Quaker Meeting houses
Ruth Lambert writes about re-purposing old Meeting houses
Old Quaker Meeting houses and buildings are often in prime locations, situated in the heart of the community, built at a time when Quakers were business people and, therefore, sharp in the stewardship of God’s gifts. I believe these places need rejuvenating. But how? By becoming busy beehives exuding abundant nourishment and comfort, reconciliation and Friendly neighbourliness, and global concerns reflected in local campaigns.
They should naturally be the ‘go-to’ place for healing, counselling, mediation and conflict resolution, transformational training, ‘light at the end’ of the tunnel for intractable personal circumstances, simply unavoidable, and the ‘coming out taller’ place. Why do I say this?
At a Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) conference in Peru, I told my home group why I am a Quaker. I said: ‘If my mother were to celebrate her ninetieth birthday, I would have a bring-and-share in my Quaker Meeting. If my mother were to pass away, I would take this to my Quaker family. If I were to marry, I would go the Quaker way. When war broke out, my father found succour being a conscientious objector with the Quakers. Quaker quiet sheds fresh light always, working at solutions becomes the next step to take, in a direction of travel I feel comfortable with, which harnesses my deepest convictions, aligned with my true feelings - I can do no other.’
I was overwhelmed with embraces from complete strangers from Bolivia, Peru, the US, Korea, Hong Kong, Ireland… because of what I’d said.
We all need such ‘go-to’ places to take the fear out of living, to scale down the strains and stresses of tribulation and competition, to learn again how to cooperate with ourselves and our place in the world. The diverse Quaker family is a good place to start practising coping mechanisms for what twenty-first century chaos and the internet throw at us.
Now for the healing. Why are our Meeting houses not filled with aromatherapy, reiki, the Feldenkrais Method, the Bowen technique, bereavement counselling, soul midwifery, yoga, tai chi? Why are they not filled with qualified mediators to bring about peace in our lives, a precursor of peace in the wider community and the world?
Why are our buildings not brimming over with discussion groups of the alternative kind - PositiveMoney, Permaculture, death cafes, anti-militarism and so on? Why are we not better known for encouraging people individually and collectively to grow?
Can Quakers and their Meeting houses once more become a beacon for new ways of thinking, a touchstone for daring to be different, dynamic in building a more equal future for all members of God’s family. Anything less is sleeping on our watch.
Let’s start calling these energies in and make our places of deep stillness also places for Turning the Tide, building on our testimonies of Simplicity, Truth, Equality and Peace. The world needs our news of abundance and joy - where everyone has a vital part to play, contributing their very best God-given gifts and getting satisfaction from a job well done.
At Jesus Lane Meeting in Cambridge, my local Quaker Meeting, expertise congregates because of the university. Let’s use this perspective to connect with those passing through, to learn more by sharing and testing our testimonies.
We need, I believe, to ‘future-proof’ in three ways.
First, build an ecological, bolt-on exemplar - an all-day peace café, transforming our city-centre tarmacked ‘greenhouse’ for all our hirers, and so offer a virtual HQ for Amnesty International, Cambridge Carbon Footprint, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, City of Sanctuary, Nuclear-free Cambridge, Imagine 2017-27, Transition Cambridge/Greeniversity, and the United Nations Association, so that blogs, press releases and campaigns can grow in sync.
Second, put on programmes of exciting, daring-to-be-different strands for ‘children’ of all ages.
Third, offer Quaker quiet breakouts/tasters as the groundswell of all our endeavours to leave this world more just and harmonious.
God is watching, even if the world has temporarily forgotten us. Every continent could do with plugging in to the Quaker way going forward. It’s time for a comeback in our plain old Meeting houses - refreshed, fulfilling God’s purpose of birthing the future without fear, speaking to the condition of everyone.
