Category: Quaker Business Method
Posts exploring the Quaker Business Method. Advice and explanations on what / how it is used in Quaker Business Meetings, and how you can use those ideas to improve the way all meetings.
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Quaker A-Z: U is for Underlying Issues
Clear as… There are many items which have underlying issues that make them just too big and complicated to cover in a short meeting. Documents in advance can be helpful in ensuring that people are aware of what will be on the agenda, and what they might expect to make decisions on, wait for discernment
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Quaker A-Z: T is for Timekeeping
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash One of the questions which comes up frequently during MBS clerk support & training is agenda timekeeping, especially how to keep to time while still allowing time during the meeting for the spirit to move.Anyone who has attended a Yearly Meeting will be familiar with the way those clerks
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Quaker A-Z: S is for Silence and Spirit-led
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash S is for silence Which is oh so very useful. and S is for Spirit-led Essential in a Meeting for Worship, Meeting for Worship for Business, or a Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business… Actually, any sort of meeting would benefit from both of those things. As
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Quaker A-Z: R is for Reservations
Unseen reservations & resistance As those who know me would affirm – I am a committee nerd. Was tickled to be welcomed as one at a Woodbrooke course on serving nationally – the facilitator saying it was unlikely we’d all turned up to learn about becoming a better committee member if we weren’t! So, I
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Quaker A-Z: Q is for Quiet not Querulous
Don’t be afraid to stop and ask for quiet! A bit of quiet time goes further than you think. This could be to support the clerks as they try to write a minute, to give more time between contributions, or just because things have been a bit fraught and everyone should try to centre down
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Quaker A-Z: L is for Listening
Listening is a vital skill for anyone hoping to run a meeting of any type. In a Quaker Meeting for Worship for Business (MfWfB) there is an agreed agenda and the clerk will have planned the order to allow time for reflective silence. These spaces are scheduled between spoken presentations, contributions or questions. That silence
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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: G is for Gender Neutral Language
Quakers have a testimony to equality. For over sixty years Quakers in Britain have struggled with gender and sexual equality. Gender inclusive or gender neutral?
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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
