Most Quaker faith communities hold monthly business meetings to make
decisions on business and spiritual matters, including finance, operations,
and worship. We use the collective discernment of participants to guide us.
Business meetings are facilitated by the meeting clerk and occur on the third
Sunday of the month at 12:15 PM in the worship room. There usually is no
business meeting in July, August, and December.
All members are expected to participate in business meetings as they are able, and all
attenders (a word we use for people who are not members who regularly attend meeting
for worship) are encouraged to attend.
There are four distinctive attributes of Quaker business meetings. These
meetings are:
- Rooted in worship: A business meeting starts and ends with a brief
period of silent worship. This helps us approach business decisions
with a spirit of calm openness - Led by the clerk of the Meeting, who moves us through the agenda
- Characterized by a sense of spaciousness; discussion is not rushed
- Committed to making decisions based on the “sense of the meeting,”
waiting for a sense of unity to grow among those present about what
direction to take, guided by the Spirit. Usually, this sense of the
meeting is readily discerned. At other times, a decision may have to
wait until another meeting. Rarely, there are times when a matter is
set aside because a lack of unity. For Quakers, this is not a failure. It
is listening to the Spirit.
