GRYYM reading: The proposed changes to Yearly Meeting and Meeting for Sufferings

‘Wouldn’t it be good for that privilege to be extended?’

You may have already enthusiastically registered to attend Yearly Meeting (26-30 July, online and at Friends House), or you may be thinking of doing so, while wondering what is on the programme. One of the items will be a proposal to make a specific change to the way in which Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) is organised – namely, to bring Yearly Meeting (YM) and Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) together in a single, continuing Yearly Meeting.

This is not a proposal which is brought to you lightly. It has taken five years of difficult work by many Friends. But it is vital. Change is already upon us. The old structures do not fit modern lives. We need structures that allow us to be agile and responsive, while listening clearly to where the Spirit leads us.

Some Friends will remember the consideration of BYM’s corporate structures at last year’s Yearly Meeting (and previously!), but others may not, so this article aims to answer the following questions: ‘What is the process that has led to this being considered at Yearly Meeting this year?’, and ‘Why is this particular change to our corporate structures being proposed?’ We hope that giving some background information will encourage wide engagement with this issue, as it emphasises that spirit-led discernment is at the heart of Quaker decision making and of British Quakers’ corporate life.

So, first, a brief reminder. In May 2019, Yearly Meeting asked for a review of the purposes, planning and delivery of Yearly Meeting and Yearly Meeting Gatherings (YMGs). Yearly Meeting delegated the organising of that review to Meeting for Sufferings, which, in December 2019, agreed to set up a review group.

The group was initially known as the Yearly Meeting Review Group (YMRG) but, since March 2022 we have been known as the Group to Review YM, YMG and MfS (GRYYM), because we were additionally asked (by Meeting for Sufferings itself) to include a review of MfS as part of our remit. We have continued our work and presented our reports to Meeting for Sufferings as each stage has been completed. Updates on our work were presented at Yearly Meeting 2023. There, Yearly Meeting discerned that BYM’s governance structure should be spirit-led, simpler, less work, clearer, more inclusive and better for communications (minute 30).

Our most recent report to Meeting for Sufferings, in March 2024, reflected our work on incorporating those principles. The main proposal is to bring Yearly Meeting and Meeting for Sufferings together in a single, continuing Yearly Meeting. Meeting for Sufferings endorsed the proposal and has forwarded it to Yearly Meeting for further discernment, as the authority to make changes rests with Yearly Meeting in session. So now we come to the question of ‘Why is this particular change to our corporate structures being proposed?’

Over the past few years our work has included consultations, questionnaires, and online workshops, plus conversations with staff and a wide range of Friends (including those serving on various committees). Throughout we have heard the need to ensure that spirit-led discernment is at the heart of BYM’s functioning as a gathered community. Related to that, we have heard that giving a wider range of individuals access to corporate discernment assists their spiritual growth (by the learning and experience gained from that participation) and speaks to Yearly Meeting’s desire to address issues of equity, diversity and inclusion across the Quaker community. At Meeting for Sufferings in March, a Friend spoke of ‘the privilege’ of serving on that body. Wouldn’t it be good for that privilege to be extended? A metaphor we have found helpful in our reflections is that of an orchestra: If what is needed for a performance is a trumpet but only the string section turns up, then the music does not live up to its full potential.

In Quaker theology ‘we are called to honour our testimony that to every one is given a measure of the light, and that it is in the sharing of knowledge, experience and concern that the way towards unity will be found’ (Quaker faith & practice 3.05). The spirit may speak authentically through a particular person’s lived experience in a way that it would be difficult for others to articulate. If that person is absent, that voice cannot be heard, and that ministry is lost.

We have also heard Friends say that currently there is unnecessary complexity. There are too many interfaces that lead to additional work. BYM trustees report to Meeting for Sufferings but they are not accountable to it. Meeting for Sufferings can make some decisions, but it doesn’t have all the powers of Yearly Meeting. Important items that go to Meeting for Sufferings for discernment may need to go to Yearly Meeting to be considered again. With four Yearly Meeting sessions per year, trustees can be made more accountable and important discernment can be done by the body empowered to make changes.

We have explored alternative possibilities for change, including considering changing the position of Meeting for Sufferings in the structure, to place it below trustees (that is, to make it a consultative body). Eventually we discerned that merging Meeting for Sufferings with YM could reduce duplication and overlap. Accountability of trustees could also be strengthened, and participation by all Quakers (including children, younger Friends and families) be increased.

There is insufficient space here to give the details of our thinking and working assumptions, but as part of the preparation for this year’s Yearly Meeting, two online sessions will be held, facilitated by members of GRYYM. Those sessions will be on Monday 8 July from 5.00pm and Wednesday 10 July from 7.00pm. Details on registering for these will be made known via the Quake! newsletter and the ‘Sched’ YM-planning website. We hope that as many Quakers as are able will attend either or both of those sessions. They will be different but linked, slanted towards the themes of ‘community’ and ‘discernment’. These sessions will offer time for questions and for reflections, so that all those attending Yearly Meeting can do so with ‘heart and mind prepared’ ready to share in deep, spirit-led discernment on this issue. If you or your Meeting have any particular questions or concerns, or you want the links to read our reports, you can still contact us via email at reviewgroup@quaker.org.uk.

Whatever the outcome of discernment on this issue at YM, this exercise should be seen as part of a continuing thread through the history of Quakers in Britain. Since George Fox first started setting up the organisation of Monthly Meetings in 1666, the organisational structure of Britain Yearly Meeting has been there to enable our Society to survive and flourish. As we are reminded in Quaker faith & practice 8.23, ‘Each generation of Friends has been faced with a structure in some respects untidy… our continual task is to ensure that our structures are in harmony with the changing tides of life in Britain Yearly Meeting.’ Any changes made will be subject to further review and, thus, the thread continues to be woven into the future of the Society.

Carolyn (South Wales Area Meeting) and Ann (West Scotland Area Meeting) are co-convenors of GRYYM.

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Comments

Interesting article! It is clear that a considerable amount of thought and effort has gone into the work of GRYYM.

I would be interested to hear what the authors have to say about the concerns raised by Anthony Wilson in his letter to “The Friend” (25/4/24) on “YM, trustees and Sufferings”. He concludes;

“the full implications of the proposal to lay down Meeting for Sufferings have not been laid open to Friends and Meetings, and there is no time to consider these, report back and reflect before YM gathers in July with this proposal on its agenda”.

In Friendship.

Richard Pashley Bull St. Meeting.

By Richard Pashley on 26th April 2024 - 19:57

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Further to Anthony Wilson’s letter, how would the original function of Meeting for Sufferings, to record the plight of Friends suffering for conscience’ sake, be discharged if Meeting for Sufferings were laid down? That has never been more significant in recent times than it is now.

John Cockcroft
Sutton Coldfield Meeting

By John Cockcroft on 27th April 2024 - 11:53

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Undoubtably changes need to be made in the decision making process since the arrival of Trustees but I do not see any facts about the deficiencies in the current system.  Without this knowledge I cannot see how improvements can be made.  If a drastic change is to be made I hope that it will be given a probationary period, say three years, before it is to be considered permament.  Frankly I am not happy about a Continual Yearly Meeting.  It gives me the impression that all kinds of proposals will come from individuals without their proposals having gone through a period of discernment at local and Area level.  maybe I will be proved wrong.

By ERIC WALKER on 27th April 2024 - 12:49

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