Friends have a tradition of using queries to test or explore how the meeting community fulfills its responsibilities. The earliest queries formulated by London Yearly Meeting asked for specific facts and figures: which Friends had died while imprisoned; which Friends were imprisoned at that time; and what were their sufferings. Even in the more abstract question “How does Truth prosper with thee?” there was an expectation of a quantifiable answer— such as, the number of new Friends.
More recently, queries that elicit specific, factual answers have been considered in addition to the general queries and their focus is the “right ordering” of the affairs and organization of the meeting. The checklist that follows is intended to assist meetings.