Area Meeting

2026: we will become London Area Meeting by the end of the year.

The agreed JLAM dates for 2026 are:

• Sunday 11 January – Friends House & online
• Saturday 7 March – Friends House & online
• Saturday 13 June – Westminster Meeting House & online
• Saturday 12 September – Wanstead Meeting House & online
• Sunday 11 October – Friends House & online
• Sunday 13 December – Friends House & online

These dates were chosen to avoid:

• Continuing Yearly Meeting
• Young Friends General Meeting
• Most Area Meetings (which are usually on the third weekend of the month)
• Bank holidays and major holiday weekends

2025: We really are getting there...

• Frequently Asked Questions were produced responding to matters raised in Qualms and Questions sessions and by AMs.
• 1st February JLAM met in worship under the care of Elders, and with no decisions nor minutes so that all Quakers in London might listen to each other and share our hopes, fears and reservations about a single London Area Meeting.
• At a JLAM meeting on 15th February, we united around a minute to proceed as a single London Area Meeting.
• The Development Group suggested the possibility of some LMs grouping together into a 'district' with formally delegated powers from LAM that could include membership, appointments, and discernment of certain matters.  In April, a meeting was held to consider how this might work.  But 5 AMs have minuted that they do not want to consider this option for themselves. 
• June JLAM welcomed more detailed governance plans and options for managing finance within LAM (preceded by a zoom meeting about finance).
• JLAM on 4 October at Westminster Meeting House will be followed by a soup and cake lunch and joint activity in the afternoon.  We hope to consider a detailed timeline...

2024: Moving forward slowly

• 03 February 2024: 1st Joint Area Meeting took place - organised by clerks of existing Area Meetings. Friends from across London began to get to know each other better.
• March 2024: London Development Group met for the first time. Meetings continued throughout 2024.
• 08 June: 2nd Joint Area Meeting took place.
• 05 October: A 3rd Joint Area Meeting took place, this time with the authority of each of the seven Area Meetings in session. But the room and tech did not work well and there was anxiety and frustration.
• Arrangements Group set up to plan and deliver Joint London Area Meetings (JLAMs) so that the burden would no longer fall too heavily on clerks of current AMs.
• Two online Qualms and Questions sessions were held within KWAM on 2nd and 12th November, as well as a London wide event on 4th December. 

 2023:  Most AMs commit

• The PLG wrote up proposals for a third consultation based around the following key points:
  • A single Area Meeting: meeting 5-6 times per year, and able to delegate tasks and powers to trustees and committees, with some decisions needing to be taken by AM. This is similar to most AMs in BYM;
  • Committees: the AM would establish committees with clear terms of reference. Some committees would require trustees but not be formed only of trustees;
  • Avoiding ‘soft power’: An acknowledgement was made that trustee bodies can tend to accumulate ‘soft power’ in organisations, and that risk should be minded;
  • Workload: it was noted that AM needed to manage its workload well, through effective delegation to trustees and task-and-finish groups.
  • Local Clusters: grouping of LMs (which could include optional groupings along the boundaries of existing AMs) should form organically, with no nominations or minute-writing required, to be used for fellowship, joint projects, and discernment
  • June 2023: An ‘invitation to commit,’ including a vision of how Quakerism in London might be with one London Area Meeting, was sent to AMs, accompanied by 11 papers which explained the discernment for how a London AM could work.
  • 15 July 2023: an informal meeting for all London Quakers to help Friends understand proposals.
  • Summer 2023: Discernment within LMs and AMs.
  • By September 2023, six Area Meetings committed in principle to form one London Area Meeting, though KWAM minuted that ‘more discussion is needed about the details.’ NETAM did not commit, but agreed to move forward as part of the project - and suggested a model of retaining 7 area meetings with one trustee body for all of them (similar to the 2021 proposal previously ruled out by most AMs)
  • Each Area Meeting and LQPT appointed two Friends to serve on the new London Development Group to develop more detailed proposals. 

  • Late 2023: The pan-London Steering Group and Working Groups met for the last time

2022: Getting clearer 

• February 2022: A second consultation offered two models, recommending a(i):

A. Single worshipping community and charitable body for Friends in London. This would EITHER be:

i) single AM, replacing the formal functions of the existing AMs, but allowing for some of the social and community aspects of those AMs to be continued in informal clusters, or;

ii) a new General Meeting, with current AMs continuing to have a formal existence within Quaker (but not legal) structures.

B. Retaining seven current AMs, but having one set of trustees and no large worshipping body (similar to current LQPT model).

• 31 March 2022: An informal meeting open to all Friends in London, was held to explore the proposals, alongside consideration in AMs and LMs.
• Summer 2022: Responses received from AMs. Most agreed with model a(i), though some requested more detail. 
• Throughout the rest of 2022, the PLG group continued to shape the plan - considering sometimes contradictory ideas and concerns from AMs. Some consultancy support was used.
• London Quakers organised a series of meetings open to all to present and discuss various aspects of  proposals. 

2021: First proposals

• January 2021: Consultation document proposed a ‘Pan-London’ charity. Key features of the proposal were that the 7 AMs would continue and the new charity would:
  • Be governed by a trustee body of 12-16 people, appointed or nominated by AMs (2 or 3 each);
  • Meet approximately 5 times a year;
  • Hold at least one meeting each year open to all members and attenders, which could include social opportunities, shared worship, or other events.
• Spring 2021: AMs returned responses, informed by consideration within their LMs. These responses highlighted a desire to:
  • Be spirit-led in our governance arrangements;
  • Support the trustee structure with a cross-London worshipping group;
  • Make more time and space for other spiritual matters;
  • Promote a London Quaker community;
  • Retain AMs as worshipping communities with local identities and freedom of operation (e.g. outreach and activities for  children and young people) and funding for these areas.
• Spring 2021: Appointed Friends resumed their work, splitting into two working groups:
  • Technical: to consider finances, costing, administration, staffing;
  • Governance: to consider internal structures, legal matters, relationships with other Quaker bodies, and other relevant policies and procedures.
• December 2021: After considering various options, the group felt a strong leading towards having a single AM as a strong worshipping body, with one set of trustees which would in some form incorporate LQPT as well as the seven current AMs...on the pattern of other AMs in Britain Yearly Meeting.

2020: early progress

• By the end of 2020: despite the pandemic, initial ideas were ready to circulate to AMs.

2019: Initial meetings and working groups formed

• 27 April 2019: a large group of Friends met at Friends House to thresh how to cope with falling numbers (1,100 members); the administrative responsibility for 7 AMs; 7 AM Trustee bodies; London Quaker Property Trust; and 35 Local Meetings (LMs); and the Charity Commission’s intention to require all charities to be registered (5 of our 7 AMs were not). They minuted the need to address Yearly Meeting’s call for simplification, and to free up Friends' time for outreach, fellowship and spiritual growth.
• Each AM and London Quaker Property Trust (LQPT) appointed two Friends to a working group, and AM Clerks and Clerks of Trustees formed a steering group.
• November 2019: working group and steering group began to meet.