Hitchin Meeting to consider Brexit angst
Friends in Hitchin held a special Meeting for Worship for Business about Brexit
Hitchin Quakers held a special Meeting for Worship for Business this month to consider ways to heal the divisions in society caused by Brexit.
The Meeting on 3 February followed ministry by local Friend Anthony Cole during Meeting for Worship (MfW) on 27 January, which resulted in another Friend calling for a special Business Meeting to consider the matter.
According to Anthony Cole, in a paper he wrote for that Business Meeting, there were several ministries during the 27 January MfW that expressed ‘deep-seated concern about the consequences of the EU referendum decision and about the resulting political deadlock’.
He wrote: ‘Among those present, these matters have aroused strong feelings… of being coerced and intimidated into accepting outcomes which appear to them to be undesirable and unpredictable, feelings of unfairness, feelings of frustration and of disenfranchisement.’
But when Friends gathered at the special Business Meeting to take the concern further, they could not reach unity. Anthony Cole told the Friend: ‘We found it difficult to reach a specifically Quaker response to the situation that wasn’t politically partisan. However, we continue to struggle with this matter and intend to return to it soon.’
