In the
Religious Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
(Quakers), a monthly meeting or area meeting
is the basic governing body, a congregation which holds regular
meetings for business for Quakers in a given area. The monthly meeting is responsible for the administration of its congregants, including membership and
marriages
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
, and for the meeting's property. A monthly meeting can be a grouping of multiple smaller meetings, usually called
preparative meetings, coming together for administrative purposes, while for others it is a single institution. In most countries, multiple monthly meetings form a
quarterly meeting, which in turn form
yearly meetings
Yearly Meeting is a term used by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, to refer to an organization composed of constituent meetings or churches within a geographical area. The constituent meetings are called Monthly Meetings in ...
.
may refer to their congregation as a
church.
Management
Among Quakers, affairs are managed at a particular kind of
meeting for worship, called a meeting for business, where all members are invited to attend. Decisions are made as a form of worship, where each individual sits in contemplative silence until moved to speak on a subject. At these meetings, Quakers attempt to reach unity on a subject, in a form of religious
consensus decision-making
Consensus decision-making or consensus process (often abbreviated to ''consensus'') are group decision-making processes in which participants develop and decide on proposals with the aim, or requirement, of acceptance by all. The focus on e ...
, to find "the sense of the meeting".
A monthly meeting is so called because it traditionally holds these meetings once a month, separate from the normal weekly meeting for worship.
Each meeting usually nominates members to serve in certain volunteer positions to facilitate administration, including:
* a
clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
and assistant clerk or clerks
* a treasurer
* a registering officer
* a nominations committee
* a body of trustees
* a custodian of records or a committee for the purpose
A monthly meeting is usually associated with a particular place of worship; in many cases, the associated
meeting house
A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place.
Terminology
Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a
* church, which is a body of people who believe in C ...
has a distinctive style of architecture and interior design, to represent the
Quaker testimony
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...
of
Simplicity
Simplicity is the state or quality of being simple. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as Herbert A. Simon suggests, something is simple or complex depending on the way we ...
. Some meeting houses in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
are among the
earliest remaining religious structures in the country, and the oldest meeting house is likely the
Third Haven Meeting House in
Talbot County, Maryland
Talbot County is located in the heart of the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,526. Its county seat is Easton. The county was named for Lady Grace Talbot, the wife of Sir Ro ...
, built between 1682 and 1684.
Notes
See also
*
Friends World Committee for Consultation
External links
QuakerMaps a resource for finding monthly meetings from across the spectrum of Quakerism, powered by Google Maps.
Quakerfinder a resource for finding
FGC monthly meetings in the United States.
Find a Quaker Meeting in England, Wales or Scotland
{{Religious Society of Friends
Quaker organizations