How the Work Gets Done

It has been Friends' experience that doing our business together carefully can unite us, especially when we seek Truth together, as a community. How we make our decisions matters more to us than what those decisions ultimately will be. This experience has led us to do the business of our community in a spirit of worship, listening to the still small voice within and listening carefully to each other throughout even the most seemingly mundane matters. We do not vote to make our decisions, because voting creates winners and losers, can be divisive, and destroys our ability to hear the wisdom in every person's search for Truth. Instead, we work closely together until we reach unity.

Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business

When you come to Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business, you will notice that we are led by two clerks: the Clerk of the Meeting and the Recording Clerk.  The Clerk of the Meeting has two main tasks: first, to shepherd the Meeting in a way that maintains a worshipful spirit, even as we tend to our business together, and second, to invite each member to be included in the process.  The Recording Clerk keeps the minutes, reading aloud occasionally to make sure that the whole group is in unity with what is recorded.  Others present work to bring a spirit of worship to the discussion, listening deeply to each other.  In the end, a well-run Meeting for Business can unite us in love, as a group, regardless of the matter at hand.

Work of the Meeting

Committees

Friends did not abolish the clergy so much as abolish the laity: each of us is called to ministry.  Much of the work of the Meeting is accomplished in committees. Committees bring updates, proposals, and reports to the wider community during Meeting for Business.  Robust engagement in committee work supports the health of the wider Meeting.  Committees at Gunpowder include:

To learn what committees do, click on a committee, above.