Meeting for Sufferings: End of life issues and assisted dying
End of life issues were a large part of Quaker Life’s report to Meeting for Sufferings
End of life issues were a large part of Quaker Life’s report to Meeting for Sufferings. However, before the discussion, Martin Pennock, clerk of Quaker Life Central Committee (QLCC), told Sufferings a bit about the committee and its work.
General secretary Richard Summers then gave a brief overview of Quaker Life’s work ‘to strengthen and sustain the fabric of Quaker life within our Yearly Meeting’. This work ranges from the Quaker Centre at Friends House, with its worship space, café and bookshop, to work with those involved with the Yearly Meeting’s children and young people. Quaker Life also helps Meetings in areas such as employment and wardenship, Quaker chaplaincy work, outreach, pastoral care, marriages, the Quaker Life Network and the Library at Friends House.
QLCC, which met 19-21 September, had several presentations on aspects of end of life concerns. Ann Hosking, Quaker Life’s representative on the Churches Funeral Group, discussed the spiritual, practical and environmental issues concerning funerals. Two people from Leeds Area Meeting’s End of Life Care Working Group presented their concern for end of life issues, particularly medically assisted dying, and two members of the Quaker Concern Around Dying and Death shared their work.
Leeds Area Meeting’s minute regarding assisted dying wished to support QLCC in their efforts to reach a ‘Quaker view on death and dying’. QLCC’s response was that ‘a leading by God has not shone through’ for them. ‘As a committee we hold a variety of views on medically assisted dying and suspect this is true of Britain Yearly Meeting as a whole.’ QLCC felt ‘considerable discussion and threshing will be required before the Yearly Meeting as a whole could adopt this as a concern.’
Jocelyn Burnell, assistant clerk designate of QLCC, asked Sufferings to consider: ‘Which end of life issues should be taken forward?’ She added that it was clear that Yearly Meeting was not yet of one mind.
A Friend said that she hosted a Local Meeting discussion on preparation for death. One thing we can all be sure of is that we are all going to die. She asked: ‘Should we not be supported in preparing ourselves?’ Death is a taboo subject.
One Friend said ‘preparation for death should be happy. We should be preparing ourselves spiritually and financially.’ Another Friend said that ‘people rarely get asked how did death go?’ A Friend added that a member of her Meeting who died suddenly in an accident had left a list of practicalities – such as who should be invited to the funeral. It made dealing with his death much easier.
‘Assisted dying is very much an ethical issue.’ said another Friend. ‘It is important that we say this isn’t a decision to be made globally’ but rather on an individual basis. She felt we should not take a position one way or another.
A Friend who works with a hospice trust in Russia noted that a statement on assisted dying would have made her work very difficult.
Another Friend said it is important to help people look at a ‘good’ death. ‘Assisted dying is not the be all and end all of “end of life”.’
A Friend commented that she entirely concurred with the clerk. ‘We want to hear more and sharing stories is one way forward. We need time. Let’s get hold of a lot more experience. Assisted dying is not to be rushed.’
As the second part of her contribution, Jocelyn Burnell introduced a further item on concerns for Friends to consider following the discussion. She referred to words such as ‘clerk’, ‘overseer’, ‘elder’ and ‘concern’, then she asked how many in a Local Meeting or Area Meeting had tested a Quaker concern?’ Only a few people had.
She continued: ‘Quakers take ordinary words from the English language and use them in special ways. We [Britain Yearly Meeting] are losing our understanding of how we test concerns.’ There was no discussion on this comment.
