The first session of Yearly Meeting is usually fairly routine: formal acceptance of the appointments in Documents in Advance and any supplements.

Martin Ward stepped away from the table as newly appointed clerk Lis Burch replaced him. Chris Skidmore is the first assistant clerk and Julia Gordon second assistant.

This year, in a fresh initiative, the routine was followed by inspiration in the first of a series of talks celebrating our work. Stevie Krayer’s inspiring talk began by looking at her own reaction to testimonies: ‘Could it possibly be that all Quakers were equal but some were more equal than others? Not for the first time, suspicion crept in that there existed an elite, an inner circle of “weighty Friends” in the know – a sort of Quaffia.’ She ‘wasn’t convinced by the claim that the testimony was to the “grace of God”, not to the individual Friend. What good thing did any of us do that wasn’t a witness to the grace of God – or, as I still prefer to say, to the power of the Spirit at work in and through us?’ She tells us that ‘it took many months – years – of patient Quaker nurture before… I truly internalised the lesson that I too was unique, precious, a child of God – just like everybody else; but not exactly like anybody else… I realised then that if you take it to its logical conclusion the idea that testimonies are a form of Quaker favouritism, then you’d have to say since we can’t commemorate everyone, let’s commemorate no one. And that, my Friends, would be a silly, poor gospel indeed.’

In looking at this year’s crop of testimonies she commented: ‘these are not great saints or heroes or geniuses… But, actually, you don’t need to be a saint or a hero to make a difference. The world changes because there are lots of people using what talents and skills and energy and goodwill they have for the benefit of others’.

In this year’s Testimonies ‘we find all sorts and conditions – quite a lot of teachers, several scientists, a doctor, a gardener, a couple of farmers and a vet, a wages clerk, a stonemason… No matter how high-powered or demanding their paid employment, all of these Friends, without exception, used their gifts in many other varieties of unpaid services, great and small.’

Stevie finished with a quotation from Quaker faith & practice, 1959 edition, in the introduction to testimonies bewailing the fact that everyone could not be included: ‘…if only we could have shown them all! But then in honesty we should have had to reveal also the extent of our failure; the light dimmed in narrow hearts and creeds, the baptism of grace lost in timidity and torpor, the corrosion of arrogance and self-satisfaction – we have known these, too. May the light prevail over the darkness; may those who are here speak for all the children of the Light, to the needs of other times as well as to their own’.

As a final query Stevie asked: ‘Why do we have to wait until a Friend is dead before we celebrate their life and their ministry?; I hope we will take the experience of this Yearly Meeting as a reminder to say face-to-face how much we value and appreciate each other’s contribution, to thank Friends in person for their ministry whatever form it might take, and to let them know, while we still can, that we love them.’