Yearly Meeting 2024: Preparation - part eight
The Friend reports from the first days of Yearly Meeting preparation sessions and special interest meetings
We all make Yearly Meeting was led by Rhiannon Grant of Woodbrooke. She was joined by twenty-four Friends to explore how Yearly Meeting is run, its Spirit-led discernment, its blended nature, and how Friends can help foster an open, spiritual community.
Friends began in worship, and in that silence Rhiannon read Quaker faith & practice 3.05, which speaks of entering a Meeting with the aim to listen. This led those gathered to consider their spiritual sensitivity, and they went on to discuss whether the passage is a reflection of the reality of Quaker worship, or if it is still an aspiration.
Friends also discussed the importance of blended Meetings as a form of equality, whereby a wider group of Friends is able to participate and connect to the Meeting in a way that suits them. Also discussed was how blended Meetings can sometimes create a sense of disconnection or separation between the two groups, especially when some Friends are seen and some aren’t. The group explored the measures that are being taken to tackle this, and brought further suggestions of their own.
Friends then spoke about how it feels when they are not called to minister, with some suggesting that sharing what they might have said after the session, either with a friend or by writing it down, could help to settle themselves, acknowledging that it may not have been what Yearly Meeting needed to hear at that time.
Lastly, Friends looked at the importance of worshipful silence within a Meeting for Worship for Business, especially centring down processes and the importance of the contribution of those who are silently upholding the Meeting.
The session ended with Friends considering one thing for themselves, one thing for friends, and one thing for the wider community that they can do to help people participate fully in Yearly Meeting. Those gathered experienced a warm, community-driven exercise which helped them as they looked forward to Yearly Meeting proper.
After a Big Children’s Meeting that was probably smaller than expected, Barbara Childs from the Experiment with Light Network joined twenty-seven Friends in an explanation and demonstration of their method of guided meditation.
She explained that the Experiment with Light was rediscovered by Rex Ambler, who was studying the writings of George Fox. He sought to discover what it was that Quakers did in their Meetings for Worship that was so powerful that it made them willing to risk everything. He discovered this practice, which has now become widely used, with many Experiment with Light groups all over the world.
Barbara began the meditation by bringing Friends into silence, and over the course of the meditation, read out six steps. Afterwards, attendees were brought back, and given some time to have a screen break, be alone, and decompress.
Friends then had the opportunity to share their experiences through worship sharing in small groups, in which they were encouraged to uphold one another in silence, to not respond or vocally relate, but merely listen. Friends parted ways feeling mindful, refreshed, and connected as a community.
Writing by: Rebecca Hardy, journalist at the Friend; Imi Hills, a freelancer from West Weald Meeting; Joseph Jones, editor of the Friend; and Elinor Smallman, production manager at the Friend.
Next week: 8-10 July preparation sessions and special interest group sessions.
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