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Quaker Handbook

The Quaker Handbook

This is a practical and informative guide to Quaker practice in this country. It is not a rigid set of rules and regulations but a description of what seems to have worked best in the past, based on Quaker theology, values and experience.

The 2022 Revised Edition of the Quaker Handbook is now available both as a printed book and as a downloadable pdf which can be read online here.

The new content is in the process of being uploaded to these website pages. The updated version is signaled by the presence of an image in the header. If there is a Q in a grey box, it is still the previous edition.

The Quaker Handbook is intended as a "how to" manual; as a reference book; and as a guide to deepening one's understanding of the Religious Society of Friends. It is useful for those who are new to the Society, have been newly appointed to a committee, have been entrusted with a task rarely performed, want to find out more about Friends' practices, and who wish to reflect more deeply on Quaker life.

 

 

Introduction, History, Questions & Counsel

This is the first section of the New Zealand Quaker Handbook and gives:

  • Introduction to the purpose of the Quaker Handbook

  • Brief history of Quakers in Aotearoa

  • Meaning of our Māori name

  • Diversity

  • Advices & Queries

Worship, Life & Witness

Section 2 of the Quaker Handbook contains guidelines on:

  • Meeting for Worship

  • MInistry in Meeting for Worship

  • The rights and responsibilities of being a Quaker

  • Quaker concerns

  • Quaker testimonies

Decision making

Section 3 of the Quaker Handbook covers:

 

Structures: Monthly Meetings

Section 4 of the Quaker Handbook contains guidelines on:

Structures: Yearly Meeting

Contents of section 5 cover:

  • Appointments
  • Attendance
  • Yearly Meeting documents
  • Decision-making between yearly meetings
  • Finance and property of yearly meeting
  • Continuing committees and responsibilities held
  • Other groups within yearly meeting
  • Association with Friends worldwide
  • Links with other bodies

Spiritual and Pastoral Care

Section 6 of the Quaker Handbook contains guidelines on:

  • General

  • Spiritual Care

  • Pastoral Care

  • Clearness meetings

Appendices

The Quaker Handbook contains two Appendices:

  • Appendix 1: Yearly Meeting Statements

  • Appendix 2: Legal and Formal details about Quaker Marriages and Civil Unions

  • Appendix 3: Forms

 

Notes on Language and Glossary of Terms

This gives notes about Quaker langauge use and an glossary of terms used in the Quaker Handbook.