Welsh Quakers walk the talk

Friends in Wales report

The Eisteddfod, the major cultural festival held annually in Wales, will be a significant venue for Quaker outreach this summer. The subject of spreading the Quaker message was one of the main themes covered when thirty-one Friends from the cities, villages and valleys across Wales met in June at Newtown.

The meeting confirmed that Quakers will have a presence at the Eisteddfod in both the Cytun (Churches Together) tent and the Peace tent as part of a broader outreach agenda. Outreach Week posters are being translated into Welsh and Catherine James has been approached by S4C about making a film about Spiritual Journeys entitled ‘Y Daith’, based upon the Quaker trail around the Dolgellau area which Catherine was instrumental in setting up.

At the meeting there was also a lively discussion about the idea that Ben Pink Dandelion’s Celebrating the Quaker Way be translated into Welsh. Although the offer from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust was welcomed there was a suggestion that original material in Welsh often feels newer and fresher than translated material so local Meetings will discuss the idea further.

Peace Academy

Both interchurch and interfaith cooperation currently stress good community and race relations. Much of this work is subtle and unseen but work is continuing on the establishment of a Peace Academy for Wales, as a place to focus on peace in all aspects of Welsh life, and Jane Harries of Bridgend Meeting gave us an introduction to the Alternatives to Violence workshops. These are designed to help us develop the skills and tools to deal with violence and conflict in positive and creative ways. The building blocks of the AVP approach are affirmation, building community, communications, decision-making, cooperation and conflict resolution. The outcome can be a transforming power (the ‘aha!’ moment, Jane called it) where we learn to expect the best of others, and ourselves, respect and care for others and ourselves, think before reacting and look always for a nonviolent way of responding.

We talked about working with Woodbrooke, with the aim of supporting particularly remote and rural Meetings and focusing on rediscovering some of the things that hold us together as Quakers, our historic theology, for example: What is a gathered Meeting? What do we mean by right ordering? And we gave the usual attention to administrative matters, apparently routine matters that can still arouse a surprising energy and debate; and quite rightly – we are ‘it’, in this Society where all own the process and the decisions.

Walking the Talk

Our major focus for the day was on our response to our broken world: ‘Walking the Talk’. What, in practical ways, can we do about sustainability?’

Four Friends from Machynlleth Meeting first energised us with a heartfelt perception of the current state we have brought the world to, then both entertained and provoked us with a role-played ‘Any Questions’ featuring Johnny Extra-Green, Mrs Middlemiss and Barbara (Bar) Gunn. They responded, across the spectrum, to questions such as ‘How do you manage your money?’, ‘Where did you buy your last item of clothing?’ and ‘What did you have for your main meal last night?’ So their answers to ‘How do you heat your house?’ ranged from ‘cob walls, long johns and lots of woollies’ to ‘oil-fired central heating and an electric heater in the conservatory’; and to ‘What is your main form of transport?’ – from bicycle and car club to the BMW.

The result was much rueful laughter, a recognition that we have sneaking sympathy for Mrs ‘Bargain’ as our unreconstructed self, and a reinforcement of our Quaker conviction that all of our choices can be, and should be, made mindfully.

We were then put on the spot ourselves – divided into groups and given topics such as food, transport, money, etc, and asked to come up with an Advice or Query that addressed it. Our instructions reminded us that ‘this should challenge Friends to consider deeply their own actions, bearing in mind that Advices and Queries are not rules to walk by, but for our guidance in the Spirit. Our actions should not be seen as a burden, but as a privilege to be joyfully undertaken’.

Our discussions were intense and the resulting Advices and Queries were challenging. These were read out in the course of our closing worship. We ended with a reminder that there is a place for optimism, as long as we use the power we have to ‘be the change’ – only half jokingly summed up as ‘Walk cheerfully over the world – in long johns’. 

Helen Porter

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