A view of the Woodbrooke gardens. Photo: Lynden Easterbrook.
A contemplative time
Lynden Easterbrook writes about Quaker Life Representative Council
On a cold and rainy weekend, 15-17 April, ninety-seven Friends met for Quaker Life Representative Council at Woodbrooke in Birmingham. The gardens displayed a damper version of spring than in last April’s glorious sunshine but walks in the wet grass revealed puddles of bluebells and violets and a wonderful splash of purple and white fritillaries.
Indoors, what a Friend in Residence described as ‘a full house of Quakers’ was gathered for a Council with a difference, a more contemplative time with a slower pace, to discern our way forward. There was to be more worship and worship sharing. Our clerk reminded us of William Charles Braithwaite’s words in 1905: ‘Organisation is a good servant but a bad master.’ Our aim is to become simpler and clearer in how we organise as Quakers, and over the weekend we looked at how far we have come and what we need to do now.
In opening worship on Saturday one of the elders read a poem, ‘The Wire Fence’ by Michel Quoist, and with her permission I would like to mention it. The poem describes metal links, each holding their neighbour’s wrist tight, that, together with holes, create a fence. It shows how we can hold hands around the holes in our lives and create ‘a fine roll of fence to adorn paradise’. This was thought-provoking: I saw us standing firm together for our way of being, and paradise as the world we would like to create. Lizzie Rosewood, from Quaker Life Central Committee, explained how the Council helps to carry out the work of our Yearly Meeting. Ideas are tested and information shared, and ideally every Local Meeting’s needs are considered, as Central Committee work towards our strategy, Our faith in the future.
In the ‘Simpler Meetings’ workshop Helen Drewery started by describing a three-year post that is currently being advertised. The postholder will support Meetings to create simpler structures, including helping trustees to lay down or merge charities. Then templates and draft policies will be produced for each of the jurisdictions in Britain.
We also explored how Meetings organise refreshment and how they collect money. Some had rotas and complex processes, others were less formal but marked by willingness and generosity. We ended by thinking of one way we could simplify our own Meetings. In Alistair Fuller’s workshop, ‘Nourishing ourselves; nurturing our Meetings’, we shared a little of our spiritual journeys by talking about what helps us feel grounded and whole in daily life. He offered simple exercises that can enrich our Meetings, providing opportunities to share in depth.
Other workshops included using the internet and social media; mental health in Meetings; a ‘first aid kit’ for when things go wrong; resources, including online; and preparing for Quaker Week. Some of these may be repeated next time. In worship sharing our home groups focussed on what we had found valuable in these workshops. On Saturday night some Friends enjoyed a bonfire, while others watched a film, The Way. On Sunday morning we pulled the threads of the weekend together, listing the concerns and learning that we were taking away with us. These will used by Quaker Life staff to inform our way forward.
On my long train journey home I realised that for me the weekend had been valuable in two ways. I felt part of a process of sharing and communication in the Society of Friends, and I felt freshly inspired to belong with this body of people who listen within for inspiration and work outwardly for a fairer world.
