Yearly Meeting 2024: Preparation - part eighteen

The Friend’s reports from Yearly Meeting preparation sessions and special interest meetings continues

by Lis Burch, Rebecca Hardy, Imi Hills, Joseph Jones, Alastair Reid, and Elinor Smallman 19th July 2024

On Wednesday, Quaker chaplains were out in force, beginning with Quaker chaplaincy: What Quaker chaplains do and are you interested in being one? Naomi Major, of Quaker Life, introduced chaplains from different spheres, to twelve interested Friends. The first (we won’t name any chaplains, since many work in environments requiring confidentiality) had been a prison chaplain for eight years. This was not a typical prison, but primarily for sex offenders, where most cells were single-occupancy. Problems were complex, with many cases of loneliness and self harm. There were no prisoners who identified as Quaker, but several came to a thirty-minute time of silence, where the sense of peace and inclusion was welcomed.