IMYM Faith & Practice, 2009, pp 56-66

I was moved to recommend the setting up of Monthly Meetings throughout the nation. And the Lord opened to me what I must do…

George Fox, Journal, 1667

The meeting for worship is the heart of the monthly meeting and the Society of Friends. It is in this corporate fellowship that Friends experience the most profound realities of life: birth and death, marriage and family, community of the Holy Spirit, and concern for other people. A meeting in the Quaker sense is a gathering of people whose intention is to experience God. So far as this divine/human interaction takes place, there is order, unity, and power. Should this connection break down, Friends wait and pray that “way may open” once more; the good order of Friends is based on this conception of a meeting. Meetings for worship are held at established times— usually once a week but also more often as occasion arises.

The term monthly meeting has two meanings. Primarily, it refers to the fundamental unit of the Society of Friends; it also reflects the practice of coming together for meeting for worship with a concern for business, which usually occurs once a month.

ORGANIZATION AND RESPONSIBILITY

The purpose of organization is to provide orderly and effective means for handling corporate business essential to the meeting’s functioning with a maximum of freedom, participation, and responsibility. A meeting for business takes place in the same expectant waiting for the Spirit’s guidance as does a meeting for worship. Friends’ manner of conducting business is an expression of our faith that the Light, which is in all, when heeded, draws all into unity in our common affairs. It is an expression of our commitment to follow that Light.

A monthly meeting has many functions: it receives, records, and terminates memberships; provides spiritual and material aid to those in its fellowship; oversees marriages; gives care at the time of death; and counsels with members in troubled circumstances. It collects and administers funds for its maintenance and work, and it may hold property of a fiduciary nature as well as titles to real property. Meetings witness to Friends’ testimonies and relate to other Quaker organizations as well as groups who share common concerns.

Organization evolves with a meeting’s needs. Early in its history, a small meeting may be able to act as a committee of the whole. As it gains strength and experience, it may be appropriate to select persons and committees to carry out specific responsibilities. As long as an organizational structure proves useful, it is not changed unless there is good reason to do so; if a structure no longer serves a vital function, it is laid down. If a meeting holds title to real property, it may be advisable for that meeting to incorporate.

OFFICERS

The organization of monthly meetings within Intermountain Yearly Meeting can vary, sometimes in the name of an office or committee, but also in some cases by function. Ministry in word and act, responsibility for the good order and material needs of the meeting, visitation, authenticity of the testimonies—all these are the responsibilities of persons in the meeting as they are guided by the Light. For practical reasons, monthly meetings appoint individuals to serve as officers and to carry out specific functions, including presiding over meetings, keeping records of business meetings and membership, maintaining stewardship of property and funds, and nurturing the community. They are appointed for defined terms of service using the nomination process described below. The names for the offices may vary, but it is important that responsibility for all necessary functions be assumed by willing and capable individuals. Larger meetings may appoint a number of officers to share the work of their meetings. The most commonly appointed officers include a clerk, a recording clerk, a treasurer, and a clerk of the Committee on Ministry and Oversight or Ministry and Counsel.

A good officer is one who, while assuming a particular responsibility, is committed to the leading of the Spirit in discerning what needs to be done and who seeks to engage the resources of the meeting, matching people to the task.

The clerk (also called presiding clerk) presides at meetings for business, gathers the sense of the meeting, formulates the minutes of the proceedings, speaks for the meeting when so directed, and carries out the instructions of the meeting to accomplish its business. Some larger meetings also appoint an assistant clerk or associate clerk to help with these functions. Although sometimes a faithful attender, the clerk is most often a member of the meeting, one who has the confidence and respect of the membership and the capability of serving the meeting with warmth and spiritual sensitivity. An effective clerk listens receptively, comprehends readily, evaluates rightly, and states clearly and concisely the sense of the meeting regarding a business item or concern. The clerk may ask any experienced Friend to preside in his or her absence.

Most meetings appoint a recording clerk to make faithful, concise, and accurate records of the minutes of action, as discerned and stated by the presiding clerk. It is the recording clerk who puts the meeting’s insights and minutes into written words, but it is the clerk who bears ultimate responsibility for the completeness and accuracy of the minutes. The meeting may also appoint a recorder to prepare the census report as required by the yearly meeting; to file in the appropriate archives the minutes and reports collected by the recording clerk; and to maintain the records of births, marriages, and deaths, and the formal records of membership. In smaller meetings, these matters may be undertaken by the recording clerk. Some meetings appoint an assistant recording clerk, recorder/archivist, librarian/archivist, correspondence clerk, records clerk, or minute clerk to handle these duties. 

Maintaining and disbursing the meeting’s funds and giving regular reports to the meeting are the responsibility of the treasurer. Some meetings choose to incorporate when they begin to hold property in order to have some of the protections provided by the state in which they are incorporated. When drawing up such a charter and by-laws, special attention needs to be paid to the relationships between the officers of the meeting and its corporation. It is convenient to designate the treasurer of the meeting also as treasurer of the corporation. It is well that the meeting’s accounts be reviewed occasionally by a financial professional or by a few persons appointed by the meeting.  

COMMITTEES OF THE MEETING

Committees constitute an effective means of facilitating the monthly meeting’s business because much of the work can be done more appropriately in small groups than in the meeting for business or by individuals. Each meeting decides which committees are necessary to carry out its concerns and business. Most meetings find a Ministry and Oversight or Ministry and Counsel Committee essential. Ministry and Oversight is responsible for the spiritual health of the meeting and maintaining a general purview of the right ordering of the affairs of the meeting. The term oversight can also refer to the management of property, but here it is used in the context of pastoral care and counseling. Other commmon committees include Nominating, Peace and Social Order (or Peace and Social Concerns), Finance, Religious Education, Property, and Hospitality. Although the names of committees vary among meetings, it is important that the functions of each committee be clear to all within the meeting. Ad hoc committees are sometimes useful for addressing particular projects or concerns. A committee no longer serving a purpose is laid down by the meeting for business. 

Committees conduct business in the same manner as the monthly meeting does, waiting on the Spirit for direction in their work and unity in their decisions. It is important that committee clerks and members of committees attend meeting for business regularly to ensure regular communication of information and smooth coordination between the committee and the meeting. A written charge to each committee clarifies what is expected of it and of its clerk as well as the limits of authority delegated to it. Such clarity and communication promotes an atmosphere of trust, allowing meetings, their officers, clerks, and committees to fulfill their respective tasks without wasteful duplication or frustration.

Committee members should be selected according to their abilities and concerns. Meetings customarily appoint an experienced and capable member of the Religious Society of Friends to clerk the Ministry and Oversight (or similar) Committee, and each meeting determines the necessary qualifications for its committee members and clerks. Because committee work enables Friends to engage in the life of the meeting, it provides familiarity with Friends’ faith and business practices, especially our decision-making process. Service on a committee also offers Friends an opportunity to use their particular gifts and to deepen friendships among the members.

Committees serve the monthly meeting not only by carrying on their usual functions but also by doing background work for the monthly meeting for business—examining particular matters in depth, identifying issues, gathering useful information, and preparing seasoned recommendations. When this work is done well, the monthly meeting session is able to focus quickly on the matter at hand. It is important that committees keep minutes of their meetings and that they report regularly to the monthly meeting. In bringing a matter before the meeting for business, it is important that the committee describe concisely the work it has done in support of its recommendation and offer, where appropriate, a draft of a possible minute. Mutual trust between the meeting and a committee as well as faith in the power of Truth over all will help achieve the proper balance between the discernment of a committee and that of the monthly meeting. All actions of committees in the name of the meeting are subject to approval by the monthly meeting.

Nominating Committee

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another acts of compassion; according to the same Spirit, some will receive the gift of teaching in the children’s program, to others the gift of building maintenance or hospitality; the same Spirit to another gives the clerking of a committee, and yet to others, even the registration of those coming to yearly meeting…. 

Adapted from I Corinthians, 12:4–7 RSV

The Nominating Committee is representative of the meeting and familiar with its members and attenders. Usually, a small ad hoc committee (often called the Naming Committee) nominates individuals to serve on the Nominating Committee. Those serving need to be discerning in judgment and tactful in manner and at the same time be forward-looking in considering for service younger Friends and newer members and encouraging those who may underestimate their own potential. The responsibility of this committee cannot be too strongly stressed.

Nominating committees are concerned with how the gifts of members and attenders may best serve the meeting’s needs for clerks, committee members, and other responsible positions. The committee seeks the best-qualified persons from among the whole membership, the younger and newer as well as the older and more experienced. The Nominating Committee considers the qualities appropriate to each appointment as well as how the members of a given committee will function together. It is important that the desire to fill all vacancies not distract the committee from its task of discerning the right person for a particular job.

It is well to the extent practicable to rotate meeting responsibilities or jobs among Friends to enable individuals to practice different approaches and to offer different gifts. It is equally important to recognize when a Friend is serving beyond his or her capacity and experience. The Nominating Committee is also charged with discerning the right time to ask a particular Friend to take up or to lay down a particular task. The committee explains clearly the term and scope of each appointment to those Friends asked to accept nomination as well as the need for the nomination to be brought to the monthly meeting for approval. Sometimes a Friend may request a clearness committee to help him or her reach clearness about accepting a position. In some larger meetings, the Committee on Ministry and Oversight serves as a clearness committee for the Nominating Committee. Nominating Committees should not feel unduly concerned to fill vacancies that remain after the committee has exercised its use of spiritual discernment.

Nominating Committees do not appoint, and nominations are made by the committee, not by individual members of the committee. Generally nominations are laid over for one month to enable both nominees and members of the meeting to express to the committee any concerns they may have about the nominations while carefully recognizing that of God in each person. If after thoughtful consideration unity is not reached, the committee attempts to find another person to fill the position. With any appointment, the meeting, having been fully involved in approving the nominations, extends loving support to those who take on a position.

Sometimes, following thoughtful consultation with the Ministry and Oversight Committee (or its equivalent), a need arises for bringing an appointment to a close before the end of a term, or a Friend may request release from service. Loving tenderness is essential in considering reasons for early release and in finding another person. Nominating Committees should not hesitate to bring problems back to the monthly meeting for guidance and practical help.

 The Nominating Committee may also from time to time ask the Ministry and Oversight Committee to consider whether a committee should be laid down and to forward its recommendation to the meeting for business.

Ministry and Oversight / Ministry and Worship Committee

In some meetings, the functions of the Ministry and Oversight Committee (under various names) are the charge of one committee, and in others, because of the many responsibilities, these functions are divided between two committees—Worship and Ministry focusing on the spiritual well-being of the meeting as a whole, and Oversight and Counsel focusing on the care of individual Friends. The committee ideally consists of members of varied ages, genders, and gifts who are faithful in worship and sensitive to the life of the spirit—Friends both young and old looked to as spiritual elders and as having experience, empathy, good judgment, and discretion. 

Care for the Meeting for Worship. The first responsibility of the Ministry and Oversight (or, where divided into two committees, Ministry and Worship) Committee’s members is to deepen their own spiritual lives and their preparation for worship. When they are grounded in the Spirit, committee members are reminded that they are but vessels of the Light among many other vessels. Then they can better trust that the power of God may work through all persons in the meeting and beyond. Committee members’ concern for the meeting throughout the week, their prompt arrival at and reverence for meeting for worship, and their faithfulness to the guidance of the Spirit are ways they can deepen the quality of worship.

Committee members try to discern promising gifts among Friends as well as to guide in a loving manner those who speak unacceptably in meeting for worship (such as those who speak too often or for too long). They endeavor to open the way for those who are timid and inexperienced in vocal ministry and to encourage all Friends to listen with tenderness. In trying to be helpful, they do not assume superior wisdom but rather trust that all are sharing in the search for guidance.

Care for the Meeting for Business. The responsibilities of the Ministry and Oversight Committee (or, where divided into two committees, Ministry and Worship) include nurturing business sessions of the monthly meeting. The importance of the presence of committee members at meeting for business cannot be overemphasized. The committee considers prayerfully how to contribute to the meeting’s discernment of Truth and works with the presiding clerk to develop his or her skills in fostering a worshipful and faithful business meeting.

Care for Individual Lives. Ministry and Oversight Committee (or, where divided into two committees, Oversight and Counsel) attends to the spiritual lives of those in the meeting by helping discern and develop varied gifts for ministry and service as well as encouraging vocal ministry; teaching; counseling; using aesthetic, social, and practical modes of expression; and engaging in regular spiritual disciplines. The committee may support individual spiritual growth by circulating appropriate literature in addition to arranging for study groups, retreats, and worship-sharing groups. Members are personally concerned with the spiritual and physical welfare of each member of the meeting. They encourage visitation and fellowship within the meeting and try to ensure that those who are ill, troubled, or in want receive visits, spiritual help, and practical assistance as may be needed.

This committee (or a committee designated by the monthly meeting) considers requests for initiation, transfer, or withdrawal of membership; requests from persons who wish to be married under the care of the meeting; and requests for clearness committees to address individual concerns. It offers spiritual care and practical assistance at the time of death in a family. It tries to be of help in reconciling differences among people in the meeting. It endeavors to respond to inquiries about Friends and welcomes newcomers and attenders, including making clear to them ways of participating in meeting fellowship, or joining the meeting as a member. It encourages Friends to attend regional and yearly meeting sessions and other gatherings of Friends, and provides information about possible financial assistance for this purpose. It keeps in touch with committees with related concerns and may form subcommittees charged with specific responsibilities, such as clearness for membership or marriage, or oversight of a fund for special needs.

The Ministry and Oversight Committee (or two committees) should report its activities and concerns regularly to the monthly meeting. In consultation with the meeting community, this committee oversees the preparation of an annual State of the Meeting Report to the regional and yearly meetings, for they and the clerk share oversight of other committees of the meeting, with a special concern for good order. (See Appendix 5 for a description of and advices on the State of the Meeting Report.) 

Sometimes a problem facing an individual is too complex for the meeting to handle. When this arises, the Ministry and Oversight Committee may turn to regional or yearly meeting Ministry and Oversight Committees for assistance. In some cases, professional help needs to be sought. Committee members need to have knowledge of available professional resources. Even when it is clear that professional help is needed, the meeting may still offer such practical assistance as meals, childcare, or transportation. At those times, spiritual support of the individual(s) is of utmost importance. 

Peace and Social Order Committee

That the Peace and Social Order Committee (variously named Peace and Social Concerns, Social Action, Peace and Justice, Faith in Action, and so on) is one of the first committees formed in many monthly meetings bears witness to the commitment of Friends to make their lives speak their faith. This committee may plan and carry out service projects as activities of the meeting, recommend particular action on issues of interest to Friends, encourage members to participate in the work for social change as part of larger groups or independently according to individual leadings, support Friends in forwarding a concern to the regional or yearly meeting, and contribute services or money to help free a member of the meeting to pursue a social action as a “released Friend.” This committee also may provide valuable help in seasoning concerns of an individual or group that may lead to social action or service, testing concerns and recommending courses of action.

Finance Committee

Monthly meetings must have income to pay for rent or maintenance of space, communication, outreach, insurance, educational materials, and other expenses. The treasurer, with advice from Ministry and Oversight or a separate Finance Committee, oversees funds. The procedures for securing income are generally unobtrusive. It is not uncommon for the Finance Committee to send an annual letter to members and attenders describing the meeting’s broad budgetary picture and suggesting common practice in giving to the meeting. Such a letter typically explains that contributions may be less for some and more for others, depending on personal circumstances. One of the responsibilities of membership is the financial support of the meeting and other Friends’ organizations.

Other duties of the Finance Committee are to oversee the maintenance of orderly accounts and expenditure procedures, and to advise the monthly meeting on the financial aspects of its affairs. In meetings without a Finance Committee, the treasurer may carry these responsibilities. In larger meetings, it may be worthwhile to hire a professional accountant and to appoint an assistant to the treasurer. 

Other Committees

 As a meeting grows, it will be necessary to add other committees to do the work described above and to meet other needs that arise. Some of the other committees currently identified within Intermountain Yearly Meeting are:

• Religious Education (both for children and for adults)
• Building and Grounds
• Board of Trustees/Corporation Board of Directors
• Hospitality
• Long-Range Planning
• Outreach
• Fellowship
• Right Sharing
• Library
• Membership Guidance
• Communications
• Bereavement Scholarship