Life support: Sue Glover Frykman on online eldership

‘My experience was one of lightness, stimulation, laughter, learning and warm connection.’

Although we are most familiar with elders in local Meetings, there are lots of situations where the role can be valuable. For me this has included Woodbrooke.

Eldership on residential courses usually involves pastoral care for anyone struggling with the content or nature of a course. The presence of an elder can also be helpful for supporting the tutor. Woodbrooke has recently extended this kind of spiritual and pastoral support by introducing elders for its online courses. I jumped at the chance to be the elder for Tanya Hubbard’s six-week ‘Building on the peace that is there’. My role was to offer a ministry of presence, being attentive to the mood and atmosphere of the learning space, noticing if anyone might need support, and ensuring that the space remained loving and welcoming. I upheld Tanya and the participants as the course progressed. Upholding in this sense meant providing spiritual and emotional support and helping Tanya to be in the right frame of mind to give of her best.

Before the course began, Tanya (in France) and I (in Sweden) met via Skype to talk about the kind of role I would play. We were in regular contact throughout the course to ensure that things were running smoothly. I had access to the course materials and to what was posted in the forums, attended the Zoom meetings and participated in the plenary sessions. I didn’t go into a breakout room with the participants but quietly upheld the learning process. At the end of the course, Tanya and I met with the Woodbrooke member of staff supporting Tanya to review how things had gone and raise any ongoing concerns.

My experience was one of lightness, stimulation, laughter, learning and warm connection. The course was participatory, and I was encouraged to contribute.

In ‘Elders as midwives of the Spirit’ (Quaker Voices, Vol 1 No 6), Jenny Routledge writes about the three threads of eldership as accompaniment, discipline and nurture. I would add support as a fourth thread and upholding as a fifth. Jenny’s conclusions are that she detects ‘a yearning in our worshipping communities for a strengthening of the role and function of elders’ and that ‘new shoots are appearing in eldership practice’. She also writes that ‘We need to ensure that our meeting communities are places in which the spirit can flourish among us, and in which we learn to know and support each other in seeking that which is eternal. These are rightly the realms of eldership’.

Jenny’s words connect with my own experience. Being an elder is a deeply enriching experience and a valued service. Woodbrooke only has a small pool of elders and would like it to be bigger. If you feel called to offer your services in this way, and are prepared to live adventurously, get in touch.

Sue is from Sweden Yearly Meeting and is a Woodbrooke associate tutor.

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