Beyond Majority Rule

Beyond Majority Rule  - Voteless Decisions in the Religious Society of Friends

Michael Sheeran, a Jesuit scholar, spent two years visiting monthly meetings and observing annual sessions within Philadelphia Yearly Meeting studying the actual decision making process used among Friends. This book is the result of his study and he includes detailed descriptions of the process at work and draws conclusions about what works well and what does not. Also included is a history of Quaker process.

"Earlier Sheeran had written, `Quakers do not begin with a theory. they begin with an event.' this event, this knowing at first hand that the continuous revelation is still at work is, in his judgement, what really matters."         -Douglas Steere, from the foreword