Message from the Pastoral Care and Eldership Team (PaCET) for Sunday Meeting 9th July 2023

Dear Friends,

The passage below is taken from Beyond Majority Rule, voteless decisions in the Religious Society of Friends (1996) by Michael Sheeran, an American Jesuit priest who became very interested in the way Quakers practice communal discernment.
 
“The goals of Quaker decision-making are basically different from those of majority rule. The proposals made at the beginning of a discussion are thus seen by participants as starting points, not as finished products unsusceptible to modification.
 
“At a Quaker meeting in Philadelphia, the spokesman for a committee making recommendations for remodelling an ancient building smiled at the end of his report and said: ‘Of course that’s how we think it might be done. It might just be that Friends have other ideas.’  For twenty minutes the meeting then discussed the pros and cons of the committee’s suggestions with the spokesman cheerfully revising the proposal when the group moved towards options his committee had not presented.
 
“Our point here is that the attitude with which Friends approach a decision is different from that which prevails in the context of majority rule. In Quaker decision-making, it generally is presumed that the group, by searching together, can reach a correct solution.
 
“Behaviour which evidences attitudes contrary to this searching together suffers subtle but sharp sanctions. As a result, the common search for the best solution which is dismissed as pious rhetoric in the context of majority rule becomes an effective norm in the voteless Quaker world.
 
“The attitude demanded of Friends is one of openness to one another’s ideas – the ability to put aside pet notions in favour of the next person’s insight.
 
“It is true that such methods make great demands on those who practice them.”
 
Quakers of very long standing perhaps do not need this message.  Equally, some Friends may see things differently.  Quakers are not the only group who aim for spirit-led consensus, but there may be times when we can share what we have found that helps the process.
 
Quakerism is a way of life without a creed.  Many Friends may not have experienced business meetings and other Quaker decision-making processes. It is important to know that communal discernment dates from the very early stages of the Quaker movement and shows signs of lasting long into the future.
 
Nancy Wall

On behalf of PaCET [Pastoral Care & Eldership Team]:  David Hitchin, Chris Lawson, Tim Pitt-Payne, Caroline Pybus, Theresa Samms and Nancy Wall