'We risk either failing to leave things behind when they have fulfilled their purpose, or letting too much go and losing important things along the way.' Photo: courtesy of welshlovespoons.co.uk
Vital work: Linda Batten attends CCQW
‘I was glad to hear of the vitality.’
Twenty-eight Friends met online in February for a gathering of Crynwyr Cymru/Quakers in Wales (CCQW). We used a clever Zoom system that enabled English-speaking Friends to hear a simultaneous translation of the Welsh spoken during the Meeting. This wasn’t without hiccups, of course, but those of us who speak little or no Welsh are grateful.
In our opening worship we heard a Friend minister about the challenges of the situation in the Middle East, and their hope that we can ‘take the side of justice and humanity’ and ‘maintain a principled impartiality’. These words have stayed with me in the weeks since.
During the morning we welcomed two speakers. The first, Sam Bannon, is the project co-ordinator of Heddwch ar Waith/Peace Action Wales, a new project funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. It has four objectives: to map out militarism within Wales; to build a wider understanding of this; to build and manage a lobbying network; and to work towards Wales being a ‘Nation of Peace’, with the adoption of peace ambassadors at a local authority level. We were reminded that each of our Local Meetings can get in touch with our local councillors and tell them about this work.
Our second speaker was Siôn Brynach, the chief executive of Cytûn. Cytûn is the Welsh equivalent of Churches Together in England. Siôn spoke to us about the future of ecumenism in Wales, and ended with three questions for us to respond to in small groups. Quakers have signed up to Cytûn through the part of its constitution designed for churches without credal statements, but Siôn began by reading a section designed for those with a credal statement. This led to some consternation among Friends, and derailed a number of the small group discussions.
Some of Siôn’s points were very pertinent to Quakers, however, especially where our membership is elderly and declining. He suggested that each church has its own rucksack of treasures that are important to us, but we risk either failing to leave things behind when they have fulfilled their purpose, or letting too much go and losing important things along the way.
In the afternoon we received reports from a number of different groups, some of which will be familiar to Friends across Britain, and some which are specific to those of us in Wales. We heard back from those attending Meeting for Sufferings, and were pointed towards written reports from Quaker Life Representative Council and Quaker Council for Christian and Interfaith Relations.
We had updates from many groups within CCQW, including: the Legacy Group; the Advocacy Support Group; and the Children, Youth and Families All-age Networks. This was my first time attending CCQW and I was glad to hear of the vitality of the many connections we have across Wales.
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