Friends Decision-Making and Clerking:
Participating in Meetings for Business With Joy & Confidence
Hybrid Event at powell house
February 2-4, 2024
This is a workshop for everyone who wants to deepen their understanding of Quaker decision-making; it’s for clerks, but not just for clerks. For clerks, it will be an opportunity to learn and sharpen skills. For others, it will be an opportunity to get better grounded in what Quaker decision-making is all about. It is expected that each person will leave the weekend with new energy and enthusiasm for participating in meetings for business, well grounded in both the theoretical and the practical. There will be handouts, exercises and opportunities for experience sharing.
Among other topics, we will consider:
The fundamentals of a Quaker meeting for business
What is a “sense of the meeting,” and how is it different from consensus?
What is the meaning of “unity?”
Why “standing in the way” is no longer a useful concept.
Techniques of “good” clerking.
Dealing with difficult situations
Steve Mohlke is a longtime Friend and former clerk of Ithaca Monthly Meeting. He served as co-clerk for the 2017 Friends General Conference Gathering and currently serves as General Secretary of New York Yearly Meeting. Steve has facilitated Clerking programs many times in person as well as online. He often experiences working through differences in a meeting for business as spiritual connection.
Oh is a Friend and co-clerk of Racial Healing and Wholeness Committee at Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. They engage in Environmental Racial Justice work as a community activist in the Philadelphia area. They serve as Elder for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and have facilitated programming for Annual Sessions Spiritual Formation Retreat. ,O has also provided workshops with PYM Quaker Life Counsel, on Truth & Transformation exploring the transformative practice of deep listening to increase our capacity for healing by responding compassionately to incidents of racial wounding.