Meeting for Sufferings: Quaker Life Central Committee
Jocelyn Burnell spoke of the Quaker Life Central Committee at Meeting for Sufferings
The Quaker Life Central Committee (QLCC) has not been an entirely happy group, but has been better this year, assistant clerk Jocelyn Burnell told Sufferings.
She spoke first of the positives. Friends House Library has lent books and other exhibits to several institutions this year, including a William Penn tract that formed part of a highly popular Magna Carta exhibition at the British Library.
Jocelyn described the growth of the Quaker Life Network. It has 1,700 members, three-quarters of whom have ‘never worked centrally’ within Britain Yearly Meeting. She explained that QLCC has been ‘horizon scanning’. She spoke of the aging population of Britain and the urbanisation of society, suggesting that Friends may ‘have to face the closure of quite a few Local Meetings and well-loved Meeting houses’. Jocelyn predicted that large Local Meetings will become the focus of Area Meetings.
A Friend said that he had seen another pattern for large Meetings in urban areas, where central Meetings were shrinking and smaller Local Meetings appearing nearby. Another Friend added that small Meetings are the way ahead.
He added: ‘We need to think differently about buildings and how we use them. Young people are not seeing these buildings as attractive. We are not reaching places that need Quakerism.’
Other QLCC work highlighted in the report included the establishment of a working group on end of life issues and the setting up of a group to look at the pastoral and spiritual concern of ‘dispersed Friends’, for instance Young Friends who are geographically mobile. QLCC is working on a new strategic plan and is organising its next overseers conference, which will have as its theme ‘Abundant life – resourcing’.
A Friend said: ‘It is great to hear all of this. I hope that Quaker Life can have lots of small working groups. Friends House information is missing the testing of small groups of Friends’.
