Tears, love and laughter
Bill Shaw and Sylvia Sanderson write about ‘travelling in the ministry’
Between 1652 and 1654 the ‘Valiant Sixty’ travelled in the ministry to spread the Quaker vision in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Today, ‘travelling in the ministry’ is underused as a way to reach out to people and support isolated Friends and small Meetings. Our experience whilst working at Swarthmoor Hall (2003-2011) and travelling to various Meetings was that most Friends in the UK were glad to welcome visitors and hear new ministry.
As our service at Swarthmoor Hall was coming to an end we were accepted to become Resident Friends at Christchurch Meeting in New Zealand for a year. However, whilst making plans, a series of severe earthquakes in the Christchurch area damaged the Meeting house, children’s room and the Resident Friend’s cottage. They were so badly damaged they were ‘munted’ – a word used to mean that the buildings were to be demolished and rebuilding was, for the meantime, forbidden.
Having resigned from our jobs at Swarthmoor Hall, and Sylvia having sold her house, we were left wondering what on earth we could do. People say the Spirit moves in mysterious ways and, for us, indeed it did. After some thought and discussion, we were moved to still go to New Zealand if – and only if – Friends there and particularly in Christchurch thought we could be of some help. We offered to go for six months, spend time in Christchurch, and travel the country in a campervan, so as not to be a burden and to be as self-sufficient as possible.
We found welcome support from three UK Quaker trusts. One said that they had not in living memory had a request for support to ‘travel in the ministry’, even though it appeared in the list of one of their categories.
In October 2011 we set off on an amazing adventure with a USB memory stick containing a PowerPoint presentation of the 1652 Quaker story and the basic outline of a workshop on the Quaker testimonies. These and an unobtrusive listening ear were the main tools we used as we travelled to Meetings and isolated Quakers on both islands of New Zealand.
Once in New Zealand, Friends were happy to give us names of those who were unable to attend Meetings for whatever reason: some were isolated; some unable to travel the distance to their nearest Meeting; and others could not attend due to illness. We decided to contact as many as possible. Friends told us of their personal troubles, hopes and fears; we heard their voices; and we held them in the Light. They appreciated our confidentiality. There are times when all we need is for someone to hear our story without comment or conjecture.
On our return Sylvia had so many wonderful photographs that she thought that the best ones, with some helpful text, would make a good coffee table album. Five years and 80,000 words of text later and she had written a book. Details of our travelling in the ministry are there, alongside a travel log and the everyday life of two Friends living in a campervan – having only lived together previously for a few months. We found a hunger and thirst amongst isolated Friends and Meetings, in both the UK and New Zealand, for more contact and Quaker fellowship. This can be difficult to deliver by the Yearly Meetings and even Area and Monthly Meetings in our modern, hectic society.
We can’t replicate those who travelled in the ministry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but can we find other ways we can encourage true ‘travelling in the ministry’ to help our Yearly Meetings here and abroad to be more encompassing of isolated Friends and Meetings? We would highly recommend it. We grew in the Spirit during our travelling and know from feedback that our presence, presentations and workshops were welcome and helpful to those who experienced them.
Tears, Love, and Laughter: Bill and Sil’s Amazing New Zealand Adventure by Sylvia Sanderson is available priced £7.99 (paperback) and £3.99 (Kindle). ISBN: 9780244926380.
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