Meeting for Sufferings October 2011

Two papers for reference:

At a Meeting for Sufferings
held in London
1 October 2011

S/11/10/ 1: Worship

Section13.04 of Quaker faith & practice has been read in our opening worship, and we have remembered former members of this meeting who recently died.

S/11/10/ 2: Adoption of agenda

We have reflected on issues to be considered during our meeting and agreed to the agenda.

S/11/10/ 3: Clerk of BYM Trustees report

Jonathan Fox, Clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting Trustees, has reported on the meetings of Trustees held on 1 July and 1 September 2011, and has replied to a question.

S/11/10/ 4: Government cuts

Further to our minute S/10/12 ii b) of 4 December 2010, we receive minutes 2011.19 of Meeting of Friends in Wales held 25 June 2011 concerning effects of government cuts to benefits and public services (paper S/11/10/mc i a), and 2011/67 of London West Area Meeting held 18 June concerning Law for All (paper S/11//10/mc i b).

Catherine West, a member of North West London Area Meeting and Michael Bartlet (Parliamentary Liaison Secretary) have introduced a paper on Quakers, equality and the cuts (paper S/11/10/A), in which we are offered options for our consideration. They gave us a detailed insight into the political scene and the effects on the local community. Islington council's Fairness Commission, chaired by Richard Wilkinson, has listened to residents and the main issues to emerge were: income inequality, child poverty, lack of affordable housing, crime and anti-social behaviour, living with long-term disability on a low income, low life expectancy, and issues around access to health checks and treatment.

We are distressed that the United Kingdom has now a greater disparity in incomes than at any time since the 1930s. We know the government intends to make cuts, but we object to it being at the expense of those who are unable to work. We reject judgemental labels and affirm our testimony to equality, and ask that an equality statement be issued to the media. We support the lobbying of the House of Lords in relation to the Welfare Reform Bill, and in particular to challenge the benefit cap which takes no regard of family size and could split families; and the cut to the mobility elements of the Disability Living Allowance. Letters from Friends to the press may also assist.

We encourage all Friends to lobby their MPs, and to ask for wiser use of public money, rather than expenditure on war.

Our local meetings could consider introducing a living wage instead of the national minimum wage.

Our Quaker based work in Law for All and Quaker Social Action are models of working we would like to see established more widely.

We will need to be prepared to lobby for greater contributions from the wealthy. Our representation to government, to be effective, needs to argue clearly that increasing poverty now creates greater social and financial costs later.

S/11/10/ 5: Reflections on Yearly Meeting Gathering

Mary Dower, North Scotland Area Meeting representative, has offered her reflections on Yearly Meeting Gathering 2011, and we have heard other personal reflections. Young Friends gained greatly from and gave greatly to the experience.

Holding memorial meetings at the Gathering to reflect on the grace of God in the lives of Friends who have recently died was welcomed.

It was, however, a busy event, at times overwhelming. A member of the Pastoral Care Team reminded us of this, and we need to reflect more on how to combine the fun element and the spiritual, reflective element.

We thank our staff for their meticulous hard work in arranging The Gathering, our clerks and everyone who volunteered.

S/11/10/ 6: Britain Yearly Meeting

We receive summaries with relevant guidance, of the Yearly Meeting minutes relating to the work of Meeting for Sufferings and/or requiring action, together with the minutes themselves (paper S/11/10/B.

These are:

Minute 23: Economic Justice: - an issue which Meeting for Sufferings is asked to keep in mind throughout the year. QPSW is working on this, producing a newsletter Better World Economics, a blog called 'Quakernomics', and a conference at Woodbrooke 4th - 6th November 2011.

Minute 26: Review of Meeting for Sufferings/Britain Yearly Meeting Trustees

Minute30: Amendments to Quaker faith & practice chapter 16 Quaker marriage: We ask Church Government Advisory Group to prepare a revised draft of chapter 16 as soon as the government regulation on civil partnerships in religious premises in England and Wales is available - for Yearly Meeting 2012 if possible.

Minute 36: As led (Gathering up the threads) which makes a commitment to become a sustainable low-carbon community, and asks Meeting for Sufferings to report to Yearly Meeting each year on the progress of this concern. We have heard that Britain Yearly Meeting staff have already begun work on this, and we ask Quaker Peace & Social Witness Central Committee and Quaker Life Central Committee to explore what more can be done. Meeting for Sufferings will consider it further in December 2011.

We also receive a paper entitled Membership of Meeting for Sufferings following Yearly Meeting 2011 including Minute 33 of Yearly Meeting 2011: Meeting for Sufferings – appointments for the triennium 2012-15 (paper S/11/10/C). This contains a summary of the new Meeting for Sufferings membership structure from Yearly Meeting 2012 and advice to area meetings for the nomination process, emphasising in particular that each Area Meeting should always have a Friend in attendance, that continuity and consistency in regular participation is important, and that both the representative and the alternate will be inducted into the work and sent all the papers. We ask our area meetings to recognise their responsibility to support the appointed Friends in creating three-way communication between area meetings, representatives and Meeting for Sufferings.

S/11/10/ 7: Membership and Appointments

a) Yearly Meeting Committee on Clerks

Clerks of Meeting for Sufferings
Yearly Meeting Committee on Clerks brings forward the name of the following Friends to serve as follows:

To serve from 1 January 2012 until 31 December 2013
Clerk
Christine Cannon renomination Wirral & Chester AM

Assistant Clerk and by virtue of this position, as a Britain Yearly Meeting Trustee for the same period
Jeffrey Dean renomination Manchester & Warrington AM

We duly appoint the Friends named.

b) Membership of Meeting for Sufferings

Release

Toby Gibbons Young Friends General Meeting
Ian Johnson Brighouse West Yorkshire AM
Maureen Miller Hardshaw & Mann AM
Martin Wall West Somerset AM
Charlotte Wright West Scotland AM

Nomination to serve until Yearly Meeting 2012

David Butler Mid Wales AM
Eithne Dodwell Brighouse West Yorkshire AM
Rachael Harrison Young Friends General Meeting
Jefferson Horsley West Somerset AM
Bernard Kennedy Hardshaw & Mann AM
Nick Matthews Quaker Communications Central Committee

We duly appoint the Friends named and thank the Friends released for their service.

We note Jane Harries, as clerk of Central Nominations Committee, is now ex-officio a member of Meeting for Sufferings.

c) Central Nominations Committee

brings forward the names of the following Friends for service or release as indicated:

Quaker World Relations Committee To serve from 1.1.2012 until 31.12.2014

Christina Birch renomination Swarthmoor AM
(appointed 2010, first renomination)

John Melling renomination North Scotland AM
(appointed 2010, first renomination)

Arthur Pritchard renomination Central Yorkshire AM
(appointed 2010, first renomination)

Hilary Pinder nomination Chilterns AM

Representatives to Friends World Committee for Consultation To serve from 1.1.2012 until 31.12.2014

Gordon Matthews renomination Banbury & Evesham AM
(appointed 2010, first renomination)

Rosie Carnall nomination Sheffield & Balby AM
(agreed by the clerk on the ‘between meetings’ basis)

World Conference of Friends, Kenya 17-25 April 2012 To serve as BYM representatives to the sixth World Conference of Friends to be held in Nakuru, Kenya 17-25 April 2012

Rosie Carnall release Sheffield & Balby AM

Euranis Neile nomination Bournemouth Coastal AM
(release and nomination agreed by the clerk on the ‘between meetings’ basis)

Quaker Committee for Christian & Interfaith Relations

To serve until 30.4.2012
Maryse Newnham nomination Meeting of Friends in Wales

Yearly Meeting Agenda Committee

To serve in the first instance until YM 2012, with nomination to serve until YM 2013 forwarded to Yearly Meeting:

Silas Machakaire nomination Sussex East AM

We duly appoint the Friends named and thank the Friends released for their service.

S/11/10/ 8: Strengthening our area meetings

Further to our minute S/11/04/10 of 2 April 2011, we receive further minutes on this matter from the following meetings: Meeting of Friends in Wales (paper S/11/10/mc i c), Hampshire & Islands AM (paper S/11/10/mc i d), Ipswich & Diss AM (paper S/11/10/mc i e), Kingston & Wandsworth AM (paper S/11/10/mc i f), North Wales AM (paper S/11/10/mc i g), West Scotland AM (paper S/11/10/mc i h) and Luton & Leighton AM (paper S/11/10/mc i p).

We have received a paper prepared by the Recording Clerk, offering some queries to help focus our discernment on this matter (paper S/11/10/D).

The purpose of area meetings is to build communities living under the guidance of he Spirit , - worshipping together, supporting each other, testing concerns, being inclusive of attenders and visitors, and enjoying social time together.

We believe that worshipping together is central to this, and that the Quaker business method with good clerking are essential. Elders bring prayerful support to this, and encouragement to all Friends, but especially to those who attend conferences or are representatives on committees.

We know that life is generated by warmth and caring. We will be strengthened by the fun and social events we include.

We have heard about telephone conferencing and video conferencing. Advice is available from Friends House and West Scotland Area Meeting. Area meeting trustees could perhaps take some routine items off the area meeting agendas.

How can we involve young people more directly in our Area Meetings? Advice and help are available from Quaker Life on this.

We commend to area meeting clerks the conference at Woodbrooke, 16-18th November. We ask our representatives to take back to area meetings the paper S/11/10/D, which we have received from the Recording Clerk, and challenge them with the three questions at the end of the paper:

Are our area meetings clear about their purpose?
Are they fit for purpose?
What support and advice would meetings welcome to help change the things which need changing?

S/11/10/ 9: Reflecting on area meetings’ experience of A framework for action

We have received feedback on Area Meetings’ experience of the value and significance of A framework for action 2009-2014, responsibility for which rests with Meeting for Sufferings.
Some have found it helpful because it unifies and guides us as a Yearly Meeting, and it serves as a touchstone for our Local Meeting agendas.

Some Area Meeting trustees have used the headings of A framework for action when reporting to the Charity Commission.

The issues in A framework for action will continue beyond 2014.

Others may wish to see it revised, to harmonise it with the Quaker testimonies and to include a stronger statement of Quaker faith.

We will return to this at a future date.

S/11/10/ 10: Draft Annual Report of Meeting for Sufferings 2011

Further to our minute S/10/12/7 of 4 December 2010, the clerk has introduced the draft of the proposed Annual Report of Meeting for Sufferings for 2011 (paper S/11/10/E).

We ask for suggestions to be passed to the clerks or emailed to the Recording Clerk's office (margarets@quaker.org.uk). We will receive the completed draft at our December meeting.

S/11/10/ 11: Potential business for Yearly Meeting 2012

The clerk has introduced a paper on Business for Yearly Meeting 2012 (paper S/11/10/F), and we have considered and discerned issues and topics that could be before Yearly Meeting in 2012.

an agenda which presents a Quaker face to the world on subjects about which we want to make statements.
A possible theme could be 'Sustained and persuasive advocacy: engaging with government and local authorities about economic issues'. See Janet Quilley's article on Quaker political engagement in The Friend.
Chapters of Quaker faith & practice to be revised
what are appropriate actions for nonviolent responses in violent situations? (an issue arising over boycotting Israeli settlement goods, and in our session 'Radical resistance and the State.')
Further leadings for themes and issues can be sent to Margaret Small in the Recording Clerk's Office (margarets@quaker.org.uk) by 13th October.

The clerk will attend Yearly Meeting Agenda Committee on 29th October to contribute our discernment).

S/11/10/12: Minutes & Correspondence:

i Area Meeting Minutes

a) Minutes arising from Boycott, divestment and sanctions

Further to minutes S/11/06/09 of 4 June 201, we have received further minutes from on this matter from the following area meetings: Bristol (paper S/11/10/mc i i), Brighouse (West Yorkshire) (paper S/11/10/ mc i j), East Kent (paper S/11/10/mc i k), Sheffield & Balby (paper S/11/10/mc i l), West Somerset (S/11/10/mc i m) .

b) Luton & Leighton AM: Olympic Truce

We receive minute 11.7.14 of Luton & Leighton Area Meeting held 14 July 2011 concerning Olympic Truce (paper S/11/10/mc i o).
Quaker Peace & Social Witness informs us that the government will propose a resolution to the United Nations for an Olympic Truce, but may not alter its actions accordingly. Friends could write to MPs welcoming the truce and suggesting more effective implementation.

ii Committee Minutes

a) Quaker Peace & Social Witness Central Committee

Further to our minute S/11/06/10 i b), we receive minute QPSWCC 11/64 of Quaker Peace & Social Witness Central Committee held 9 July 2011 concerning tax havens (paper S/11/10/mc ii a).

b) Quaker Peace & Social Witness Central Committee

Further to our minutes S/11/10/12 i a) above and minute S/11/04/4 of 2 April 2011, we receive minute QPSWCC 11/59 of Quaker Peace & Social Witness Central Committee held 9 July 2011 concerning Boycott, divestment and sanctions – issues arising (paper S/11/10/mc ii b), together with a paper (QPSWCC Paper D) giving guidance on Settlement goods boycott, which we commend to area and local meetings.

c) Quaker Committee for Christian & Interfaith Relations

Further to our minute S/11/06/9 of 4 June 2011, we receive minute 22 of

Quaker Committee for Christian & Interfaith Relations held 17-19 June 2011, concerning a Day of prayer for peace in Israel and Palestine (paper S/11/10/mc ii c). We note that the World Council of Churches' annual World Week of Prayer for Israel and Palestine occurs in June. An interfaith initiative called 'Week of prayer for world peace' is set for 16th-23rd October 2011, and the focus on 17th October will be the Middle East.

d) Quaker Peace & Social Witness Central Committee

Further to our minute S/11/06/10 i a), we receive minute QPSWCC 11/93 of Quaker Peace & Social Witness Central Committee held 16-18 September 2011 concerning decriminalisation of drugs (paper S/11/10/mc ii d).

We will return to this matter at a future date.

Christine Cannon
Clerk