Meeting for Sufferings: Quakers hear proposal to form communications group
‘We need to [value this diversity and] be careful we hear the voice of those who do not use more modern methods of communication.’
The morning session of 4 March opened with a proposal for a new Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) Communications Group, following December’s request for the Arrangements Group to consider action on the matter. The proposal follows a report from the group appointed to review Yearly Meeting (YM) and MfS, which highlighted a need for better communication, with some Quakers feeling disconnected from central decision-making.
Friends heard that the MfS Arrangements Group proposes to form a time-limited group made up of six MfS members, including, ideally, at least one representative from a central committee. The work should conclude within twelve months. The proposals suggest that MfS Arrangements Group will bring forward nominations. It also says that the communication group may call on the expertise, knowledge and resources of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) staff with prior agreement with Paul Parker, the recording clerk.
Friends welcomed the proposals but some queried the make-up of the group. One Quaker, speaking on behalf of her Area Meeting (AM) in the south east, said ‘something dealing with communications should not [just] have representatives from one body. It would be helpful to have members of Young Friends General Meeting and other representatives who are not on Sufferings.’ She also said that, nowadays, ‘it was difficult to get in touch with Friends House staff’.
Paul Parker said that the best way to contact BYM staff was by email, as most staff are based elsewhere, and they were reflecting on how to make it easier for Friends to find this information. Another Quaker from the north highlighted that for some people, that shift to digital communication might not have happened and that ‘we need to acknowledge that we are dealing with a diverse group of people’ and this should be noted in the terms of reference. ‘We need to [value this diversity and] be careful we hear the voice of those who do not use more modern methods of communication,’ he said.
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