The Quaker Meeting House sign outside Glasgow Meeting. Photo: Courtesy of Glasgow Meeting.
‘We need to consider why we do what we do.’
At General Meeting for Scotland in March, the talk was more friendly than the weather. Pam Apted was there.
On a wet and blustery day, more than seventy Friends from across Scotland gathered at Glasgow Meeting House. While the rugby teams of Scotland and Wales were battling it out at Murrayfield we met in a more friendly fashion, our task being no less challenging, namely to address the question: How do we liberate ourselves to focus on spiritual growth, community building and witness in the world?
This concern was originally raised by North Scotland Area Meeting (NSAM), concerning the very real difficulty in finding people to fill essential roles. Much work and discernment has been done, including a Listening Project carried out by NSAM, to seek the views of Friends. Discussions have been held, including those last year with Paul Parker, recording clerk, and Jonathan Carmichael, Simpler Meetings Project manager. We were pleased to welcome back Paul and Jonathan, as well as Sandra Berry, director of Woodbrooke, and Chloe Scaling, an intern working in the recording clerk’s office.
Our opening worship started with a reading from the publication Our faith in the future, which talks about a hope for: ‘A future where Quaker communities are loving, inclusive and all-age. All are heard, valued and supported both in our needs and our leadings. Everyone’s contribution is accepted according to their gifts and resources. All are welcomed and included. There are clear and effective ways of working together on shared concerns. Fellowship and fun strengthen the bonds between us, enhancing a loving community.’
Paul Parker advised that the difficulties faced by NSAM are not uncommon; society is changing and we are having to adapt to new challenges. There are changes in demographics; in people’s working patterns; in the decrease in families worshipping together; and the increase in single Quakers in households. There are also more complex regulations and issues with the use of technology, and more challenges for Young Adult Friends trying to stay connected.
Conversations about change are going on across the country and Paul Parker urged us to: ‘Live adventurously. When choices arise, do you take the way that offers the fullest opportunity for the use of your gifts in the service of God and the community?’ (Advices & queries 27).
Living adventurously can be scary, but exciting too. Paul Parker encouraged us to be open to change and to avoid the ‘Quakerly art of squashing’ (in the nicest possible way!).
We need to understand our past and value our Quaker heritage, and we need to consider why we do what we do. What is it about our structures and discipline that have worked well for Quakers? What can we do differently, and what should remain the same? Early Friends were driven, bold and courageous; can we be, too? Coming to Meeting for Worship can have a transforming effect on our actions. We are challenged and called to account. Being a Quaker has never been easy.
We were reminded of the practice of coppicing, where young tree stems are repeatedly cut down, leaving the living tree stump. New growth emerges and is ready to be harvested again, while the heart of the tree remains alive. There have been new shoots with the resurgence of new groups of young people, with gatherings that do not always look like traditional Quaker Meetings. We can learn from each other. Young people often have to manage with a quick turnover of staff – what can that teach us?
What are our gifts? In Scotland we have a strong sense of community. We are willing to travel great distances to be with one another. We have close friendships and good relationships with other faiths. We have a passion for great causes, and a history and tradition that people respect. We can build on this.
We were reminded of the joy that service can bring, and the opportunities for growth it can offer. Nominations can be exciting, but Friends do not always need to wait to be asked. Sometimes we fear that we won’t be up to a task only to discover that it brings unexpected joy and new openings.
Jonathan Carmichael, working on the Simpler Meetings Project, acknowledged that there was a huge variety in the way different Meetings do things. Friends can have perceptions of barriers to innovation that are at times unfounded. We need at times to find creative ways to solve issues.
Jonathan presented us with a ‘Menu for change’, a list of possibilities that Area Meetings and Local Meetings could use in response to pressures on them and their role holders. There are no easy solutions, but of central importance was the need to invest in our communities, through learning, understanding and sharing, including fun activities and shared projects. One excellent example of this is a new publication from West Scotland Quakers, titled The things which are eternal, in which Friends speak personally about prayer, Quaker discipline and the testimony of simplicity.
It was clear how much Friends valued Woodbrooke. Sandra Berry described how Woodbrooke was originally set up as a one-year experiment, realising from the beginning that many people would not be able to travel there, and therefore setting up correspondence courses. Now it offers many different ways to access learning, including online courses. One of the most popular of the Woodbrooke-on-the-Road courses is: ‘What can we do with what we have got?’
How we move forward is a discussion that will be ongoing. It was clear that we care deeply about our Meetings and our worshipping communities; we were reminded of Quaker faith & practice 10.11: ‘It was said of early Christians, “Behold, how they love one another” Could this be equally said of us?… Our extreme busyness and the pressure and tension of modern life, make it at once more necessary and at the same time more difficult that our Meetings should become living and loving communities’ (June Ellis, 1986).
Travelling home, I passed a couple arm-in-arm, he wearing a Scottish scarf, she a Welsh one, laughing, still friends.
