Thought for the Week: Reflections
Thomas Swain reflects on his experience of Britain Yearly Meeting
Yearly Meeting for British Friends this year was a grounding experience characterised by Quaker discipline and service. Procedural concerns were expedited easily and without much contention and many routine internal issues needing approval were not ‘Quakered to death’ – as we Friends can do.
There was an easy flow from one agenda item to the next. Worship was still and gathered, with acceptable vocal ministry as we sailed in deep and calm waters. The spacing of offerings and silence was suitable and enabling for a Quaker Meeting for Worship with intent for business.
Friends in appointed and volunteered positions served the Meeting well. The clerking was gentle, direct, informative and clear. The new clerk showed skill in writing minutes and being able to yield to guidance and correction. Trust was evident in the body – from the contribution of microphone stewards to elders and the pastoral team. It was Quaker business as we know it.
Near the end of Yearly Meeting, when Friends considered the outgoing epistle, there was a concern, from some Friends, about using ‘God language’ in the epistle. There were gentle tugs at traditional Quaker expressions with firm and reasoned rebuffs. Friends were able to accept this language when it was expressed in direct quotes shared in annual sessions. Will British Friends continue to waltz around the concern or will they be able to find an intentional way to settle a basic Quaker theological premise?
On another level, however, I wondered what else was happening among and with British Friends. Underneath the discipline, I wondered whether Friends felt the deepening of love growing from the fellowship and face-to-face contact with one another. I wondered whether Friends understood that in their keeping to the methodical, slow, deliberate pace set by the clerk that some day in the future it might help Friends to know their centred grounding when there were strong differences among members. I also wondered whether Friends suspect a coming harvest that might show its abundance soon.
As I travel around Britain Yearly Meeting, going from Edinburgh to Brighton and Hull to Warrington, I have seen indications of flowering promises that might awaken others to things Quaker. There certainly are signs, to me, of new life emerging among British Friends. The work this year of Yearly Meeting to examine trusteeship and trust among Friends shows some of the promise of a coming harvest. There is the new recording clerk, who brings a commitment to serve the Yearly Meeting he loves and cares about.
There is a flowering of nurturing from the Kindlers in their ‘On the Road’ offerings to Local Meetings. There is supportive interest in Quaker Quest sustaining its inreach and outreach work among and with Friends. There are widening ripples from the ‘Whoosh’ conference at Woodbrooke. There are abundant educational offerings intended to nurture Friends from Woodbrooke staff and tutors. There is anticipation for the ‘New Fire’ with a Kindlers conference in October for visioning a vibrant Yearly Meeting. There is the deliberate review of Quaker process, practices and structure in Quaker organisations by Quaker Social Action. The faithful and continued book publishing of Quaker interests and topics is another indication of a coming harvest. The quality of the Friend magazine, the ‘Friends of the Light’ website and the growth of nontheists’ concerns are clear indications too. All of these feel as though they might be moving towards a blossoming of Love and Light for British Friends.
Will Friends be ready to fill their harvest barns with the ‘virtue of that life and power’ that can defeat injustice, give healing and share mercy when abundance is evident and real? The sessions of Britain Yearly Meeting show me that you could be ready. Will you welcome the Quaker harvest when it arrives?
Thomas Swain
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Next week Thomas Swain will start a fortnightly series of reflections on travelling in the ministry.
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