Photo: The recently-refurbisherd Dundee Meeting House.
General Meeting (GM) for Scotland: Anthony Buxton & Piers Voysey report from Dundee (and online)
‘It’s good to listen and support those beavering away on our behalf.’
Our Meeting was held in Dundee Meeting House, and online (Anthony was online and Piers in Dundee). Being in the room has advantages: meeting new Friends, regaining acquaintances, and there was interesting side-chat about property, rewilding and the US election. But joining online saves the pre-dawn rise and late return – saves flagging energy.
This month we spent more time receiving reports than contributing to discernment, but it’s good to listen and support those beavering away on our behalf.
A reading from Quaker faith & practice 24.57 (where Sidney Bailey explains how peace begins with ourselves) added to the themes in the Parliamentary Engagement Working Group reports. We received a very impressive presentation from Ellis Brooks, a member of Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW)’s peace education team. Ellis spoke about the positive reception to the ‘Peace at the Heart’ exhibition in the Scottish Parliament, and its impact on MSPs. This has led to an opportunity to feed into the review of the curriculum for excellence, and has been taken up by the Education Institute of Scotland, which has been encouraging teachers to use the resources available from QPSW. A new course on conflict resolution will be available in the new year. Ellis felt that this advocacy, and building of alliances, is coming to fruition, and could be rolled out to more schools, where teachers are asking for more help with conflict resolution.
‘The busy calendar reflects how involved we are.’
In the afternoon we turned to community justice and agreed a number of appointments to the Action Group. This was followed by presentations from: Kate Philbrick, clerk to the group; Andrew Collins; and Anneke Kraakman. Andrew spoke about a conversation with an Oslo Friend about the differences between their countries – Norway spends a lot more money on rehabilitation. We heard about contacts with Maggie Chapman, MSP for the Green Party, which advocates a similar policy, saying that most crime is due to inequality. We also heard of work to support prison chaplains, who are undervalued. Community Justice Scotland was focusing on alternatives to prison during Prisons Week. There was agreement on two additional tasks for the group: work to support interfaith chaplains, and to facilitate more Quaker involvement in prisons.
We are grateful to Michael, our clerk, and to the gathered Meeting, for maintaining humour and lightness in our business. We had most difficulty when trying to set a date for an additional GM this winter, in order to discern the way forward for Quakers in Scotland. The busy calendar reflects how involved we are collectively in events such as anti-racism rallies, Woodbrooke study sessions, and more.
Those in Dundee received generous hospitality from local Friends. It felt like a celebration of cakes – a Marie-Antoinette of Meetings!
