Inside job: Tim Gee reflects on six months at Friends World Committee for Consultation

‘Even though the news often feels bleak, I find hope in the faithful work, time and commitment of so many people.’

I recently passed the six-month mark since officially beginning as general secretary to the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). The timing has been interesting, coinciding with some other big life events for me. I had just become a father, and was beginning the process of moving house. It’s fair to say that it’s been quite full-on. Today, I’m pausing to take stock and reflect on what has happened so far.

First things first: FWCC is the international body connecting approximately 400,000 Quakers across the globe. The goal is to bring together Friends of varying traditions and cultural experiences, to express the common heritage we share, and to offer our Quaker message to the world. We hold consultative status at the UN, and arrange accreditation for Friends speaking in intergovernmental settings.

Bringing Friends together physically hasn’t been easy while the pandemic continues, but online opportunities still abound. In February, for example, we hosted an online conversation with Friends doing peace work in Myanmar and Rwanda.

In March and May we hosted international consultations – in English and in Spanish – gathering ideas for George Fox’s 400th birthday in July 2024. These meetings revealed a strong impetus for intergenerational and inspiring celebrations that avoid possible pitfalls. Many groups around the world are already making plans: parties, birthday cakes, birthday cards, songs, talks, stories and more. We will put together a resource pack to make organising an event as easy as possible.

The team responsible for our periodic global gatherings also took a deep breath and decided to set dates and a venue for the next World Plenary. This will take place on 5–13 August 2024, in South Africa and online. It will be our first global hybrid (or ‘blended’) event of this scale. All Yearly Meetings and other bodies affiliated with FWCC are invited to send delegates, to tend to FWCC business. We will be surrounded by worship and fellowship with Friends from around the world.

Our intention is that this will be the most inclusive world gathering ever held. Events like this are a major undertaking, still more so when up to half the participants will need to be subsidised. Then there are the additional questions of resourcing Friends in ‘hubs’ around the world, so that they can participate together. Nevertheless we’re continuing in faith that we will turn this corner and use the hybrid format faithfully. We will be fundraising to make access as equal as possible.

In the meantime we’ve been busy making plans for World Quaker Day on 2 October, which this year will support mass online inter-visitation with Friends on other continents. Virtual interaction can’t replace physical community though, and I’ve heard about plans for visits and exchanges in person as well. However we worship – online or in person – we can return with new ideas about how to be the Friends the world needs.

Meeting one another – praying together, and seeking to understand each other – is the bedrock of the work. If we didn’t Meet in our local worshipping groups, our Yearly Meetings and international gatherings, then Friends who speak at the UN or ecumenical settings would just be informed individuals rather than carrying the hopes of an active peace church. But peace church we are, a fact brought sharply into focus by the present international conflict in Ukraine.

Accordingly we have published anti-war statements in English, Ukrainian and Russian, fundraised for Quaker work supporting refugees in the East of Europe, and joined with more than 140 others in co-writing an interfaith statement against nuclear arms. This was read at the first meeting of states parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) has continued to speak in the name of FWCC at the UN. In just these six months it has been calling for: guns to be kept out of the hands of children; an international commitment to end the use of explosives in populated areas; a global investment in peacebuilding financed by an overall reduction in military spending; and for people displaced by war to be treated equally and without discrimination.

Rooted in our Peace Testimony, there have also been more than sixty interventions in our name during intergovernmental climate negotiations this year, again delivered by QUNO. These help ensure that legally-significant texts reflect important findings on a range of topics: conflict; climate justice; human rights; gender equality; meaningful participation in decision making; and the role of sustainable diets in maintaining a liveable planet.

I may be the only full-time staff member at FWCC, but almost everything we do is collaborative. That might be with colleagues, QUNO, the four Quaker sections around the world, the executive committee, or other Friends led by the spirit to walk through the doors we can open. This all builds on the actions of Friends over time.

It was encouraging that as soon as my appointment was announced, several previous FWCC general secretaries got in touch to say how much they had enjoyed the role. I’m an admirer of the way my predecessor Gretchen Castle did the job, and I’ve kept a good few of her handwritten notes and inspirational quotes up on the wall. It’s a symbolic indication of my intention to continue the work she helped lead.

It’s good to reflect on some of the tangible things that have happened since January. Even though the news often feels bleak, I find hope in the faithful work, time and commitment that so many people put into caring for our precious, global Quaker community, and the wider world we inhabit. I learn more about it every day.

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