The responsibility for running local and area Quaker meetings is held by Friends from within the community. In most cases Quaker role-holders give service (volunteer) to the community to do the required work.
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Do you take part as often as you can in meetings for church affairs? Are you familiar enough with our church government to contribute to its disciplined processes?
- Advices & queries 15
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This section of the Quaker communities website has information about Quaker tasks and roles. You can also find out about the support available which helps to ensure our communities of faith are safe and well-run.
Quaker Life's role in this is often about helping Quaker charities find a balance between Quaker church governance and legal compliance.
The way that Quakers make decisions (Quaker Business Method) helps to navigate some of the governance challenges that arise when legal compliance conflicts with Quaker values. Quaker decision-making, or discernment, on things that affect or are important to our communities, takes place at a Meeting for Church Affairs.
Not all decisions need the full community to take part in discernment. Areas such as money & property, employment & volunteering, data safety or libraries, records, and archiving might have subgroups or committees that have been given authority to make decisions.
To help keep our communities safe we have to remember that Safeguarding everyone is the responsibility of all of us. There will be some people in our communities who have specific roles in this. The ultimate responsibility for safeguarding is held by the trustees of the charity.