What is a Meeting for Worship for Business?

Quaker business meetings are held in the same spirit as our meetings for worship. Rather than debating or voting, Friends gather in quiet attentiveness, seeking a shared sense of the way forward. We begin in silence and return to silence throughout the meeting. Decisions are made by listening carefully — to one another, to the meeting as a whole, and to what Quakers often call the Spirit or Inner Light.

Anyone may attend a meeting for worship for business. Members and attenders are welcome to speak if they feel led, and visitors are welcome to listen. You do not need to be familiar with Quaker process to come along.

Meetings for worship for business are used to:

• care for the life of the meeting
• make decisions about practical matters
• consider wider Quaker work locally and nationally
• listen together for guidance on issues of concern

These meetings can feel slower and quieter than other kinds of business meetings, but many Friends value them as a distinctive and thoughtful way of making decisions together.

Quaker Governance Structures

Quakers organise themselves through a series of meetings, rooted in local communities and connected nationally.

Quakers in London

Quakers governance is London is currently undergoing a transformation, where all London Area Meetings will be merged into a single London Area Meeting. We refer to this as the “Joint London Area Meeting”, and the future organisation will be called “Quakers in London”.

London Quakers

Upcoming Business Meetings

This page includes the dates for all upcoming Meetings for Worship for Business at Westminster, London West, and the London West Area Meeting.

LMFWFB: Local Meeting for Worship for Business (at Westminster)

LWAM: London West Area Meeting

JLAM: Joint London Area Meeting

YM: Yearly Meeting