Meeting for Sufferings: QPSW strategy
'It would mean doing more on fewer areas, with a focus on areas where Quakers had a distinctive appproach.'
Jeff Beatty, co-clerk to QPSW Central Committee, opened the item by expressing his hope that the concerns about restructuring set out in several AM minutes had been addressed in the earlier threshing Meeting. His co-clerk, Robert Almond, said he was glad to engage with the wider body of Friends, and acknowledged that there had been some unhappiness about expected changes (the BYM trustees minutes sent to representatives had spoken of how Central Committee clerks had felt ‘personally threatened’ by the way that they were being lobbied by some Friends). He was ‘acutely aware’ of how communications could have been better. Restructuring in QPSW was being paused until the autumn. The discernment was still at an early stage, he went on, but was all working towards the aim of reinvigorating Quakerism, as per the Simplification agenda. One significant concern brought by AMs was over work on criminal justice. This was not being laid down in its entirety, he said, but its current form would likely change. The committee was looking to create a stronger, wider ownership of these issues.
QPSWCC minutes presented to representatives should give an indication of how it saw the work proceeding, he said. It would mean doing more on fewer areas, with a focus on areas where Quakers had a distinctive appproach. It would be agile, and not set in silos.
This strategy was not driven by cost cutting, added Jeff Beatty. That had ‘not been a feature of our discernment’. Cuts would have to happen, but that didn’t mean Quakers would do less. There were workshops planned to discuss all this with Friends.
One Scottish Friend wondered whether the Society was shifting its balance from QPSW work to Quaker Life (QL), while another wanted to know how local development workers (LDWs) would fit in.
One more was concerned by the assumption that ‘the way we’ve worked in the past isn’t working now.’
In response, a trustee said that they didn’t consider the question of balance between departments, but focused on which work needed what resources. They ‘didn’t think about whether QL was getting more’, but looked at impact.
The minute thanked the committee for its report, recognising the call for better communications, and the challenges of restructuring amid uncertainty.
