Letters - 29 January 2016
From Area Meetings to Be yourself.
Are Area Meetings necessary?
Are Area Meetings (AM) necessary? I think there is one aspect that we cannot dispense with. Who and what are the Quakers in Britain? The only answer is ‘the present membership’, and in the absence of any credal statement I see no other definition. Hence every time that AM admits or rejects an application for membership, it is contributing to the definition of Quakerism for the next generation. And this is important if we do not want to become a loose collection with ‘anything goes’. Nor can we just point to our historical connections to seventeenth century Quakers, for there are many Friends churches and Meetings around the world quite different from our own, with just as strong a historical connection, though this has evolved differently from that in Britain due to different historical circumstances.
I would hate such membership decisions to be made by a committee in Friends House according to some rulebook when they do not know the applicant at all. That would be moving towards something like a credal statement. It would also be unsatisfactory for the decision to reside purely with the Local Meeting, which may be quite small and could be somewhat dominated by one or more individuals: fashions and strongly held opinions exist in all human endeavours.
I really trust the Area Meeting of Friends, who have worked together and know one another ‘in the things that are eternal’ while being sufficiently separated, to be independent. God bless them.
Volker Heine
In the light of recent correspondence I think rumours of the demise of Area Meetings may be exaggerated. At Area Meeting for Business we heard the 2015 tabular statement, which showed that the number of members had increased from ninety-six to one hundred and the number of attenders from 102 to 108, thirty-seven of whom are children. Incidentally, twenty-eight Friends attended the business meeting of our smallish Area Meeting, over twenty-five per cent of the membership. The business was interesting and stimulating. Without appearing smug, I think these things should be celebrated.
Rupert Price
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