Reaching Decisions

The Quaker method of reaching decisions has always been primarily a religious one. In some real sense, Friends intend to seek God's will rather than merely human wisdom. Decisions do not in the end depend on the particular knowledge and wisdom of certain outstanding leaders, but on a gathered insight in which the whole meeting is unified. The method is based on the faith that each person can know God's will and that God's will is one. The meeting for business seeks to find it.

In practical terms, this means that such meetings are held in a context of worship, so that those present may repeatedly and consciously seek Divine guidance.

It is important that the meeting for business should begin with a genuine period of worship, with an awareness of the real presence and direction of Christ in the worshipping fellowship. The religious fellowship experienced during such a period of reverent waiting is helpful also in seeking Divine guidance and in finding unity of action in the transaction of business. Only as Friends are aware that they are functioning in the Divine presence does the Quaker method really work.

Secular groups sometimes use a method of consensus similar to a Friends meeting for business, but the Quaker method is not simply a technique; it is a faith that finds expression in a method. The method without the faith will work so long as differences are not too great but may then break down. The essential safeguard against such breakdown among Friends is the faith that there is a will of God for persons and discernible by them and that faithful following of the Light given us will lead into a realizable unity.