House Handbook: Order of a Weekly Observance

18:00 — Arrival. The table is already laid. Members lay one place more than are expected.

18:10 — Silence, twelve minutes. No instruction is given. Visitors are told beforehand that they may leave the room and that no one will follow.

18:22 — Reading. A single passage, chosen by the steward, of not more than four hundred words. Commentary is discouraged.

18:30 — Discussion. One question, put plainly. All present may speak; none is required to.

19:15 — Meal. Served by those who did not cook.

20:00 — Practical business. Repairs, deliveries, hospice rota, the accounts of the circle.

20:25 — Notices. First attendances are welcomed by name. Periods of separation are announced without comment. Returning members are welcomed by name.

20:30 — Close. The empty place is cleared last.

Where a house cannot meet this order it should say so in the Record rather than adapt it quietly.