Friends taking time for refreshments and chat after Fareham’s Friday evening Meeting on 22 August. Photo: Pam Perry.
Coffee, muffins and outreach
Pam Perry writes about a tasty initiative in Fareham
It is Friday evening. The traffic rumbles by on the road outside. Passersby can see in. ‘Quaker Meeting in progress’ is on the board outside. We sit in a small circle in a bright and comfy café – ‘Kraftea Coffee’ – coloured cushions, cupcakes and muffins, sparkly glass containers full of biscuits – the coffee bubbling away, fresh juices and crafts for sale.
This is an experiment. It is a marvellous adventure of Quaker outreach in the centre of town. A new Meeting of Quakers, which is an initiative by Portsmouth Meeting, is in progress in Fareham.
Each newcomer coming through the door is heralded by the bell, shattering our silence and welcoming another customer! As I get used to the clatter and rumble of life around us, I find that the hum and throb reinforces my efforts to deepen my centredness so that I dig deep to concentrate on the presence that I seek: the Inner Light, ‘God be with us’. I think of the needs of the newcomers who have come to join us. What are they seeking?
An image comes up for me as I gaze at the golden wooden floor. I am reminded vividly of our forefathers – the early Quakers who sailed to America. They also had Meetings in strange new places and on board their perilous little wooden ships as they embarked on a brave new experiment. This, too, for us now in Fareham is living adventurously, and it is really exciting!
Here we are right in the throb and hum of life in the centre of noise and activity – outreach for seekers. I feel deeply stirred by the excitement of the experience. This is really challenging. We are immersed in new surroundings, and newcomers whom we do not yet know.
This is in contrast to the quiet familiarity of our meetings hidden away in our Meeting houses.
Possibly the informality of the setting appeals to newcomers: a café for families with coloured cushions, crafts and notices for our nourishment, which creates an informal link between ordinary everyday experience and the quiet centredness of Quakers. This might be less daunting, initially, than searching for a Quaker Meeting house and sitting outside trying to find the courage to go in for a first Meeting.
As winter approaches, another image comes up for me of small Quaker café Meetings springing up all over – of warm lighted cafés welcoming newcomers in a loving way. I feel so strongly that it is a new way forward. It is a way for new people to meet us.
Initially, a small group of us living close to each other from both Portsmouth and Southampton Meetings had already started to meet together on Friday evenings once a month. Then, as a start, David Lewis, Jean Watson and Maggie Francis of Portsmouth Meeting found a central location for Meeting on a temporary basis.
Quaker Meetings are on Friday evenings in the café, ‘Kraftea Coffee’, in Fareham. They are supported by members of Portsmouth and Southampton Meetings.
