‘My sense is that the Spirit is calling us to reassess what it means to be a British Quaker in 2022.’
See change: Christine Habgood-Coote thinks we should embrace digital options in our Meetings
‘Traditions have been important, but probably just as characteristic of Quakerism is a pattern of constant evolution and change.’
After two years of the threats, privations and uncertainties of Covid-19, many of us are keen to ‘return to normal’. We want to be able to move around public spaces without covering our faces. We want to use facial expressions and see the expressions of others – we miss giving and receiving smiles, cups of coffee, and food. For Quakers, this extends to a pull back to our Meeting houses, the buildings where we went to share a worshipful space, often in a tradition dating back hundreds of years.
A couple of weeks ago in this magazine, Paul Holdsworth (25 March) talked about the importance of physicality to Quakers and his sense that being in the same physical space as others is integral to his experience of worship.We have all found the experience of the pandemic challenging, each for unique reasons. Some were ‘locked down’ alone, and had to fall back on internal resources to sustain them. For others, the challenges were about facing their own vulnerability to infection, their responsibilities towards others in their household, or maintaining mental health and resilience without work, educational or social contacts. Now that legal restrictions have been removed we are hoping that we can go back to ‘normal life’. But I don’t think that things will ever be quite the same, either in daily life as individuals, in communities, or in Quaker Meetings. This is probably to the good. Looking at our Quaker history, traditions have been important, but probably just as characteristic of a Quakerism is a pattern of constant evolution and change.
Speaking during Meeting for Worship only when feeling profoundly moved to do so – a sense of Divine calling, sometimes manifest as physical quaking – is one element of our tradition of worship. But we have abandoned things too: these days it is rare for Meetings for Worship to last three hours; ministry lasting more than five minutes would probably not be well-received; and in Britain ministry may come from different Friends, not always the same few.
Probably the biggest change to our Quaker Meetings during the pandemic has been the introduction of Zoom videoconferencing, and more recently its blending with in-person gatherings. In the Friend and in our Meetings we are hearing conversations expressing gratitude for the way Zoom has held us together through difficult times, but welcoming the return to the ‘normality’ of in-person meetings. Yet we cannot, and should not, turn the clock back. To go back to a normality where those who are unable to join us in the Meeting house (perhaps because they live too far away, or there is no Sunday bus service, or they need to care for dependent relatives, or the historic building is not adapted for wheelchair use) are excluded from worship is a contradiction of the testimonies we hold dear. Zoom can be used as a way to recognise that we are all equal before God – that all share in the Light, that we welcome everyone.
‘But…’ I hear you say, and the buts are many, ‘we don’t like a computer screen in the Meeting room because it disturbs the atmosphere … the sound doesn’t work well… we can’t see the faces well enough… we can’t concentrate on a Zoom business meeting for more than an hour… we cannot feel so profoundly moved to minister if we don’t quake and don’t stand… we don’t feel so connected with those who aren’t sharing coffee with us after Meeting… we cannot undertake proper Spirit-led discernment online…’
All these concerns are very real, but to divide our Quaker community into those who love technology and those who are skeptical about it is, in my view, far too simplistic. My sense is that the Spirit is calling us to reassess what it means to be a British Quaker in 2022.
What does it mean to be part of a Quaker community? Is it an attachment to those who live within a few miles of a Meeting house, or could it cross geographical (even international) boundaries?
How can we be custodians of traditions and historic buildings while also being innovative and adventurous? How should we use these buildings? How should we celebrate the Quakers of the past while presenting a vibrant faith to the world?
How can we welcome everyone, including those who are disabled, cannot travel, or who have to move for work or education? How do we increase participation in the business of the Society of Friends, for example by younger adults?
If we aspire to become a low-carbon community, what would we need to do make this real? Have we calculated the different carbon costs of digital gatherings and those that happen in person? Can we justify the carbon footprint of in-person Local Meetings, Area Meetings, national committees, national and international Quaker gatherings?
Challenging ourselves with these queries does not make the problems go away; the problems remain. But if we decided that our priority was the ability to meet together using whatever facilitated this, we might be able to adopt a problem-solving mindset. We might start to consider whether we could improve the microphone or change the position of the computer screen. We might re-visit the disciplines of Quaker business method so that Meetings for Worship for Business could run more smoothly – and learn new skills in introducing topics and writing minutes so that our discernment could go deeper.
This is a scary challenge. We cannot expect to travel through this process of reassessment unchanged. There would be some work to do to learn new skills and methods. We might need to make some financial investments in new equipment. We might need to extend a welcome to some people who are in some ways different from us. We might need to review whether our Quakerism is lived in the Meeting house on Sundays, or elsewhere.
Not many months before lockdown I spent some time in the home of Margaret Fell, Swarthmoor Hall. I particularly loved her table, around which early Friends worshipped and shared meals. It felt like a direct connection across the centuries. I felt at home. In recent months as I have been thinking about Quakers using technology I have thought often about Margaret Fell and how she would be faring in 2022. My fantasy is that she would make use of every possibility, and would be busy supporting Friends remotely via email, Zoom and social media instead of passing paper letters from hand to hand. She was very keen that Friends should attend to the essence of ‘the inward work of Almighty God in our hearts’ (Quaker faith & practice 20.31). My fantasy is that she might be berating us roundly for allowing ourselves to be divided by such trivial issues as computers!
Comments
A brilliant and much need commentary on where we are. Since establishing a regular Zoom Meeting for Worship in Alton Hampshire we have welcomed Friends fro Perth Australia, Niarobi Kenya and fro the USA. As we go forward with Blended Meetings for Worship due to our investment in a large screen monitor and a very sophisticated camera/microphone/speaker system to overcome the acoustics of a 350 year old Meeting House we can now share our special surroundings with Friends anywhere in the world.
Many many thanks.
By digby.payne@zen.co.uk on 9th April 2022 - 21:58
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