Decline or revival?
Laurence Hall believes it is time to listen to the voices of Young Adult Friends
‘Isn’t it nice to have some young people at Meeting’ is one of the most repeated phrase that Young Adult Friends (YAFs) hear in Meeting – a well meaning phrase but one that points to a great sense of loss that is symptomatic of the deeper problems facing YAFs within British Quakerism.
Recent research by Quaker Life’s Engaging Young Adult Friends project, backed up by many YAFs I have spoken to, shows a deep alienation of YAFs within official British Quakerism. The central problem is that many of them are profoundly committed to Quaker faith, worship and witness but are estranged from the practices and culture of official Quaker structures.
This research, combined with the personal experiences of many, points toward the inaccessibility of Local Meetings for many YAFs. The generational inequalities of employment, of housing and of finance are mostly reinforced, not challenged, by most Local Meetings. Meetings for Worship and other activities are held at times and in ways which were hard for YAFs to attend. The culture of Meetings are built around the needs of the retired in the level and type of commitment expected, with a frequently patronising and dismissive attitude to YAFs’ knowledge of their faith and suitably for roles. How many under-thirty-fives attend your Business Meeting or are your elders, overseers or clerks? Most Meetings have done little to actively change their culture and practices to the needs of YAFs. As a result over half those YAFs surveyed by Quaker Life attended Meeting for Worship occasionally, hardly ever or never. Quakerism is not the problem; the practices and culture of Meetings that exclude YAFs is. This must change now. This alienation from Local Meeting results in an alienation from Quaker membership and wider official structures. Membership and its privileges is strongly tied with Local and Area Meeting structures. Therefore, YAFs are mostly excluded from membership and all that goes with it, such as central work. How many YAFs are on the central committees of our Society? The results of this research along personal testimonies of many YAFs indicates that many of the most passionate of them are excluded from the official structures of British Quakerism. If nothing is done to address this then the future of our Society will be one of decline and disintegration.
Historically when British Quakerism has been at its most spiritually and socially powerful was when Young Friends were the leading force within the society. The weightiest Friends of the founding generation, of the great revival of the 1890s or of the resistance during the first world war, were nearly all YAFs in their twenties and thirties. The seeds of contemporary Quaker revival can see the new Quaker spaces that many YAFs are having to create for themselves to express their Quaker faith. These new communities are defined by the open, inclusive and egalitarian practices that surround the traditional forms of worship and witness. This is part of a more general social shift, as socially engaged young adults are creating a culture whose values and practices are deeply aligned with Quakerism. But these new YAFs communities gain little support from official Quaker structures with the great opportunity of Quakerism becoming the spiritual foundation for a new generation of young adults not even being recognised, let alone seized. Just supplying a Meeting house or a couple of workers at Friends House, while a good start, is not enough. More must be done at all levels of British Quakerism and it must be done now if these seeds are to grow into a general revival of our great gift of the Quaker way.
British Quakers face a choice. We can continue the old practices of blaming changing social trends and doing next to nothing, while watching the amazing Light that is our Quaker worship and witness touch fewer and fewer people. Or we can act now to let the voices of Young Adult Quakers be heard on what needs to change in the culture and practices of our Meetings and beyond to really revive our Society for the twenty-first century. Decline or revival – which do we choose?
Laurence is a member of Young Friends General Meeting and the London Younger Quaker Worship Group.
Comments
As a YAF with two young children, I have enjoyed the monthly childrens’ service at our local Friends meeting house. The children love going and I find it very nourishing to the soul. However, that means we are only engaged one day a month at the most with our Quaker community.
Now there is a rising tide of awareness about the many challenges that all generations face around the globe. Queakers have traditionally been at the forefront of social change from slavery to womens’ sufferage. Todays headlines are full of a multitude of threats that are looming around the corner by the year 2050, along with the human population peaking by then. We are in a time of great chaos, poisoning ourselves & the Earth, technological breakthroughs and massive social changes. Our young generation needs the inner silence to help make sense of how our world is evolving and create a sacred space where new ideas can emerge. Together we can encourage activism on behalf of the planet while holding a positive vision for the 21st century.
This is a time when Quakerism is needed more than ever, and spiritual support for those at the forefront provided by a solid foundation supported by Elders is a powerful combination.
By DiahannHH on 4th August 2017 - 21:18
Hi Laurence. I found your article really interesting and disturbing (I’m 53, and am involved in running the CYP programme at my local meeting). I wonder if you could give more details about how “The culture of Meetings are built around the needs of the retired in the level and type of commitment expected”, and what changes would help? I’m very interested in trying to make things better!
You can email me direct if you like.
All the best.
By chrislord on 13th August 2017 - 19:06
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