by Patricia Thomas
After years of service as presiding clerk of various committees and task forces, monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings I am convinced that Quaker business process, when it is faithfully practiced, is our gift to the world. When Friends understand the difference between consensus and sense of the meeting, when we have learned the art of listening, when we release our ideas into the deep fellowship of the Spirit, and when we allow ourselves to be directed to the solution that awaits us, God gets a voice, and the business session becomes a meeting for worship with attention to business.
Patricia Thomas is a member of Campus Friends Meeting in Wilmington YM, USA. This was her clerk’s reflection at World Quaker Day, held on on October 2nd, 2022, “Becoming the Quakers the World Needs”.