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As the Quaker (Friends) movement developed in the middle of the seventeenth century, it needed to develop an organizational structure. Friends developed the basic structure that in large part has continued on until today even before they had a formal membership system. The system involves three levels of bodies conducting significant business, each named after their frequency of meeting to conduct business.
As the system developed, each larger body had authority over the smaller bodies which comprised its membership. This is still true in many places today, but in other places the larger bodies have become associations of the smaller bodies without clear authority over the member bodies.
There has really never been a centralized body with authority over all Friends. Ties were maintained through intervisitation and correspondence in the first couple of centuries. Since then, Friends have developed a number of associations at a larger level of organization than had been done in the past, but none of these have had any authority over the member bodies.
Monthly Meetings
The smallest significant business structure in the Society of Friends (Quakers) is the monthly meeting. As it developed in Great Britain, the monthly meeting was composed of several local worshipping groups called preparative meetings. British Friends continue to follow this system. Kenyan Friends follow the same system, but call their local worshipping groups village meetings.
In North America, it is more common for the monthly meeting to be composed of just one permanent worshipping group. Preparative meetings are usually meetings in development which will become monthly meetings in time.
The monthly frequency of congregational meetings for business continues to be common practice today. However, some Friends churches have less frequent general meetings for business for the whole congregation.
Quarterly Meetings
The next step up in the organization was the quarterly meeting, composed of several monthly meetings. This is the level in which there has been the most change over time. In some places, quarterly meetings continue in the historical pattern. But in many places, they have lost most of their business functions, meet less frequently, or do not exist at all. Where intermediate bodies do exist, they may be known by other names such as half-yearly meeting, regional meeting or general meeting.
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