There is no justification for wasting precious time in our meetings for church affairs under the excuse or delusion that we may safely do so because it is God’s work. But they should be times of enjoyment as well as of hard work, times when we can see old friends and make new ones over tea, when we can be stimulated by other people’s ideas and insights as we deliberate together, when we can discover our own gifts and those of other members as we work together. It was said of Gilpin Gregory that ‘when his health failed and he was daily seen by his doctor, he would frequently appear at monthly meeting against his doctor’s orders and contrary to the advice of his friends, and if remonstrated with he would say, “It does me good; I shall be none the worse for it, and it may be for the last time”.’ All our meetings for church affairs should be used imaginatively so that they are not ‘business’ meetings to be attended from duty or neglected with a sense of guilt but real meetings for church affairs which build us up in Christian love – and do us good.