk should be informed in advance so that the matter can be included on the agenda. It helps if a written copy of the proposal is given to the Clerk before or at the time of presentation to the Meeting. Care in preparing the agenda and the Clerk’s judgment of the relative urgency and importance of matters can help greatly to facilitate the Meeting’s business. Interested attenders as well as members are generally encouraged to attend and take part in business meetings. Responsibility for decisions, however, remains with members of the Meeting.

Friends are urged to seek Divine guidance at all times, be mutually forbearing, and be concerned for the good of the Meeting as a whole rather than to press a personal preference. Time should be allowed for deliberate and prayerful consideration of the matter in hand. Everyone must want to reach a decision and be open to new understanding. Friends should come to each Meeting for Business expecting that their minds will be changed. It is important that all members be heard if they feel concerned to express a point of view. They should speak briefly and to the point, express their own view, avoid refuting statements made by others, and give each other credit for purity of motive. When someone has already stated a position satisfactorily Friends need offer only a word or two expressing agreement.

Before speaking, Friends should seek recognition from the Clerk; they should not speak to individuals, and should be hesitant about speaking more than once unless they have new light on an issue. Each vocal contribution should be something which adds to the ideas already presented. The Clerk, as gatherer of the sense of the Meeting, should be reluctant to state an opinion. If that view is being overlooked, the Clerk may be able to draw attention to it through questions. If the Clerk has strong views on the matter, the Assistant Clerk or another Friend is asked to serve as Clerk during its consideration. Throughout, the grace of humor can often help to relax the tensions of a Meeting so that new Light comes to it.

At times, those present become aware of a gathered insight, or an inner sense of rightness, and it is recognized that a decision has been reached. The Clerk then easily senses that the Meeting has reached unity and expresses the sense of the Meeting in a minute.

At other times, it is more difficult to reach a decision and the Clerk must carefully weigh the various points of view which have been expressed before offering a tentative formulation of a minute. If there are one or two members who do not agree, but feel that it is nevertheless the right decision for the Meeting at the time, they will remain silent or withdraw their objection and free the Meeting to proceed.

Serious Differences of Opinion

Adopted by Friends Meeting of Austin, August 2001

When there are serious differences of opinion, and some remain strongly convinced of the validity of their point of view, it is frequently possible to find unity by resource to a period of silent worship and prayer. The effect of this quiet waiting is often powerful and a way may appear for the solution of the problem. Such a way transcends compromise; it is the discovery together of unity in the Light that leads to the right course of action.

If the issue is one that is not of great importance to the Meeting, it may be postponed to a later date or the matter may be referred to a committee. Such a committee includes Friends of diverse views and is charged with revising the proposal in light of the objections and with bringing recommendations to a later meeting. If the matter is urgent, the committee may withdraw to return before the meeting closes or may be given the power to act.

On weightier issues, Friends must return to the silence, laboring to discern that of God in the varying statements and positions, and to transcend the polarization that can develop. As a result of this continuing discernment, some Friends may realize that their differences with the Meeting are theirs alone, and should not be binding on the Meeting. Such individual discernments may result in the decision of those Friends to 'stand aside'. This means that the Friends who are standing aside agree that the Meeting should proceed with the action contemplated, even though they may have personal reservations. The Meeting may include reference to those standing aside in the minute recording the action.

This is most likely to happen when a committee of the Meeting has been charged with work on the issue at hand, and has devoted careful and concentrated attention to it. In that case, individual Friends should resist the temptation to redo the work of the committee, and consider very carefully any inclination to oppose the committee's recommendations. At the same time, the committee must avoid being so attached to its recommendations that it forgets that new insights can develop as the meeting considers the matter.

This process of discernment may take several business meetings and much community effort. It is vitally important that Friends resist the temptation to become partisans for a point of view, and that all keep listening for the continuing revelation of God. It may be that the frustration of apparent impasse is required before Friends are able to leave their particular points of view behind and truly wait for the gathering of the community in God to lead to unity.

Occasionally, after a period of discernment, a few Friends may continue to feel they cannot unite with the rest of the Meeting in an action. In such a situation, Friends may well question whether the objections should be considered binding on the Meeting. On the other hand, a Meeting may too readily agree to an action on plausible but superficial grounds, so it is well to ponder objections voiced by a few Friends, or even a single Friend, which may reach to the heart of the matter at hand. If the Meeting, after prolonged laboring, is convinced that it is following Divine guidance, it may set aside the objections and proceed. It may include reference to the objections in the minute recording the action. The growth of Truth among the members in the course of time will confirm the action or lead the Meeting to a sounder decision.

It is the responsibility of all in the Meeting who are united in a course of action to ensure that the concerns of Friends who are not united with the Meeting in that action are truly heard. While heartfelt listening does not necessarily mean agreement, it is important that Friends work as a community to try to heal any rifts or alienation that may develop in the course of considering a difficult decision.

Formulation of Minutes

Once the Clerk has formulated a minute, any member may offer additions, corrections, or a substitute minute. When members approve and no objection is voiced, the minute is written down and read back to the Meeting by the Clerk or Assistant Clerk. The Clerk should be given authority to make minor editorial changes in the minute later, if any appear needed. At the next meeting, when the minutes of the previous meeting are read, attention may be called to the changes. When approved in its original or edited form, the minute becomes part of the Meeting’s permanent record.

Any session of a Meeting for Business may be adjourned to a later date and the business continued at an “adjourned Meeting for Business.” A special meeting may be called by the Clerk to consider a specific matter of business. Advance notice of such a “called Meeting for Business” should be given, and no business should be considered other than that for which the meeting was called.

Threshing Sessions

Friends should not avoid issues which may be difficult or controversial. It is better for the Meeting to allow full opportunity for differences to be aired and faced. In dealing with such issues, or those of a complex nature entailing information with which some Friends may be unfamiliar, it is often helpful to hold one or more preliminary “threshing meetings” in which no decision is made, but through which the chaff can be separated from the grain of truth. Such meetings can clear the way for later action on the issue. Full notice of a threshing session should be given and special efforts made to see that Friends of all shades of opinion can and will be present. To the extent that Friends of a given view are absent, the usefulness of such a meeting will be impaired. If factual material needs to be presented, persons knowledgeable in the area should be asked to present such material and be available to answer questions.

The Clerk or moderator of a threshing session should make it clear at the start that the Meeting not only expects, but welcomes expressions of the widest differences. Friends are urged not to hold back whatever troubles them about the issues at hand. Hesitancy to share a strong conviction, because it may offend someone, reflects a lack of trust. The Clerk’s job, then, is to draw out the reticent, limit the time taken by too-ready talkers, and see that all have an opportunity to speak. It is useful to ask someone to take notes of the meeting for later reference. At times the threshing meeting may forward a recommendation to the Meeting for Business.

Unity

Friends strive to achieve unity-not uniformity, not unanimity and not like-mindedness. Friends achieve unity because of their conviction that there is such a thing as corporate guidance where a group, meeting in the expectation of Divine leading, may be given a greater insight than any single person. The unity which Friends seek and “hope to capture in a recorded minute is God’s will in relation to the matter under consideration. Assent to a minute, however, does not imply uniformity of judgment. Rather it is a recognition that the minute records what the group feels is right at a given time. There may be Friends who would wish the Meeting to move forward more adventurously and others who fear what seems dangerous experiment. Each might have wished the Meeting to take a different course from that agreed upon, but will give assent to the sense of the Meeting. Unity is always possible to those who go deep enough, for Truth is one and the nearer we come to the one Light of Truth, the nearer we come to unity. The search for Truth and unity is sometimes a long and difficult one, requiring much love, tolerance, and patience, but it is worth the effort. The method has not always succeeded; this has generally been because some members have not achieved the right attitude of mind and heart or because Friends have been too impatient for unity to develop. Nevertheless, Quakers have used this method with a large degree of success for more than three centuries. Rufus Jones said, “Friends have merely kept alive a sound method.”

Concerns and Liberating Concerned Friends

Although Friends endeavor to serve God through their daily lives, there sometimes comes to an individual a leading to some specific task, felt as an imperative claim of God which-cannot be denied even when this is accompanied by personal reluctance. This is what Friends call a concern. It is also possible for a concern to arise spontaneously in a Meeting in response to a particular need or opportunity. From early days the Society of Friends has greatly valued those leadings of the Spirit which result in individual and corporate concerns. It has learned, however, that concerns vary in merit, depending on the validity of their inspiration and the care with which they are considered and carried out. The concerns of even well known Friends have not always been of equal significance. Concerns vary, too, in their pertinence for others, some being meant only for an individual, others having a wider meaning. Friends are urged to be clear about the corporate consideration and support of a concern before proceeding with it publicly. A concerned person should have patience and humility in seeking support for a concern.

The appropriate place for a concern first to be considered and tested as a true leading of the Spirit is within the Monthly Meeting, the basic unit of the Society. Before a Friend brings a concern to the Meeting for Business, the Friend should consider it prayerfully, to be sure that it is rightly motivated and of more than personal or passing importance. The Friend should season the concern through consultation with qualified Friends, a standing committee of the Meeting, or a specially requested Committee on Clearness. The concern should come to the Meeting for Business in mature form with a clear, concise, written statement of its purpose, means, and the support requested from the Meeting. Public expression implying Meeting support for a concern is to be avoided unless and until such support has been received, especially when possible disobedience to law or conflict with custom may be involved.

Unhurried consideration by the Meeting is important and this may extend over more than one monthly meeting. During this process the Meeting may be enlightened by the insights of prophetic individuals, and all may be helped to clarify their own insights.

The Meeting may unite with and support a Friend to carry out a concern personally. Such a concern might be to travel in the ministry, to witness to Friends’ principles in a given situation, or to do other religiously motivated service. The process of liberating a Friend to act on a concern should involve careful consideration both of the merits and methods of the concern and the qualifications and situation of the Friend to be liberated. Motivation, character, and family and financial situation need to be considered. When favorable action is taken, including material help as needed, the Friend is provided with a minute outlining the nature of the concern and giving the Meeting’s endorsement. If the Friend desires, the Meeting may appoint a small committee for advice and support. Sometimes a Meeting may find itself brought so fully into sympathy that the concern is laid upon the whole group and is carried out by the Meeting.

If a concern has wider meaning than for the Monthly Meeting, it may be shared directly with other Monthly Meetings. It may also be forwarded to the Quarterly Meeting or to the Steering Committee of North Pacific Yearly Meeting, which may result In.- its being shared with other Meetings or with the Annual Session of the Yearly Meeting. (See “Bringing Concerns Before the Yearly Meeting,” p. ___.)

If a Meeting fails to unite with a member’s concern, the member generally reconsiders it very carefully. If the Friend feels called upon to continue, the Meeting may be able to encourage the member to go forward with the concern even when the Meeting is unable to unite with it. Occasionally, an individual who is strongly convinced that the corporate life of the Meeting and of the Society will be enriched if it can grow and unite with a particular concern brings that concern to the Meeting repeatedly over an extended period. Many of the Quaker testimonies have evolved because of the patient persistence of a valiant Friend who has perceived the Light more clearly than other members. Such persistence has helped some Meetings and the Society come to unite with an insight which they could not at first accept. Sometimes when a concern does not arise from a genuine spiritual leading and the Friend is “running ahead of his Guide,” the Meeting continues to be unable to unite with the concern.

Letters of Introduction

Fellowship and the spiritual life of the Society of Friends have long been nourished by visitation outside a member’s own Meeting. When a member has occasion to travel and wishes to be in touch with other members of the Society of Friends, the Monthly Meeting Clerk may write a Letter of Introduction. The letter will certify the person’s membership, state something about the person’s participation in the life of the Meeting, and convey greetings to Friends who will be visited. The letter is usually presented by the traveler to Meetings or other Friends visited, who may choose to write a return greeting on the letter which is presented to the issuing Meeting upon return. When appropriate, the Meeting may also grant a letter of introduction to a faithful attender.

Traveling Minutes

When a member proposes to travel under the weight of a concern to be shared with other Friends, the matter is first considered by the Committee on Oversight. Upon recommendation by that committee, the Monthly Meeting may grant a Traveling Minute releasing the Friend for a particular concern. If the visit is to be beyond the Yearly Meeting, the minute should be forwarded to the Clerk of the Steering Committee for Yearly Meeting endorsement. Before such an endorsement is made, it should be clear that the traveling Friend is aware of and sensitive to the differences in theology and practice among the Friends to be visited. When a Meeting grants a minute of travel, it should take care that, as far as possible, the service is not hindered for lack of funds or other resources.

Traveling minutes are submitted to and are customarily endorsed by the Clerk or other officer of Meetings visited by traveling Friends. Persons granted minutes should return them to the issuing Meeting within a reasonable time after the visitation has been completed. Friends should also report to other Meetings which have supported the concern.

Friends who are traveling and wish to visit Friends in other Meetings may receive valuable guidance through Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of Americas, 1506 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102.

Officers and Committees

Each Monthly Meeting appoints whatever officers and committees are necessary for the corporate life of the Meeting. While growing in strength and experience, a small Meeting may be able to function with only a Clerk and with the Meeting acting as a committee of the whole. As soon as possible the Meeting appoints a Committee on Ministry and Oversight whose clerk is someone other than the Clerk of the Meeting. Provision for the religious education of children who come under its care should also be an early concern of the Meeting.

The Meeting selects its officers and committees from appropriate nominations which are presented by the Nominating Committee. The Meeting is concerned not only with appointing the most qualified person to each job but also with developing and using the talents and resources of all members and attenders. In asking people to assume various responsibilities, the Meeting recognizes that different individuals have different gifts which are not equally appropriate for all positions in the Meeting. Members and attenders should not be asked to take on inappropriate responsibilities out of a sense of “equality” or “taking turns,” An effective officer or committee should feel free to call upon persons in the Meeting whenever necessary to help in carrying out a particular responsibility. The Meeting must also be able to trust its officers and committees and spare the entire body from many small decisions. Ministry in word and act, responsibility for the good order and material needs of the Meeting, visitation, faithfulness in testimonies-all these things, in the measure of Light that is given, fall upon each person in the Meeting.

Officers

The Meeting appoints suitable members as its officers for a definite term of service.

The Clerk presides at the business sessions of the Meeting, is responsible for the minutes of its proceedings, and carries out the instructions of the Meeting on all matters pertaining to the accomplishment of its business.

The Clerk’s basic function is to facilitate the business of the Meeting. The Clerk performs the role well by seeing to it that all pertinent business and concerns are presented to the Monthly Meeting clearly and in good order. The following suggestions are meant especially for the Clerk of a Monthly Meeting, but they apply generally to the Clerk of any sort of a Friends Meeting and may be useful guidelines for clerks of Friends committees.

The Clerk should be a member of the Meeting who has the confidence of its membership and who, in turn, has a real respect and warm regard for its individual members and attenders. The Clerk should be spiritually sensitive so that the Meeting for Business may be helped to discover the leadership of the Spirit. A knowledge of Faith and Practice is essential and of other Quaker literature helpful. The Clerk should be able to comprehend readily, evaluate rightly, and state clearly and concisely an item of business or a concern which comes to the Meeting. In order to gather the sense of the Meeting at the proper time, the Clerk needs to be able to listen receptively to what is said.

The Clerk should faithfully attend Meeting for Worship, keep close to the work of committees, and attend meetings of the Worship and Ministry and Oversight Committees in order to be aware of the condition of the Meeting.

The Clerk presides at all Meetings for Business; if unavoidably prevented from attending, arrangements should be made for a substitute, usually the Assistant Clerk. The Clerk prepares an agenda prior to the Meeting and encourages committee clerks and others to provide ahead of time such reports, concerns and other proposals as ought to be placed on the agenda. The Clerk’s judgment of the relative urgency and importance of matters and their best place on the agenda can help greatly to facilitate the Meeting’s business, which can also be helped by the Clerk’s providing for sufficient background material when a matter is presented. The Clerk sees that correspondence which comes to the Meeting is properly handled.

The role of the Clerk, in general, is not to express his or her own views, but to see that others present participate as fully as possible in the business and that a few do not dominate it. A Clerk who feels led to express a strong opinion on a controversial matter should ask the Assistant Clerk or another Friend to act as Clerk and take the sense of the Meeting. A chief art of the Clerk is to set the pace of the meeting so that its business may be accomplished without either undue delay or undue hurry. A sense of proportion and a sense of humor are helpful. After action has been taken, the Clerk notifies, preferably in writing, the persons involved and makes sure that they understand their responsibility in carrying out their actions.

The Clerk signs all official papers and minutes. If there are both a Clerk and an Assistant or Recording Clerk, it is good practice for both to sign, particularly if legal documents or minutes are involved. The Clerk, or Assistant Clerk, prepares and endorses certificates of transfer, minutes for sojourning members, traveling minutes, and letters of introduction, as well as endorsing minutes or letters of visiting Friends.

The Clerk also has the responsibility to coordinate the activities of the Meeting with those of the Quarterly and Yearly Meetings of which it is a part. This includes seeing that the Meeting is represented where necessary, that reports are written and sent to the proper officers, that business and concerns are sent at the proper time to the Quarterly or Yearly Meeting, and that items received from those Meetings go to the proper persons and committees.

An assistant to the Clerk, who may be called an Assistant Clerk, Alternate Clerk or Recording Clerk, helps the Clerk during Meetings for Business, in preparing minutes and in whatever ways are mutually agreeable. The assistant acts for the Clerk when the latter is unable to serve. In some Meetings this clerk also serves as Recorder (see below).

A Corresponding Clerk who cares for the reception, acknowledgement and transmission of communications may be appointed if needed.

The Treasurer receives and disburses funds as the Meeting directs, keeps the account books of the Meeting, and reports regularly. The accounts should be audited at regular intervals.

An Assistant Treasurer to work with and help the Treasurer may be appointed in larger Meetings or when there is need.

The Recorder faithfully keeps an accurate record of the membership as provided for on the form recommended by the Yearly Meeting (see p. ___). Copies of this form are available from the Clerk of the Steering Committee. Such records cover vital statistics pertaining to the member and the member’s immediate family. It is important that changes relating to membership, such as births, deaths, transfers, releases, or marriages be promptly recorded.

Each spring the Recorder is responsible for filling out a questionnaire from the Yearly Meeting giving statistical and other information regarding the Monthly Meeting. A copy of this report is part of the permanent records of the Monthly Meeting.

The Recorder should also make sure that other important records of the Meeting are being properly taken care of. Minute and record books in current use are kept by the officer responsible for them. All others are preserved together with important correspondence and legal papers, such as deeds, conveyances, and trusts, in a permanent repository protected from fire and loss. All minutes and records should be on paper of high quality. Typewritten records are preferable to those in handwriting.

Committees

Committees are tools the Monthly Meeting may use to facilitate its business. Meetings have found that much of their work can be done more appropriately in small groups than in the body of the Meeting or by individuals.

Each Meeting decides which committees are necessary to carry out its business and concerns. There is no obligation to create any committee, although most Monthly Meetings find a Committee on Ministry and Oversight and a Nominating Committee essential. Other standing committees often found in Meetings are those on Religious Education, Finance and Budget, Peace and Social Order, Property, and Social. Ad hoc committees are sometimes useful for a particular project or concern. When a committee no longer serves its purpose, it should be laid down.

Members of committees need to be carefully selected according to their abilities and concerns. Appointments to a committee are for a definite term of service and often are arranged so that terms overlap, to insure continuity. Meetings customarily appoint experienced and capable members of the Society of Friends to the Committee on Worship and Ministry, the Committee on Oversight, the Nominating Committee, and as clerks of most committees. The purpose is to assign those responsibilities to persons of spiritual depth who are familiar with Friends’ faith and ways of organizing and conducting Meeting work. When Meetings identify such persons, even though they may not be members, they may choose to invest them with those responsibilities.

Committees conduct business in the same manner as does a Monthly Meeting, waiting on the Spirit to find direction in their operation and unity in their decisions. It is important that members of committees, and clerks especially, attend Meeting for Business regularly in order to assure smooth coordination between the committees and the Meeting.

It is important that committees keep minutes of their meetings and report to the Monthly Meeting regularly. All action of committees in the name of the Meeting is subject to approval by the Monthly Meeting. In bringing a matter to the Meeting for Business, it is useful for the committee to supply a concise summary of background material and a clear statement of the kind of response wanted from the Meeting. In the Meeting for Business, Friends need to consider carefully the recommendations of a committee, and at the same time not re-do the work of the committee. Mutual trust between the Meeting and a committee and faith in the power of God over all will help achieve the proper balance.

Attention to the above guidelines will aid in making committees useful tools rather than extraneous burdens in carrying out the business of the Meeting.

The Committee on Worship and Ministry; The Committee on Oversight

The closely related functions of these two committees are central to the life of the Meeting. The primary focus of the Committee on Worship and Ministry is the spiritual life of the Meeting, while the Committee on Oversight is mainly concerned with the members, including their relationship to the Meeting. Meetings should understand the different functions of these two committees and see that these functions are faithfully carried ’out. These committees have a special responsibility to oversee, encourageand develop the care of members for each other and for the life of the Meeting, but all members share in the responsibility for such care. In smaller Meetings the functions of both committees are delegated to one committee, usually known as the Committee on Ministry and Oversight.*

* Some Meetings call the single committee the “Committee on Ministry and Counsel” with the term “Counsel” covering the functions of the term “Oversight” as described in this Discipline. In historical Quaker usage, a Committee(or Meeting) on Ministry and Counsel, successor to the Meeting of Ministers and Elders, has usually been one concerned primarily with worship and vocal ministry and not also with care of the membership.

The function of the Committee on Worship and Ministry is to foster and strengthen the spiritual life of the Meeting by nurturing the Meeting for Worship and the spiritual growth of individuals in the Meeting. Though this is a challenging assignment and one which is difficult to express in specifics, its importance to the life of the Meeting cannot be overemphasized. The first responsibility of members of this committee is to deepen their own spiritual lives and their preparation for worship.

This committee includes members of varied ages and gifts who are faithful in worship and sensitive to the life of the Spirit. It includes both Friends inclined to speak in Meeting for Worship and those less inclined to do so. It also includes Friends of good judgment who have a gift for counseling with others concerning sensitiveness to Divine prompting.

The committee meets regularly to consider the Meeting for Worship and to keep it under constant review, prayer, and care. Their own example is an important means through which they can strengthen the Meeting for Worship. Their concern during the week, the promptness and reverence with which they approach the Meeting for Worship, and their faithfulness in responding to and staying within the guidance of the Spirit are the most effective ways through which they may deepen the quality of worship. Through self-examination, prayer, and mutual counsel they also may help one another and the Meeting to grow in worship and ministry. An ever-renewed dedication to worship is almost always the best cure for what may go wrong in a Meeting for Worship.

[Committee members] thus abiding in a simple and patient submission to the will of God, and keeping down to the openings of divine life in themselves, may witness a growth in their gifts, and will also be preserved from extending their declarations further than they find the power of truth to accompany them.

Discipline of Yearly Meeting of Friends
held in Baltimore, 1806

This committee is responsible for details in connection with Meeting for Worship, such as providing for the welcome of visitors, for encouraging promptness at Meeting and for closing Meeting for Worship.

The committee should at times hold meetings for all members and attenders to share their experience and search for insight concerning the Meeting for Worship and the Meeting for Business. Committee members should be mindful that there are differences in background, fluency of expression, and power of interpretation among those who may be led to speak. They have responsibility to give sympathetic encouragement to those who show promising gifts and to give loving and tender guidance to those who speak unacceptably or at undue length or with too great frequency. They should endeavor to open the way for those who are timid and inexperienced in vocal ministry and should encourage all Friends in the ministry of listening. In trying to be helpful, they should be governed by a sense of the common seeking of human beings for right guidance, rather than by an assumption of superior wisdom.

The committee should seek to deepen the spiritual lives of the individuals in the Meeting and to encourage their varied gifts for ministry and service, whether through vocal ministry, teaching, and counsel, or through aesthetic, social, and practical ways of expression. An important duty of Friends appointed to this committee is to help make diversity creative. This committee should encourage private worship, prayer, meditation, and devotional reading which may promote growth in the spiritual life and prepare each individual for the corporate worship of the Meeting. It may wish to obtain and circulate appropriate literature and arrange for retreats, study groups, and spiritual sharing groups.

The Committee on Oversight is responsible for the care of the membership and of the corporate life of the Meeting. In providing this pastoral care, the committee is concerned with the more outward aspects of building a fellowship in which all members find acceptance, loving care, and opportunity for service. Then all may grow in grace and, liberated from preoccupation with self, be helped to serve humanity creatively.

Membership on this committee calls for dedication, tact, and discretion, and should be entered into prayerfully, with an alert willingness to be of service. The Meeting selects members to serve on this committee who are representative of the varied make-up of the Meeting and who are persons of experience, sympathy, and good judgment. Where possible, some members of the committee should have counseling skills. The committee should meet regularly and carryon their work in a spirit of dedication and love.

The committee should become acquainted with Meeting members, visit them in their homes, if possible, and maintain contact with all members and attenders in a spirit of affectionate interest and loving care. To foster the knowledge of one another in things both temporal and eternal, they encourage members and at tenders to visit in each other’s homes and stimulate the Meeting to undertake activities which will deepen the Meeting fellowship. They also encourage Friends to attend the Annual Session of the Yearly Meeting and similar gatherings, advising on possible financial assistance for this purpose. They keep in touch with inactive members, hoping to rekindle their interest in the Meeting. When nonparticipation continues for a prolonged period, the Friend should be encouraged to withdraw from membership (see p. __). At least once a year letters should be written to nonresident members to give them news of the Meeting and its activities and to let them know that the Meeting is interested in their welfare. When appropriate, transfer of membership to a nearby Meeting should be encouraged. The committee notifies other Monthly Meetings promptly when Friends and faithful attenders move into their area, whether or not transfer of membership is involved. This committee, often in cooperation with the Meeting Recorder, is responsible for preparing annually a list of Meeting members and attenders.

The committee considers and recommends action upon requests for membership and transfer and withdrawal of membership (see pp. __-__). It is concerned for the nurture of the religious life of children and young people, for their participation in the Meeting and their preparation for membership. The committee helps to make newcomers and attenders welcome and to provide to inquirers information concerning the Society of Friends. When it seems right, it encourages application for membership from those who may be holding back through shyness or a sense of unworthiness. Persons are sometimes drawn to the Meeting because of its acceptance of those with problems. A Meeting needs to be careful not to offer solutions entailing aid beyond its powers. Any question of membership should be considered on its own grounds, not as a solution to personal difficulties.

The committee assists those contemplating and entering into marriage under the care of the Meeting (see Chapter 9). It gives care and aid in needed arrangements at the time of death (see Chapter 10). The committee seeks to be of help in clarifying matters involving organization, practice and procedure in the Society of Friends and in clearing up misunderstandings and reconciling differences which may come about in the Meeting. Committee members are concerned with the welfare of any who are ill, incapacitated, troubled, or in material need. The committee sees that they are visited, counseled with, and assisted as may be required. The Meeting needs to provide this committee with a fund to be used at its discretion.

Particular responsibility for care and counseling lies with the Committee on Oversight, which should choose counselors fitted for particular needs from among themselves or other qualified persons in the Meeting. Qualifications of a good counselor include approachability, warmth, sympathy, spiritual insight without prejudice, capacity to listen without judging, and ability to keep confidences. The Meeting for Worship can be a basic resource in counseling; through corporate worship the strength and power of God’s love may open a way that reaches to the hidden depths of personal problems, as we all strive to grow in spiritual and emotional maturity. The Meeting for Worship, however, should remain worship-centered; it should not become an occasion for dialogue on personal problems.

In dealing with particular needs, the committee should keep in mind that listening is a key part of the helping process. It should be sensitive to those who may not recognize their need for counseling, or who hesitate to seek help. One or two persons should be assigned in a given situation. While confidential matters are left to them, they may call upon the Committee on Oversight as needed. To listen helpfully and creatively involves faith in the person and in God, a desire to understand, patience, and avoidance of giving advice. The counselor may suggest new ways of looking at the problem and possible solutions, but decisions must be left to the person involved. Growth, independence, and standing. on one’s own feet are to be encouraged. Emotional support in a hard decision can be most helpful.

A problem may be too serious for the Committee on Oversight to handle alone, in which case professional referral should be sought. Members of the committee need to have a knowledge of resources for counseling assistance in the wider community, such as clinics, family and social services, physicians, and psychiatrists. The committee may call upon the Meeting to be of assistance when professional help is required. Practical assistance such as Friends offer in other times of stress, illness, or sorrow may be appropriate. Standing by, listening, and helping to plan can also be of great help in a critical time.

When an individual, family or other group is facing a particularly difficult situation, a Committee on Clearness (or a Committee of Concern) may be requested or suggested by members of the Meeting. The Committee on Oversight assumes responsibility for setting up the committee in consultation with the individual or group concerned. Situations in which clearness is sought may include adjustments in marriage, separation, divorce, stands to be taken on public issues, a new job, a required move to a distant area, a concern for personal witness, traveling in the ministry, and other personal decisions. The committee and the individual or group meet together in worship to seek God’s guidance. Valuable insights often result from the worship-sharing in one or more sessions. *

* For a helpful description of Clearness Committees see Living with Oneself and Others, New England Yearly Meeting, 1978.

Joint Responsibilities: In a Meeting which has both a Committee on Worship and Ministry and a Committee on Oversight, these committees share certain responsibilities. These committees are sometimes asked by a Monthly Meeting to share in the nurture of Worship Groups and Preparative Meetings under its care, although a separate committee especially appointed for this is a more satisfactory arrangement.

Although these committees usually meet separately, it is important that they keep in touch with each other. A joint retreat, for a day or a weekend, can be of benefit for the life of the committees and that of the Meeting. They should meet together at least twice a year, at the beginning of the year to review responsibilities, and in the spring to help in the preparation of the State of Society Report.

The State of Society Report is prepared once a year by each Monthly Meeting in time to be forwarded to the spring session of its Quarterly Meeting. In contrast to the informal reports of activities given to Quarterly Meetings at other times of the year, the State of Society Report should be a self-examination by the Meeting and its members of their spiritual strengths and weaknesses and of efforts to foster growth in the spiritual life. Reports may cover the full range of interest and concerns but should emphasize those indicative of the spiritual health of the Meeting.

To facilitate the preparation of this report, the Committee on Worship and Ministry and that on Oversight may meet together and explore the spiritual condition of the Meeting. They may then formulate a series of queries for a response from the Meeting as the basis of the report or may ask one or more of its members to draft a preliminary report for searching consideration by the Meeting. After revision and acceptance by the Meeting, the report is read at the Quarterly Meeting and given to the Quarterly Meeting Committee on Ministry and Oversight.

The Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee is one of the most important committees. The Meeting depends upon this small group of sensitive, wise, tactful and dedicated Friends to find the most appropriate persons to fulfill Meeting responsibilities and to use to best advantage the capabilities of Meeting members and attenders.

The Nominating Committee should be representative of the Meeting and its members should serve overlapping terms. In some Meetings the committee itself is nominated by a small ad hoc committee selected for this purpose by the Monthly Meeting, to which its nominations are reported for approval. This selection process is used to insure that the Nominating Committee does not perpetuate itself.

Members of the Nominating Committee should be familiar with the function and structure of the Meeting and with the “good order of Friends.” They should be aware of the interests, talents, proven experience, latent gifts, and potential leadership of Meeting participants. The committee must begin its work well in advance of the date when its nominations for new officers, committees, and committee clerks are presented to the Monthly Meeting. The Meeting postpones action upon the proposed slate for a month, during which time any member may seek clarification or suggest changes in the nominations to the Nominating Committee. This committee continues to serve as a standing committee throughout the year to nominate persons to fill vacancies which may occur or new positions which the Meeting may establish.

The best interests of the Meeting and its participants will be served if the Nominating Committee keeps in mind the following suggestions:

1. In approaching persons it should see that details of the nominating process are understood, including the fact that the Meeting, not the committee, is responsible for the ultimate appointment.

2. The approach should not be made casually and the duties involved in any position should be fully understood by the Nominating Committee and by the person approached for nomination. A written job description should be given to a prospective nominee.

3. Not all Friends are equally qualified for a particular responsibility, so “taking turns” and rewarding long service are to be avoided in making nominations.

4. The clerk of a committee should be consulted about members proposed for that committee; when two persons are to work together closely they should both be consulted about the proposed arrangement.

5. Clerks of committees, rather than convenors, should be named.

Other Committees

Additional standing or ad hoc committees can be selected by Meetings as needed.