Meeting with approval: report from Ireland Yearly Meeting

‘We rely as always on the Spirit and our conscience to guide us.’

We gathered in the Dominican Retreat Centre, in Tallaght, West Dublin. Tallaght was a small village in the 1950s, but has grown to be the third-largest town in Ireland. Máel Ruain founded a monastery there in 769CE, and it was a place of pilgrimage for a thousand years. The four pillars of Dominican Life are: prayer, study, community, and preaching, and this neatly captured our theme for 2023: ‘Building Community Together’. It also gently reminded us that there are few ideas or aspirations that are novel to Christians over the past twenty centuries.

As ever, the joy and miracle of Ireland Yearly Meeting (IYM) is the meeting of old Friends and the making of new ones. We need only make one new acquaintance, or come away with one resolution, but that is sufficient. More is less. Coming together in person is invaluable beyond any Zoom or remote contact. It is why IYM in person continues to be the highlight of our Quaker year.

For those who cannot come in person, it is wonderful that we can now offer remote attendance. All plenary sessions this year were blended, with several speakers joining us online, and the quality of sound and video was very good.

In the week before IYM began, a series of special interest groups was held on Zoom. These explored Quaker history, life reflections, peacemaking, and food waste. They encouraged thoughts and conversations, to which we returned during the in-person Meetings.
Many of our sessions were concerned with how to connect, or reconnect, our communities in the aftermath of Covid-19. We shared experiences from our Meetings and heard from representatives of other faiths. We heard that the changes brought by the pandemic are an opportunity, not a threat, and that we need to break out of buildings to be a light in our communities. We should concentrate less on events and more on service to the community. Interfaith dialogue can be hard work, with a mix of attraction and aversion – like magnets. Why do Quakers do it? We do it to find others’ experience of the Light. If we do not do it, misunderstandings can grow into difficult barriers.
We also considered our wider Quaker community. It was heartening to hear from Friends from Brussels, Britain, Norway and Finland. Stuart Masters from Woodbrooke joined us on Zoom, and shared information on the community of early Friends. Tracey Martin, of Quaker Concern for European Affairs, spoke of the progress made after the difficulties of Brexit.

At our Yearly Meeting on Ministry and Oversight, a panel of three Friends reflected on how we can encourage ministry in our Meetings. One question was: ‘Is our silence killing Quakerism?’ One speaker quoted Thomas Kelly: we should seek the inner flame, to listen to that of God within, and ask oneself ‘What do you find of God there?’ Another speaker found that she had learned to listen to the still, small voice within – to speak only from the heart, to encourage one another to minister, but to be led by the spirit as to whether one might speak or not. A third speaker reflected on George Fox’s experience at Firbank Fell: ‘Let your life speak.’

In the discussion that followed, some spoke of the deep value of silence, especially new attenders. There was a suggestion that one might use a verse of scripture. Another spoke of the value of spoken and unspoken ministry – both are valuable.

Another concern that manifested over several sessions was peacemaking and peacebuilding. Reflecting on the Quaker Peace Testimony, we heard how Quakers have responded differently to wars over the past century. While all Quakers are peacemakers, not all are pacifists, and we rely as always on the Spirit and our conscience to guide us. It was accepted that the war in Ukraine does not admit simple analysis, but requires prayer, reflection, and patience with one another. One practical solution is to make refugees of whatever origin feel welcome, and to work against a pernicious anti-immigrant culture, still small but vocal in Irish society.

We reflected on how we can prepare for peace, hearing about work to prevent an increase in militarism, and about campaigning against the arms industry. Florence Foster spoke about the peacebuilding work of the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva. Friends also spoke of their experience hosting refugees from Ukraine. In discussion, we asked how Friends can help create the conditions for peace in our own communities, with peace education programmes in schools and organising local events suggested.

As always, our Young Friends inspired and challenged us. Our under-tens had learned about Ukraine and the experience of refugees. They displayed stones painted in yellow and blue, and paintings of sunflowers, which brightened our day. We heard an epistle from Junior Yearly Meeting that appealed for more support and guidance from IYM. More adult volunteers are needed to enable fun weekend events.

We were also challenged at a session on nurturing community, which dealt with social media. As well as a form of outreach, social media is a way of building and nurturing community, but Friends are not using it. A show of hands proved that a significant number of Friends are active on social media in their daily lives, but a second show of hands showed that very few were engaging with Quaker material. We left with a renewed sense of purpose: to follow IYM on Twitter and Facebook, and to ‘like’ and ‘share’ the posts regularly! We also heard about ‘The Friendly Podcasts’, a lockdown project in which Irish and international Friends were interviewed. This is now available on our website.

A highlight for many was the Public Lecture given by Harvey Gillman: ‘Hospitality and the Pilgrim: A Quaker’s reflection on communion and community.’ It was a highly-entertaining and engaging lecture, if indeed the word ‘lecture’ is appropriate. Harvey chided us gently for using ‘Quakerspeak’ with people unfamiliar with our culture. One could see why Harvey served for a quarter of a century as the outreach coordinator with British Friends in London. He managed to speak to people where they are, not where we might wish them to be. It was within the Quaker community that Harvey found his real voice, his real self, and his happy home. Many Quakers by convincement can find an echo in this sentiment. The lecture is online at www.quakers.ie.

Of course, as well as the plenary sessions we had Bible reading, candlelit worship in the oratory, poetry reading, dancing, the much-loved Irish Quaker Faith in Action, and book stalls, all facilitated by the many Friends who volunteered. A special mention must go to all who helped with catering and the numerous cups of tea. If an army marches on its stomach, Quakers survive on caffeine. A Friend once remarked the most important part of Meeting was the cup of tea afterwards!

Valerie, Colm, Padraic and Bairbre are from Ireland Yearly Meeting.

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