Meetings for Sufferings: Public statements
Speedier statements set to be issued in the future
Public statements on behalf of Quakers look set to be issued more speedily in future. Meeting for Sufferings (MfS), the national committee of British Quakers, have resolved to review procedures for issuing statements to ensure they are ‘relevant to public events and timely’.
Their decision followed a discussion on Saturday about the tension between making statements speedily and seeking God’s guidance through Quaker discernment. MfS agreed to ask the recording clerk ‘to bring proposals for reviewing our current policies’.
Their minute emphasised: ‘We want the words we speak to reflect the way our lives speak’. Several contributors had emphasised the need for integrity, with statements reflecting the way that Quakers live out testimonies in an everyday way.
The recording clerk, Paul Parker, explained that he sometimes finds it hard to know what he can and cannot say on behalf of Quakers.
He defended his decision to comment on the ‘Occupy’ movement without going through the usual channels. He considered that his statement was about economic justice and was in accordance with Yearly Meeting’s agreed position on that subject.
The agreed minute stated: ‘We put our trust in our recording clerk and staff to make public statements on our behalf where longer processes are not appropriate, knowing that these will be based on and reflect our testimonies and our tested thinking. The accepted practice in this will include conferring with the clerks of MfS, Yearly Meeting, trustees and central committees.’
Friends differed widely on the importance they attached to social media. One criticised the influence of ‘modern means of communication and technology, which may be ephemeral’. He added: ‘We are dealing with things that are eternal.’
Another insisted: ‘We need to carefully consider the way that we have always considered.’ He said that statements would be more forceful if rarely made. He added: ‘Even the big organisations, the Anglicans, the bishops, their statements are only headline statements. They are forgotten the next day.’
In contrast, others spoke of the cumulative effect of Quakers speaking out in the world. A Friend who was heavily involved in Quaker Quest said that enquirers sometimes mention Friends’ public statements. He said that the last time that media coverage of Quakers had triggered a large number of comments was following the decision in 2009 to celebrate same sex marriages.
Paul Parker said that today ‘the world moves much faster’ than when statements were delivered ‘in person on horseback’. He said: ‘We are making statements all the time’ through BYM’s Twitter and Facebook feeds.
A few Friends mentioned the work that could be done by Local and Area Meetings in engaging with media and public debate locally. One Friend appealed to Quakers nationally to give attention to ways of giving Meetings more confidence to do this.
Some expressed the fear that at times Quakers issue statements ‘to make themselves feel better’ rather than for their public impact. Others countered that the process of making statements can help Friends clarify their thinking on an issue.
The minute recognised three ways in which statements could be helpful: reaching the public via the media; guidance to Friends for discussion; and information to seekers who want to know where Friends stand.
The minute also insisted: ‘Our weightiest statements will be effective when rare’.
