London and Middlesex General Meeting used to be London and Middlesex Quarterly Meeting.
Quarterly Meetings were one of the stages in the pathway for getting Quakers’ wider concerns and issues from the Local ‘Preparative’ Meeting, to Britain Yearly Meeting, the main governing body for Quakers in the UK. Local Meetings grouped into area ‘Monthly’ Meetings. And Monthly Meetings grouped into Quarterly Meetings for regions in the UK.
Besides discussing the concerns and issues and passing them on where appropriate, Quarterly Meetings also dealt with the business of running themselves and took on the care of Quaker institutions – schools, homes, trusts – in their region, and sometimes beyond. Thus, for example, London and Middlesex General Meeting were responsible for the care of Friends’ School Saffron Walden, which originally had been based in London
The increase in pressure of life in the 20th century produced a demand to reduce business. One result was that Quarterly Meetings lost their position as a stage in the pathway. From then on Monthly Meetings would pass concerns and issues on directly to Britain Yearly Meeting. This is when Quarterly Meetings acquired the title of General Meetings.
General Meetings continued to conduct their own business and to care for their schools, homes and trusts. In addition, as a place where Quakers in their region might regularly meet, they developed the function of providing in depth discussion of challenging and thought provoking topics of interest to Quakers.
In the 21st century this simplifying trend continued with RECAST - a movement to simplify even further a wide range of Quaker ways of doing business. One original proposal was to do away with General Meetings altogether. The current idea is to keep them if Quakers in the region want them to continue. If this happens, the recommendation is that they divest themselves of the schools, homes and trusts in their care and devolve them to other bodies. A body has been set up to take over care for Friends’ School Saffron Walden, for example, and responsibility has been handed to them by London and Middlesex General Meeting. The new body (coincidentally, possibly confusingly, also called a General Meeting) will have its first meeting in March 2006.
This leaves the main function of London and Middlesex General Meeting as providing a forum for regular events, talks and workshops for Quakers in their region. This is a great opportunity. There are few other Quaker institutions which provide such a platform, independently of other business.
A number of General Meetings in the UK have been laid down under RECAST. Others survive. There is a significant body of support for London and Middlesex General Meeting from people who have enjoyed the events it has provided, to make it seem likely that it will be among the survivors.
POTTED HISTORY