Meeting for Business
Once a month we follow meeting for worship with
meeting for business, conducted under the guidance of our clerk. A member of our
Meeting who both serves and leads thoughtfully, the clerk is responsible for
preparing the meeting for business and helping the Meeting move through the
agenda attentively and efficiently.
A meeting for business is, essentially, a meeting for worship called to consider
the specific business of the Meeting. Members and attenders gather on the second
Sunday of each month to hear committee reports and to discuss concerns and
events before the Meeting. A meeting for business “is not a town meeting in
which everyone has the right to speak, for no one has the right to speak in
meeting. Friends have, instead, the privilege and the duty to lay before the
meeting whatever relevant insight they may possess. Out of this sharing of light
may come a greater light...” (Thomas S. Brown)
With humility, respect for each other and an openness to differing views we have
faith that we can, with God’s guidance, arrive at a “sense” of the Meeting. When
this has been accomplished for each item before the meeting for business, the
assembled group settles into silent worship before adjourning.
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Decision Making
This section is currently being revised.
Please check again soon!
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Clearness
This section is currently being revised.
Please check again soon!
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Becoming a Friend
Membership in a Friends Meeting “establishes a
commitment. It means that for each member the Religious Society of Friends
provides the most promising home for spiritual enlightenment and growth. It
commits a person to the daily pursuit of truth after the manner of Friends and
commits the Meeting to support the member in that pursuit.” (Faith and
Practice, PYM, 1998)
Membership in the Religious Society of Friends requires a commitment to shared
worship, as well as service to the monthly meeting through participation on
committees, in meeting for business, and in witness to the broader community.
Because there is no clergy, Meeting members are responsible for the entire scope
of Meeting activities. Membership in quarterly and yearly meeting, as well as
the Religious Society of Friends, are inherent to membership in a monthly
meeting.
Attenders at monthly meeting who feel nourished by their involvement in the
Meeting, who have explored the beliefs and practices of Quakers, and understand
the responsibilities of membership, are encouraged to request membership in the
Meeting. To accomplish this, you need to write a formal request to the clerk of
the monthly meeting, explaining why you are moved to join the Religious Society
of Friends. This letter will be shared with the Meeting at meeting for business
and referred to the Care and Counsel Committee.
A clearness committee will meet with each applicant to explore questions of
religious belief and practice among Friends, and to answer questions from the
applicant. After such a meeting, if the Care and Counsel Committee approves the
application, they will recommend membership for the applicant at the next
meeting for business.
As for children, parents may request membership for them at the time of their
birth, adoption, or anytime later. It is the joyful commitment of the Meeting to
provide a spiritual home for all children, whether or not they (or their
parents) are members.
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Friends' Weddings
“Formal declaration of commitment in the presence
of God and Friends under the care of the Meeting sets a foundation for a shared
life of spiritual wholeness. Such a commitment ... becomes a source of hoy, not
only for the couple fut also for the Meeting and all others in the couple's
life” (Faith and Practice, PYM, 1998).
Marriage under the care of a monthly meeting has several stages: requesting
permission to marry under the care of the Meeting, the clearness process,
preparation with the committee of oversight, and the ceremony. Couples
interested in marrying under the care of Willistown Monthly Meeting should begin
the process by making a formal, written request of the Meeting. Such requests
are read to the meeting for business, after which the Care and Counsel Committee
appoints a committee of clearness to meet with the couple. The clearness process
is intended to help the couple, with the guidance of the committee, explore
“what it takes to achieve the permanence and satisfaction of a committed, loving
relationship, and the extent to which the couple is prepared for the dedication
and constancy such a relationship requires” (Faith and Practice, PYM, 1998).
Following the clearness process, when the Care and Counsel recommends a couple
for marriage to the meeting for business, the Meeting approves holding a
“meeting for worship for marriage” in accordance with the couple's wishes. Thus
begins the process of planning for the ceremony itself. A committee of
oversight, appointed by the Care and Counsel committee, provides guidance for
the couple in the practical matters of planning a wedding, obtaining a legal
license, and a Quaker marriage certificate. It is also the role of the committee
of oversight to conduct the wedding ceremony and bear legal witness to the
wedding.
A Friends' wedding ceremony is a specially called meeting for worship. After a
period of silent worship, the bride and groom stand up in the front of the
Meeting and taking each other by the hand, say their vows of commitment in the
presence of God and witnessing Friends. After they sit down the marriage
certificate is brought to them to be signed and read. The meeting continues in
silence. Guests are invited then to share messages capturing the spirit and
happiness of the couple. At the close of meeting everyone present will sign the
Quaker marriage certificate as a witness.
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Friends' Memorials
A Friends memorial service is similar in many ways
to a meeting for worship. It is not only a time to be mindful of the words: “Be
still, and know that I am God,” but it is also a time to celebrate the life of
the departed person. We reflect on the person’s contribution to our world, and
how it related to our lives. Members of the family may request that passages of
Scripture, literature, or music be shared during the meeting. Those present may
feel called to share memories which are poignant, loving, grateful, instructive, even humorous.
(Faith and Practice, PYM, 1998)
Friends hope that in a memorial meeting for worship a consciousness of the Divine will
be felt by every attender, and will be a source of strength and comfort.
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