Cambridge Friends boost virtual outreach
Running the events were ‘really enriching for us’ and ‘not hard to do’.
Cambridge Friends have been increasing their virtual outreach this year with a series of online events open to the public. Starting with a series of Zoom gatherings called ‘Quaker Tasters’, Jesus Lane Meeting also hosted an online event about ending slavery on 20 October, shortly following Quaker Week. Peter Griffin from the Meeting told the Friend that the ‘Quaker Tasters’ have so far included ‘an introduction session on who Quakers are, aimed at completely new people’. He said: ‘We ran four separate sessions [which] consisted of some background, some personal testimonies from a couple of Friends and a twenty-minute Meeting for Worship.’
The events were advertised by word of mouth and on Facebook, Eventbrite, and posters on the Meeting house. ‘Two to four [people] attended each time, but they were people who were genuinely interested in learning more (not necessarily interested in joining).’ He added that running the events were ‘really enriching for us’ and ‘not hard to do’.
Eighty people also gathered for an earlier discussion on refugees which featured a talk by the local MP. ‘Getting people to come to these events is far easier than normal!’ Peter Griffin said. Other outreach initiatives included a ‘friend of a Friend’ session for Quaker Week, where people could bring along interested acquaintances. ‘Seven Friends came with one-to-two friends each,’ he said, adding that the event was ‘easy to plan’ and resulted in some ‘really nice feedback for triggering discussions’. The Meeting has also been running weekly ‘Ideas for Isolation’ discussion group for Friends since April.
