It handles membership and finances, the two most important matters in any religious organization. The monthly meeting was also responsible for the discipline of members. Members who violated the discipline of Friends were dealt with by the overseers. Members who were treated with without the desired effect were disowned by the monthly meeting. All monthly meetings are a part of a quarterly meeting, which generally encompasses one or more counties.
Quarterly meetings meet four times each year.
All quarterly meetings belong to a yearly meeting. Yearly meetings are the highest level of authority among Friends. They hear appeals of membership decisions from quarterly and monthly meetings. They compile and publish the Discipline that governs their members and meetings. Yearly meetings appoint committees to carry out concerns dealing with the testimonies.