Introduction
This guide is intended for those about to embark on a new part of their lives – that of serving as clerk to Quaker business meetings, usually referred to these days as Meetings for Worship for Business. There are several other highly-readable publications on the topic but most of them are discursive in style. The aim of this one is more like a manual, the sort in which you aren’t clear how to do something, or why something seems hard or troubling, and you require some immediate help. It’s not an instruction book as there are many ways of doing things right when it comes to clerking, but there is guidance, suggestions, tips, and some how-to offerings based on the lived experience of clerks in the unprogrammed tradition. There is more further on in this site if you are interested in more extensive reading about the principles of clerking a Quaker meeting for church affairs. Go to the ‘further reading’ menu.
This Guide derives from my own experiences of clerking in various Quaker contexts, and of supporting those new to the role. My motto has always been “cherish all clerks!”
Judith Roads
The material on this website may be freely shared, copied or translated for private or charitable use, but not for commercial gain.
