Shepherdstown Meeting follows a decision-making process common to many monthly meetings. Decision making takes place in a Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business. Unlike the decision-making processes that are common in other parts of our lives, we do not rely on majority rule, compromise, rationalism, rhetoric, or Robert’s Rules of order.
Our methods of decision-making consist of trust in one another, love for one another, and patience. The Quaker practice is seeking Sense of Meeting rather than consensus. We exercise patience in listening for that still small voice that speaks in each of us, knowing from experience that it is a sure guide, both individually and collectively. Just as it is in Meetings for Worship so it is in Meetings for Business that the listening part of discussion is more vital than the speaking part. We trust that through listening to each other and opening ourselves to the light in each of us our collective decisions will be spirit led.
Shepherdstown Friends currently hold Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business on a bimonthly schedule, supplemented with specially called meetings as needed.
The regular schedule for business meetings is the second Sunday of the months of January, March, May, September, and November, following weekly Meeting for Worship. Visitors are welcome to attend these meetings.