Given that Quakers don’t like to use violent words like “kill,” we use euphemisms instead. So the current trend among Quakers to euthanize our Peace and Social Concerns Committees is one that I will call the “Shelver Movement.” We have spent countless hours in recent years trying to lay these committees down, but we end up “shelving” them instead.
Friends (of the non-pastoral sort, at least) do not have a hierarchy. No chain of command. No higher-ups. No in-group. No pyramid of authority. No ultimate decision-maker, where the buck always stops. Nobody on the bottom, who must keep his/her head down and mouth shut for fear of retaliation. Nobody who is powerless. Nobody more powerful than whomever fills the temporary and limited ro
Dear Friends: Liberal unprogrammed Quaker meetings are organized or disorganized by committees. Without an identified pastor or priest, we count on the wisdom of committees.
