A Scottish gathering
Kate Arnot and Jacqueline Noltingk report on a recent General Meeting for Scotland
Forty-three Friends, including a visiting English Friend, came to General Meeting (GM) for Scotland in Inverness on Saturday 16 June. GM holds four meetings annually and these rotate round the four Area Meetings in Scotland: East, North, South East and West. Friends, particularly those living on islands, have long journeys to attend. Friends from Orkney were present, but Inverness to Scrabster is 111 miles and requires a ferry journey, so attending a one-day meeting involves three days. (The ferry from Aberdeen to Shetland takes between twelve and fourteen hours.) Friends from Castle Douglas in West Scotland were also present, having travelled a distance of some 400 miles. The hospitality provided by our hosts was very generous and much appreciated.
There were two substantial items on the agenda, as well as agreement on dates and venues for future GM gatherings, nine new members and, sadly, a death, as well as the work of our trustees. We also read of the work of our Parliamentary Engagement Working Group, which was pleased with the report produced by the Petitions Committee on militarism in schools. The tabular statement showed the same number of members in 2017 (685) as in 2016.
During our morning session, Mary Woodward led us most ably through some of the deliberations of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM). She concentrated on the decision to revise our Book of Discipline, Quaker faith & practice (Qf&p). Adwoa Bittle, clerk of General Meeting and a member of the Book of Discipline Revision Preparation Group, told us – as she had told BYM – that she started off believing the book should not be subject to major change. However, she and BYM’s discerned decision was to begin the long process of revising Qf&p.
Friends, in worship sharing at Britain Yearly Meeting, shared many examples of feeling ‘outsiders’, feeling excluded, and seeking support in Qf&p for their situation or that of their family but finding very little or no support. We were assured that what will follow will be inclusive, accessible and contain more than words. The sections within Qf&p dealing with church government are no longer fit for purpose.
Regular business in the afternoon started with nominations, followed by the annual report by our trustees. This internal report detailed their work, which included agreeing a new memorandum of understanding with Friends House. This will extend the post of the Scottish parliamentary engagement officer for a further three years.
We then spent time seeking a way forward in response to a minute to GM from North Scotland Area Meeting (NSAM). NSAM had set up a Listening Group that expended much time and energy travelling extensively to gather ideas to improve the body as it, in common with Meetings throughout the UK, has difficulty filling certain roles. We had a summary of the telephone conference held between GM trustees and NSAM trustees. It did not come to unity. This was reflected in the minute: ‘We recognise that this area of concern is one that we want to fully understand and come to unity on. There is a need for those concerned to move forward, to continue to explore and look at all possibilities with as positive a light as possible. We celebrate the work of The Listening Project and want to acknowledge the passion, work and listening that went into this. We also feel the distress at the sense that the amount of work completed has been forgotten or may be repeated. We hope NSAM’s role holders can be better supported. We realise that we need to seek and give support. This can be sought and found among Friends in Local Meetings, Area Meetings and hopefully from God.’
This was a moving and deeply gathered session, which needed time, as strong feelings were aroused. The outcome, expressed in the minute, stated: ‘We warm to the idea of setting up a meeting with Paul Parker, our recording clerk, to include Scottish AM trustees, GM trustees, clerks to AM and GM Nominations Committees and those in GM who feel invested in this concern.’
We look forward to our next GM to be held in Glasgow on 15 September 2018.
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