Today as I write it is the second Sunday of the month. That means today Memphis Friends are holding business meeting, or, in Quakerese, Meeting for Worship for Business.  Thinking about business meeting, I am reminded that Quakers think of religion as both faith and practice – both what we believe and what we do.  In Meeting for Worship we experience the faith part, but it is in Meeting for Business that we can best discover the practice.  Most of us get involved with Quakers for the unique experience of worship, but attending Meeting for Business is pretty nifty too.  There is real spiritual depth in Quaker decision-making, which attempts to go beyond consensus, all the way to spiritual discernment.

Quaker Meetings have no vestry, no parish council, no appointed elders, no governing board.  Instead everyone and anyone who attends meeting is, through that interest alone, also a member of business meeting.  Since no invitation is necessary, none is usually extended, and it is easy to miss the point.  Having grown up in another kind of church, I just naturally figured that those people attending to business had been appointed to do so.  It took a direct invitation for me to realize that this was a part of the life of the meeting in which I could share.

The first thing I noticed is that Quakers never call for a vote.  We don’t vote, because a majority can never be allowed to decide for a minority.  Everyone has to agree or nothing gets decided.  That may seem a recipe for inaction, but surprisingly consensus is rather easily arrived at most of the time.  When it is not, then Quakers give it more time. Sometimes lots and lots of time, but that time is not spent in loud discussion.  Quakers avoid arguing.  The process seems to consist primarily of listening to each other and pondering the issue in one’s own heart.

Quaker rules are simple, but seldom well articulated. Happily though, the rules for conducting business are much the same as those for worship.  You try to state your concern just once, for example, trusting your listeners to give you their full attention and to consider carefully what you have said.  Silent consideration is very much a part of the process.  Sometimes, the Clerk calls for silence, so that everyone will have a chance to consider what was said, before the meeting moves on.

When a decision is reached, however, the clerk will ask if it is approved and often one or two mummer “approved.” This is where Quakers can’t be shy.  If you don’t approve, you have to speak up, saying, “I have a concern.”  Sometimes Quakers decide that an issue needs more “seasoning” before a decision is reached.  It may simply be tabled until the next business meeting, or a special “threshing” session may be called.  Since Quakers realize that a majority can well be wrong, even one person can stop a decision from being made.  It’s called “standing against the meeting” but it is so scary that it is seldom done.

One of the joys of attending Yearly Meeting is watching a large group of Quakers reach decisions on issues ranging from the simple to the contentious.  They come to Yearly Meeting, of course, seasoned from practicing their Quaker faith every month in business meetings like ours.  We’re going to have a bit more practice than usual this winter since we have decided to meet for business at 9:30 rather than 10:00 so we will have a full 90 minutes to conduct our business in a worshipful manner.