Friends worship on the steps of St Paul’s Photo: Colin Hall
Friends and St Paul’s
Quakers and their involvement in the St Paul's protests
A weekly Meeting for Worship is now taking place at the ‘Occupy London’ camp near St Paul’s Cathedral. Meanwhile, several Quaker Meetings are formally considering their response to the ‘Occupy’ movement. ‘There must be measured consideration,’ said Jill Segger, a member of Bury St Edmunds Meeting, who will discern their response on Sunday. ‘The tide of change, the potential for transformation, is on the rise and Friends need to capture it.’
The ‘Occupy’ protests began in the US and Spain and have spread around the world. Sites in the UK include Glasgow, Bristol and Belfast. Eleven Christian organisations, including the Student Christian Movement and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, have signed a declaration of solidarity with the occupations.
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM), the formal organisation of Friends in England, Scotland and Wales, produced an ‘Update for Friends on “Occupy London Stock Exchange’”. It referred to the Christian declaration and said, ‘Quaker Meetings may want to consider the extent to which they can support this.’ It also said that Friends should keep in mind a minute agreed by Yearly Meeting Gathering (YMG) in August. The minute describes the global economic system as ‘often unjust, violent and destructive’.
The BYM update makes no comment on the rightness or otherwise of the ‘Occupy’ movement. Sources within BYM told the Friend that there had been internal disagreement on the response, with some participants hoping for a more radical statement. Quakers involved in ‘Occupy’ also urged Friends at a national level to go further.
‘I feel that, as strong proponents of “being the change you want to see in the world”, Quakers should be supporting the occupation,’ said Larissa Hanford of Westminster Meeting, who has been involved in Occupy London since it began. She added: ‘The concerns being raised by the occupiers are ones that the Quaker community has been championing for decades.’
Comments
The protest at St Paul’s about the unfairnesses of 21st century capitalism is invaluable. It is succeeding in maintaining this unsatisfactory situation in the focus of public and political attention. Quakers should be very much part of this worthwhile action.
By Bob H on 10th November 2011 - 20:24
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