The Quaker blog

QPSW Annual Conference 2010
Quakers Networking for Peace: Exploring the Work of QPSW
26 to 28th of March 2010
Hayes conference centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire.

Outline of the Agenda
At registration we were informed to which base groups we had been assigned, each group bearing the name of a different fruit. The members of each group ate together on the Friday evening and met for two discussion sessions over the course of the weekend.
After the evening meal on Friday night, the first session was an introduction to QPSW staff by Helen Drury. This was where the 10 staff present at the conference introduced themselves to the attendees and gave a very brief description of their work.

Saturday's itinerary comprised a keynote speech by Val Ferguson on the long tradition of Quaker Social Witness and work for peace with personal observations on organising Quaker activities by this long established friend. A Base Group session and lunch was followed by the first workshop and later an opportunity to meet the staff and discuss in more detail their work. The evening was available as free time or to attend an entertainments session organised amongst attendees.

Sunday morning contained the second workshop session and the final meeting of the base groups. After lunch and Meeting for Worship people departed around three o'clock.

Personal observations by Gareth Rees
The Friday evening session was very useful. As a complete newcomer to Quaker Peace and Social Witness this was a fascinating overview of the wide variety of work carried out in our name.

Val Ferguson's speech on Saturday morning was entertaining and inspiring in equal measures and demonstrated what a life devoted to service can achieve.

The first Base Group session involved the usual sharing of name, experience and what we hoped to get out of the conference. During this it became apparent that most people were new to the work of QPSW and indeed many were new to Friends having been nominated by their area meeting to attend. The group then went on to explore what was our personal relationship with peace in our own lives and in our community.

My first workshop with Debbie Taylor provided information on how Quaker values can be promoted through grant giving. QPSW Grants fall into two areas firstly higher education and helping people into work and secondly relief grants throughout the world for unforeseen natural disasters. This was an admirably concise and articulate presentation full of useful information and even finished before the allotted time.

The afternoon's meet the Staff session provided some fascinating detail about the different areas of QPSW’s activities. Of particular note was the contribution made by Rachel Brett who is the Quaker United Nations organisation representative for human rights and refugees. She demonstrated the dedication required to do a taxing and time-consuming job where the benefits of lobbying and advising may not be seen for over a decade and always several years after the start of any initiative.

On Sunday the second workshop led by Stuart Martin described Quaker support in networking for peace in South Asia. Again, despite having lost his notes, the speaker gave a highly informative talk with plenty of practical advice for anyone trying to facilitate networking whether at home or abroad. This advice was based firmly on experience and gave one the feeling that you too could make something happen.

The second base group session discussed our experiences and impressions of the conference. Although most people had found it enjoyable and worthwhile many people said they felt it challenging and somewhat stressful. We were reassured that we could all do our bit to help regardless of whether that bit was large or small, whether talking to nations or talking to the window cleaner (that was an actual example that came up).

After the meeting for worship I think that most people came away tired but with a great deal of positive and useful information to think about.

Dear Friends, I work at the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) in Brussels. Since January we have been doing a lot of work on the European Parliament elections which are coming up in Britain on Thursday 4^th June. Our work includes information for Quakers about the upcoming elections and how to vote as well as looking at issues of particular interest to Quakers (such as peace) and how the next European Parliament could work better on these issues. Information on this and much more, including links to all the different political groupings and information for Quaker meetings can be found on our website at: http://www.quaker.org/qcea/epelections/index.htm

These elections are important as the European Parliament is the main body that represents us, the citizens of Europe, to the European Union. We may agree, or disagree with much of what the EU does, but the European Parliament is our voice in this system. As the European Parliament uses proportional representation every vote really does count. We therefore have the opportunity, if we vote, to make sure that British MEP’s truly represent British citizens to the EU.

I was wondering whether you would be able to announce that the European Parliament elections take place on Thurs 4^th June in notices in the next two Quaker meetings and let F/friends know that there is information available on QCEA’s website if they are interested in finding out more about the elections.  We also always welcome feedback from Friends on our work, so please let me know (awhiteside@qcea.org ) if there is any other information you would find useful.

Thank you for your time and for your help.
In Friendship,

Anya Whiteside

Friends at Yearly Meeting Gathering have agreed - after a process spanning much of the week and various different methods of worshipful consideration - to allow gay marriage in our meeting houses and to lobby the government(s) for a change in the law!

It felt momentous and emotional. Mine and Alistair's input - along with that of three other couples - was widely appreciated and affirmed. It was not possible afterwards to walk around the campus without being stopped by Friends wanting to congratulate, thank, discuss, express warmth... it was quite a wonderful experience all way round.

Below is Minute 25 agreed on Friday morining for your information...

Minute 25, Britain Yearly Meeting 31 July 2009

Further to minute 17, a session was held on Tuesday afternoon at which speakers shared personal experiences of the celebration and recognition of their committed relationships. These Friends had felt upheld by their meetings in these relationships but regretted that whereas there was a clear, visible path to celebration and recognition for opposite sex couples, the options available for couples of the same sex were not clear and could vary widely between meetings. Friends who feel theirs to be an ordinary and private rather than an exotic and public relationship have had to be visible pioneers to get their relationship acknowledged and recorded.

This open sharing of personal experience has moved us and added to our clear sense that, 22 years after the prospect was first raised at Meeting for Sufferings we are being led to treat same sex committed relationships in the same way as opposite sex marriages, reaffirming our central insight that marriage is the Lord’s work and we are but witnesses. The question of legal recognition by the state is secondary.

We therefore ask Meeting for Sufferings to take steps to put this leading into practice and to arrange for a draft revision of the relevant sections of Quaker faith and practice, so that same sex marriages can be prepared, celebrated, witnessed, recorded and reported to the state, as opposite sex marriages are. We also ask Meeting for Sufferings to engage with our governments to seek a change in the relevant laws so that same sex marriages notified in this way can be recognised as legally valid, without further process, in the same way as opposite sex marriages celebrated in our meetings. We will not at this time require our registering officers to act contrary to the law, but understand that the law does not preclude them from playing a central role in the celebration and recording of same sex marriages.

We have heard dissenting voices during the threshing process which has led to us this decision, and we have been reminded of the need for tenderness to those who are not with us who will find this change difficult. We also need to remember, including in our revision of Quaker faith and practice, those Friends who live singly, whether or not by choice.

We will need to explain our decision to other Christian bodies, other faith communities, and, indeed to other Yearly Meetings, and pray for a continuing loving dialogue, even with those who might disagree strongly with what we affirm as our discernment of God’s will for us at this time.

Quakers taken a principled lead once again...
 

I thought Friends and enquirers might be interested in the site purpose and site aims that we set out before we developed this site (what some people might call a mission statement).

Site purpose: 

• To encourage and nurture an understanding of life lived in the Spirit.

Site aims:

• To promote communication between Quakers
• To encourage debate and discussion amongst Quakers
• To encourage the forming and strengthening of relationships between Quakers
• To provide general information about Manchester & Warrington Area Meeting and local meetings
• To provide information about Quakerism and our activities
• To encourage focus on relevant topics