Friends at the World Plenary in South Africa. Photo: FWCC.
World Plenary 2024 - part one
The Friend reports on the opening ceremony and welcome to the FWCC World Plenary in South Africa (5-12 August)
World Plenary is not like other Quaker gatherings, wherever you are in that world. As Friends from ninety-five Yearly Meetings (YMs) and worshipping groups met for the Opening Ceremony, they did so to the sound of electric guitar – a video of the South African singer Jonny Clegg ‘searching for the spirit of the great heart, under African skies’. The Meeting did quieten a little after that, but – joyously, gloriously – not for long.
After a reading of ‘Baba Yetu’ – the Lord’s Prayer in Kiswahili – Tim Gee, general secretary of Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), offered hellos in a number of different languages. Friends, so obviously pleased to be present, responded enthusiastically. He handed over to Benonia Nyakuwanikwa, co-clerk of Southern Africa Yearly Meeting (SAYM), who said she was ‘overwhelmed and happy’ to be there. These feelings were made manifest in song as young Friends from her Meeting took to the stage. They didn’t stay there for long. After a verse or two, so enthused were they by their worship that they set off dancing around the room, to much cheering and ululation. It was joy incarnate.
After Friends had settled down again, SAYM co-clerk Gregory Mthembu-Salter read from their book of discipline, Living Adventurously. He referred to a popular South African greeting, ‘I see you’ – ‘Sawubona’ in Zulu: ‘In South Africa we have noticed or watched each other for centuries; we have not seen each other’, but ‘The time for overlooking each other has gone’.
Next, Duduzile Mtshazo, an elder, talked of how she had been introduced to Quakers, having been raised an Anglican and become tired of trying to conform. This was in the time of apartheid, and she was accustomed to ‘Nie-Blankes’ signs. But there were no such signs at the Quaker Meeting. Rather, ‘It was the most embracing space I’ve ever been to.’
Friends then heard Thuli Mbete, elder, read ‘Ubuntu according to Jeremiah’. The Zulu word ‘Ubuntu’ – I am because you are – was a key theme of the plenary, and Thuli said it had five core values: survival, solidarity, compassion, respect and dignity. Using the King James translation, she quoted ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end’. Her prayer, searching for this spirit of togetherness, claimed the promise of James 1:5 (ESV), ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him’.
Benonia then introduced Simon C Lamb, clerk to FWCC Central Executive Committee, who she said was ‘masterminding this whole thing’. He quickly gave way to young Friends returning to sing once more. The Friend staff were among the online attendees, who were regularly made to feel welcome, but most must have been wishing they were in the room.
Bainito Wamalwa, FWCC Africa Section clerk, then set the gathering in the historical context of African Quakerism, which he said began when evangelical Friends arrived in Kenya in 1902. He finished with a video of Friends preparing for plenary and offering their summaries of what ubuntu meant to them. ‘It means respect, it means togetherness, it means equality,’ said one.
The next session, Welcome, Intros and Scene Setting, began with a quick Covid safety announcement. Even this got whoops and applause, but then it was beautifully done. Heather Tuffin, a medic from SAYM, reminded Friends that it was cold and flu season. Someone had pointed out to her that taking good health precautions was actually part of ubuntu, of taking care of one other. She suggested a handwashing procedure with motions made to a Quaker mantra: ‘We are here together, our faiths are intertwined, I have your back, you have mine; I stand with you around me; we are in the palm of God’s hand.’
The session would involve ‘finding out who exactly was here’, said Simon C Lamb (he likes the ‘C’, he said). He and SAYM’s Esther Mombo, assistant clerk of FWCC (there was also an online clerk from Cuba Yearly Meeting, Kenya Casanova), asked Friends from each of the ninety-five YMs and other worshipping groups to identify themselves. It took some time, but definitely added to the general sense of welcome and inclusion. It also gave a picture of the global Quaker community, from Aotearoa to Zimbabwe. ‘We’re such a big and diverse group’, said Simon. ‘It’s fabulous.’
There are many different languages spoken at plenary, and the translation team went through some best practice for communication during the Meeting. This mostly meant speaking slowly – those rushing would be flagged with a sign at the back of the hall. Language inclusion would become a theme.
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