| Description | Established by George Fox from 1659 onwards, Monthly Meetings were an important part of the administrative structure of the Quaker Church. Initially only Men's Monthly Meeting were held, but later Women's Monthly Meetings were developed which undertook much of the pastoral work. In Warwickshire, it was not until 1890 that joint Monthly Meetings were held for men and women.
The role of the Monthly Meeting was to deal with the business of the church, record any instances of persecution, take charge of the welfare of those Friends imprisoned for their beliefs, ensure that provision was made for the poor, the elderly and sick, and arrange apprenticeships and education for orphans. By 1676, it also had responsibility for marriages, property and membership matters, including disownment. It recognised ministers (until 1924), selected representatives to attend Quarterly Meetings and from 1789, it was able to appoint elders and overseers. It ensured that meeting records were made and kept securely, and that religious books were purchased and distributed to members of the meeting. Newly developed local meetings were authorised by the Monthly Meeting to become Preparative Meetings and it helped to establish new meetings. Advice and recommendations which had come from Yearly Meeting via the Quarterly Meetings were passed on to the Preparative Meetings by the Monthly Meeting and it reported any instances of misconduct in the Preparative Meetings to the Quarterly Meeting. From the late 19th century onwards, the Monthly Meeting increasingly used committees to undertake work in specific areas such as finance, office arrangements, housing, relief work and so on, with committees being established and laid down as and when they were needed.
As part of the national re-organisation of the church hierarchy which occurred in 2007, Warwickshire Monthly Meeting became known as Central England Area Meeting. With the disbanding of General/Quarterly Meetings from the organisation, Area Meetings became the principle meeting for church affairs in the Religious Society of Friends, undertaking many of the responsibilities of the Monthly Meetings. To carry out this work, a number of officers are appointed, generally for three years at a time, and are filled by Friends on a voluntary basis. As a minimum, these include Area Meeting Trustees, a Clerk and Assistant Clerk, a Treasurer, a Registering Officer, a Nominations Committee, and a Custodian of Records, but there can be numerous other committees which undertake the Meeting's work in specific areas as they are needed.
For information about the following functions of the Monthly/Area Meeting, see the appropriate catalogue reference provided:
Removals and settlements (see SF/2/1/1/8)
Disownment and reinstatement (see SF/2/1/1/8)
Suffering and tithes (see SF/1/6)
Births, marriages and burials (see SF/2/1/1/9)
Ministry (see SF/1/5)
Committees on various topics (see SF/2/1/1/4)
Trusts and property records (see SF/2/1/1/10)
Monthly Meetings are divided into two subseries:
-Central England Area and Warwickshire Monthly Meetings which includes Central England Area Meeting/Warwickshire North Monthly Meeting and its predecessors, Baddesley [Ensor] Monthly Meeting, Fulford Heath Monthly Meeting, Wigginshill Monthly Meeting, Warwickshire Middle Monthly Meeting, Warwickshire South Monthly Meeting.
-Monthly Meetings originally within the Worcestershire Quarterly Meeting which later became part of Warwickshire Monthly Meeting. These include Chadwick [Chadwich] Monthly Meeting and Shipston Monthly Meeting
For details of which Local/Preparative Meetings come under which Area/Monthly Meeting, and any boundary changes, see the list included in each Monthly Meeting entry.
See SF/2/1/1/29 for scrapbooks containing a variety of documents including minutes, reports, applications for membership, resignations, intentions of marriage, correspondence and other papers relating to the business of Warwickshire Monthly Meeting. |