This is the purpose of the Quaker Meeting for Business. Since our method of transacting business presumes that in a given matter there is a way that is in harmony with God s plan, our search is for that right way, and not simply for a way which is either victory for some faction, or an expedient compromise. There is no place for activities such as motions, seconds, amendments and votes in our process of collective discernment. Our bold affirmation is that God does indeed have a will for us, that God is actively trying to communicate that will, and that we are capable, through corporate prayer, to discover that will. A sign that we have achieved our goal of discerning God s will is the experience of Unity which is recognized and affirmed by those gathered.
Quakers profess a theocratic understanding of authority.
The primary authority is that of God, as the God whose will is sought, as Christ who presides, and as the Holy Spirit who inspires and empowers. Thus the task of the meeting is to listen in worship, putting itself under that authority, to discern the right way forward on any piece of business. All human leadership is subordinated to the authority of Christ, the true shepherd of any gathering of Christians. All participants in the Meeting are equally capable of being used by the Holy Spirit, and those who moderate the Meeting are seen as servants of the gathering discernment process. A Quaker Meeting for Business is conducted in the context of worship, and with the same expectant waiting upon the Spirit as in the Meeting for Worship.