The English and Welsh flags on a tongue. Photo: Generated by Friend staff.
Gift of tongues: Frances Voelcker & Pen Waugh attend CCQW
‘Using different languages can definitely give you a wider perspective.’
For many years, Crynwyr Cymru/Quakers in Wales (CCQW) met three times a year in person. Since Covid, we have gathered online in February and in October, and in person in June. But Meeting online has its own hazards, including incompatible equipment, unfamiliarity with the translate function, and the neglect of rural areas when it comes to good internet provision.
We began with nominations and appointments – we need to find more trustees for our ongoing structural transition. But we have now transferred CCQW’s trustees’ responsibilities to Cymar, the new single trustee body for Wales and the Marches. A slideshow clarified the respective roles and responsibilities.
In Wales, only three Meetings have more than fifty people on the list (Cardiff, Swansea, and Bangor), so we had to recognise that hosting the inspiring Loving Earth Project exhibition would be beyond our capacity.
Other than maintaining Meetings for Worship, and campaign work with others, our main public outreach is at the National Eisteddfod. In 2025 this will be held in Wrexham. Friends will be helping in the Cytûn/Churches Together in Wales tent, and in the Peace tent organised by Cymdeithas y Cymod/Fellowship of Reconciliation. Our planned themes will be Quaker worship in prison, the Alternatives to Violence Project, and perhaps restorative justice. We need to find enough Welsh speakers/learners for the rota, for there may be ‘a great people to be gathered’, including from the lapsed chapel community.
We supported wholeheartedly a minute from North Wales Area Meeting/Cyfarfod Rhanbarth Gogledd Cymru, already forwarded to Meeting for Sufferings, about our use of religious language. We had heard Advices & queries 17 in both languages – the one that includes: ‘Pan fo geiriau’n ddieithr i chwi neu’n tarfu arnoch, ceisiwch synhwyro o ba le y daethant, gan ystyried yr hyn a fu’n maethu bywydau pobl eraill’/‘When words are strange or disturbing to you, try to sense where they come from and what has nourished the lives of others.’ We confirmed again that we are people of Spirit, and that language expressing this can differ from person to person.
We sent letters: to the Senedd asking members to recognise the state of Palestine; to the Wales Pension Partnership, asking it to divest from investment in the occupied Palestinian territories; and to Mariann Budde, for her sermon at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
We were encouraged to sign up for inter-church/faith news, and there were several items on peace. Wales is the first UK nation to have a National Academy for Peace. Our all-age residential (fully booked!) is on this theme.
In the afternoon, we heard about the results of a questionnaire to find out how much Welsh we use in our Meetings. Did you know that the Lord’s prayer in the English Bible was translated from Latin, whereas in the Welsh Bible it was from the Greek? Using different languages can definitely give you a wider perspective.
