Quakers open up decision making
Quakers in Britain are to simplify their structures to make them more transparent and release time and energy for active work in the world.
At their annual gathering in London this weekend, more than 1,000 Quakers agreed to move with the times and take out a layer of complexity.
Historic Meeting for Sufferings will be merged with Yearly Meeting, open to all Quakers, which will meet four times a year rather than one.
[QUOTE-START]
We urged ourselves to be radical, courageous, and imaginative
- Yearly Meeting Epistle
[QUOTE-END]
This radical overhaul will make work more manageable and help clarify trustees' accountability. Trustees will continue to focus on legal, financial and compliance issues.
There was some sadness among Quakers at the meeting at Friends House, their offices in Euston, that Meeting for Sufferings would cease to exist.
But as the epistle, the message delivered at the end of the annual gathering, noted: “We urged ourselves to be radical, courageous, and imaginative.
“The proposal to meet four times a year for church governance has been deeply tested, then accepted."
The new Yearly Meeting sessions will include three short (approximately day-long) sessions and one longer (long weekend) session. Residentials are to be held from time to time.
Some will be held outside London, and all will be blended with attendees appearing in person or online.
Quaker groups including area meetings, general meetings and committees will appoint representatives to this continuing Yearly Meeting.
Meeting for Sufferings was established in October 1675 to support Quakers suffering through persecution by the state, and to lobby Parliament.
Later the Meeting broadened its interests, including by campaigning against the slave trade, gambling and war.
The Prison and Court Register, a historic list of Quakers who have broken the law because of their personal commitment to their faith, will be retained in the new structure.
Quakers recently added to the list include some arrested for protesting arms fairs, and at this weekend's meeting other Quakers continued that tradition.
Several hundred Quakers encircled the building, holding up 'Quakers for Peace' posters in silence. Passing cars honked enthusiastically and passersby accepted informational postcards.