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Author: Wendrie Heywood

  • Quaker A-Z: I is for Insider Knowledge

    Quaker A-Z: I is for Insider Knowledge

    If you are addressing a lack of attendance at a gathering or meeting, for example, one reason for the void could be a participant’s confidence in the knowledge that they could bring. It could be that you yourself question the contribution you could make. In this blog, we explore how insider knowledge can impact the

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  • Quaker A-Z: H is for “Hope So!”

    Quaker A-Z: H is for “Hope So!”

    Wendrie Heywood – MBS Founder & Life Long Quaker Why do Quakers say “Hope so!” rather than “yes”? Or, in these days of Zoom, put thumbs up or nod at the camera? If you’ve attended a Quaker Meeting for Worship for Business you may well have heard these phrases: Clerks: “Is the minute acceptable, Friends?” Meeting: “Hope so!” This

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  • Quaker A-Z: F is for Filing Structures

    Quaker A-Z: F is for Filing Structures

    All clerks, or anyone needing to deal with records is likely to end up with documents that need to be stored. Documents need to be safe for archive as well, easy to refer to. There should be some system of recording what documents are where. There are many filing systems you can use (after all

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  • Quaker A-Z: E is for Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate!

    Quaker A-Z: E is for Evaluate, Evaluate, Evaluate!

    Evaluation should follow action, then action should follow evaluation, and so on. Don’t let a yearning for perfection, or fear of mistakes, paralyse you. But don’t charge ahead without consideration either. So. Where to start?

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  • Quaker A-Z: D is for Draft Minutes

    Quaker A-Z: D is for Draft Minutes

    Quakers write their minutes contemporaneously, meaning each minute is agreed in the meeting. This usually happens at the end of the topic and must happen before the meeting ends. Once the meeting has closed and the clerk has signed the minutes, they aren’t altered or amended – beyond “dots and commas”, where the meaning isn’t

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  • Quaker A-Z: C is for Clerk vs Chair

    Quaker A-Z: C is for Clerk vs Chair

    I’m often asked what is the difference between a Quaker Clerk and the Chair of a Committee. My usual rather tongue-in-cheek (and not strictly true) answer is that “A Quaker clerk is a servant of the meeting, and the Chair is the boss of their group”.  Quakers in Britain have a good deal of information

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  • Quaker A-Z: B is for BCC

    Quaker A-Z: B is for BCC

    Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash Sending emails… BCC (“blind carbon copy” – have you used carbon copying paper?) is now easy to do and doesn’t require physical winding down of actual paper on each letter sent!  An email can be sent with three levels of recipient  To: Original recipient  CC: Someone who is “copied

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  • Quakers A-Z: A is for Authority

    Quakers A-Z: A is for Authority

    Photo by Pete Alexopoulos on Unsplash Authority is something that people often don’t like to accept. Quakers can confuse the idea that everyone is equal before G-D, with the idea that they aren’t leaders or people with authority. Instead, the Quaker business method and Quaker nominations, with time-limited role appointments, are ultimately there to help

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  • AdventWord 2022: Emmanuel

    AdventWord 2022: Emmanuel

    “My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and

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