Mission critical: Geoffrey Durham tells of a new outreach project for all Friends

‘British Quakers need to let people know that we exist, and that we have something to say.’

In 1680, we’re told, there were some 60,000 Quakers in Britain, around one person in a hundred. It’s a startling figure, but it needs to be put into context: it followed thirty-odd years in which Quakers in this country were active – wildly, passionately active – in their proselytising and their outreach.

Last year’s Tabular Statement put our current membership at 12,498. There are many reasons for the drop, but one inference is clear. For the last century and more, Quakers in this country have confused outreach with proselytising. We’ve rightly resolved never to proselytise, but that decision has fatally damaged our attempts at outreach.

There’s a crucial difference between the two. Proselytising involves telling people, hungry for a spiritual life, that we have the answers they crave. Outreach is the antithesis of that. It makes no promises. It explains clearly who Quakers have been, who we are now, and why. At its heart is a simple acknowledgement that everyone has a choice and that the Quaker way of life may turn out to be right for some people.

That’s not to say that outreach can’t be direct and challenging, nor that it can’t be fun. I recently heard of a poster used by Quakers in Australia, with a strapline that speaks for many of us: ‘Come inside and have your answers questioned.’

That snappy invitation may be enough to get some people across a Quaker threshold, but most need to know a little more. It’s easy to forget how uninformed the British public can be. A psychologist of my acquaintance once remarked: ‘I know you’re a Quaker, Geoffrey, so I‘m assuming you’re a creationist.’ It’s a widely-held perception. In 2009, a JRCT-funded survey revealed that only seventeen per cent of those who thought they knew something about Quakers disagreed with the statement that we are ‘an orthodox religious group who interpret religion in a very strict way’. I’d be surprised if that percentage has changed much in the last eleven years.

We face a crisis. With finances cut to the bone, and the numbers of our members and attenders plummeting, British Quakers need to let people know that we exist and that we have something to say. Happily, there are indications that many of us may be up for the challenge in small ways. Users of social media are talking publicly about their spiritual lives, more and more of us are blogging and vlogging, and the idea that Quakers might be prepared to talk publicly about matters of personal faith is no longer the outlandish prospect that it once was.

It’s a shame that these developments have come at a time when our collective outreach projects – the ones that offer everyone in a Meeting the chance to reveal hidden talents as facilitators, caterers, welcomers and speakers – have all but disappeared. It saddens me, not only because the groups who take the plunge are often thrilled at the response when they talk plainly about their faith, but also because, as they prepare to do it, they find themselves sharing their deepest experiences with each other. And that leads inevitably to a strengthening of the bonds between them.

It’s an aspect of outreach that seems only to be understood by those who have experienced it. I vividly remember being informed by the clerk of a large local meeting that ‘we can’t do any outreach until we’ve got our inreach right.’ I told him that, in my experience, those two apparent opposites often amount to the same thing – outreach fosters inreach, as inreach leads to outreach. But he was fixed in his view. And the Quakers in that Meeting have still not experienced the sweet intimacy of sharing their faith stories, while helping newcomers in the process.

Now, though, we all have the opportunity to do that, irrespective of which Meeting we belong to, or how far we are away. Meetings can be attended by people in other towns, other areas, other countries, all through the wonders of Zoom. Where would we have been without it these fifteen months?

The first group of Friends to experiment with Zoom as an outreach tool was Quaker Quest Euston. They launched their virtual meetings in April last year, and they are still attracting newcomers week after week. Anyone curious about Quakers can ‘join the conversation’, which takes a different theme each time, sometimes prompted by the enquirers themselves. At Zoom Quaker Quest everyone is welcome, from newcomers to established members.

The major drawback, though, is timing, and if you can’t make it on a Monday evening at seven you won’t ever get to experience Zoom Quaker Quest. So, there’s a need for frequent meetings at different times – mornings, lunchtimes, evenings, weekends, whenever people can come – giving multiple opportunities for new brands of online outreach.

Plans are underway for a second weekly strand on Zoom called Questioning Quakers. The organisers are still experimenting with its structure, but it seems likely that pre-recorded video conversations may play a part, as well as live interactions with enquirers. The Questioning Quakers team aims to launch its first weekly sessions in the autumn. I know of two other groups who are already planning their online meetings and there will be room for many more.

How will all this be advertised? A new website, Discovering Quakers, is under construction. It will be an umbrella for all our outreach activities: a hub through which people can find face-to-face and online outreach meetings, as well as links to Quaker-themed YouTube videos, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, books – all the Quaker initiatives that help people know who we are.

We urgently want Friends to help and, wherever you are, you can be part of this. The Questioning Quakers team needs people to be part of their ambitious new format. The Discovering Quakers website needs fresh resources and activities to publicise.

Perhaps you have a proposal for a new style of online outreach? If so, you might encourage your Area or Regional/National Meeting to become involved. Or you could get together with a Meeting from another town to bring your concept to fruition. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. And thanks to the thoughtfulness of one individual, money appears not to be an issue here. We think we have the resources to make it work.

Outreach is an act of generosity. We all have stories to tell and experiences to share. How about a weekly strand called ‘Why Am I A Quaker’? Or a Welsh-language session once a week? Or a series of half-hour interviews with trusted Friends? Or discussions between newcomers and people who have been coming for just a year or so? Please feel free to steal these ideas, or let us know your thoughts at info@discoveringquakers.org.uk.

It is my belief that one person in a hundred in this country is still a Quaker, but they don’t know it yet. Let’s do what we can to tell them we exist.

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Comments

dear geoffrey

i am so pleased that discovering quakers is happening. many congratulations to you and your colleagues.

i am also so pleased that you have managed to have your development thoughts and work published in the Friend and included a way for supporters
to let themselves be know ....

Quakers - ‘an orthodox religious group who interpret religion in a very strict way’ this is practically true - think of the actions of elders, and your new seakers
will only find this absent in Young Adult Quakers.

Crisis “finances cut to the bone, the numbers of members and attenders plummeting.” Why are we not told about this. If Quakers in Britian are short of money
why are there not clear appeals for donations. Britain Yearly Meeting according to the Charity Commission has £68M assets and made £3M savings last year
see cut and paste below my signature. Amazingly five area meetings have wealth of £58M being kept for a rainy day

Our collective outreach projects - facilitators, vibrancy, welcomers, and speakers have disappears. why is this? who makes these decisions in Quakers?
(see three recent letters of concern about where decisions in Quakers are made). The simpler meetings project ends June 2021 as it begins to take off.  Should Quakers have a central development/planning group?

Part of your work I hope will be that Quakers will be an increasingly welcoming group and less a secret society where only the familiar is welcomed. At a recent
area meeting I attended, a meeting triggered by the “simpler meetings agenda”, discussing processes and words, several Quakers suggested that we
should ask “Young Adult Quakers” ... i hope your group will make contact Young Adult Quakers.

thank you again best wishes david fish coventry quaker meeting

David Fish
33 Magnolia Drive
Lutterworth LE17 4RS
Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

A cut and paste of the charity commission website finds 2019 quaker income 17M expenditure 14M “profit 3M”

By davidfishcf@msn.com on 21st June 2021 - 13:51

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