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126
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1 Meeting for Sufferings
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2
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3 3 February 2018
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4
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5 Henry S. Thompson, SE Scotland AM representative
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6
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7 All the papers for the meeting are available online at
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8
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9 http://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-feb-2018-updated-agenda--papers-package3
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10
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11 The minutes and other follow-up material will also appear sometime
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12 soon linked from
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13
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14 http://www.quaker.org.uk/our-organisation/meeting-for-sufferings/papers-and-minutes
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15
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16 *Yearly Meeting 2018 -- report from the Clerk*
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17
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18 We had a brief introduction to plans for Yearly Meeting (4--7 May 2018
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19 at Friends House, London). Perhaps the most interesting thing in this
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20 regard was a phrase from YM Agenda Committee (YMAC) at their recent
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21 meeting: "Preparing YM for radical change". This came up several
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22 times in different contexts during the day, and was explained as
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23 referring to the growing awareness of the need to recognise and
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24 respond to the fact that we are shrinking, and getting older.
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25
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26 Further to Sufferings' decision, as reported in December, to recommend
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27 to YM that we should set about revising our Book of Discipline and
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28 that Sufferings should manage the creation of a Revision Committee to
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29 undertake the necessary work, the largest agenda item at YM 2018 will
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30 be devoted to preparing for and making that decision and addressing
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31 the consequences.
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32
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33 Deadlines for young people's participation in May are fast
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34 approaching:
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35
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36 Junior Yearly Meeting: 23 February 2018
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37 Young people's YM programme: 18 March 2018
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38 [Those two are not at Friends House]
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39 Children's programme at YM: 18 March 2018
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40 [This one _is_ at Friends House]
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41
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42 See http://www.quaker.org.uk/events/?category=1 for details.
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43
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44 Once again those planning to attend YM in May are asked to register in
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45 advance:
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46
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47 https://forms.quaker.org.uk/ym/
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48
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49 *Yearly Meeting Gathering 2020*
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50
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51 Deborah Rowlands, YM Clerk, also gave some background to the
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52 recommendation from YMAC, which Sufferings agreed to, that the 2020 YM
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53 Gathering should be held at the University of Bath from 1--8 August,
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54 2020.
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55
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56 *Report from BYM Sustainability Group*
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57
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58 This Group, which is not itself empowered or funded to do work itself,
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59 is near the beginning of their 2nd 3-year 'term'.
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60
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61 They have sometimes found the lack of resources of their own difficult
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62 to deal with.
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63
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64 They are concerned that the uptake of the sustainability concern is
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65 very uneven across the YM -- YM said we need to change in the 2011
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66 Canterbury Commitment [1], but that hasn't always translated into
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67 action
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68
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69 Sufferings received the report but postponed any discussion until our
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70 own review group, appointed last year, reports. This is now planned
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71 to be in time for April MfS.
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72
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73 The Group's report closed with these lines from G. K. Chesterton's
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74 _The Ballad of the White Horse_:
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75
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76 “I tell you naught for your comfort,
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77 Yea, naught for your desire,
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78 Save that the sky grows darker yet
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79 And the sea rises higher.”
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80
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81 [1] http://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/minute-36-leaflet-2011
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82
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83 *Quaker Life Central Committee (QLCC) report*
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84
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85 This item took by far the most of our time, and was structured by way
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86 of a response to a challenge from QLCC's Clerk (now co-Clerk) Jocelyn
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87 Bell Burnell in her report to us in December 2016 to make these annual
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88 reports from the major central committees more than just a box-ticking
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89 exercise (see my report of that meeting for details). The core of
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90 this year's report is QLCC's new Strategy (see the Agenda link above)
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91 and their proposed priorities within that.
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92
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93 Jocelyn gave a brief introduction to these before lunch, and QLCC
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94 members were available over lunch to discuss them. Then after lunch
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95 we met in our geographically-determined House Groups (Scottish and
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96 Welsh representives in our case) for an hour-long worship-sharing
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97 session, followed after a short break by a return together and a
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98 continuation of the worship-sharing approach. I think the change in
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99 process worked very well, although we really need to hear back from
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100 QLCC as to what _they_ got from it before we really know how well it
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101 succeeded.
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102
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103 In our group, and more widely, I think the deepest concerns around
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104 QLCC's role all centred around membership and worship: the process of
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105 admission to membership, the need to understand Quaker discipline as a
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106 key part of membership, the centrality of deeply experienced worship
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107 in holding our community together, making it attractive to enquirers
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108 and sustaining us as we seek to witness to our faith in the wider
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109 world.
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110
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