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. Nobody present is introduced, named, or pointed out, whether they are here for the first time or returning. Periods of separation are announced without comment and without the person being asked to stand.

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.