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112
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1 Meeting for Sufferings
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2
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3 1 October 2016
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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 This meeting was almost entirely taken up with information being
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8 shared with/via Meeting for Sufferings, what follows are a few
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9 summaries of things Friends may find interesting and which some may
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10 wish to pursue further.
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11
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12 All the papers for the meeting are available online at
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13
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14 http://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-october-agenda-papers-package-2016-v1
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15
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16 where much more detailed information about these and other matters are
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17 available.
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18
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19 The new Clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting (Deborah Rowlands) and the
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20 Recording Clerk (Paul Parker) reported on a recent visit to
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21 Philadelphia and Baltimore Yearly Meetings, which was clearly a very
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22 valuable trip for all concerned. A few highlights:
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23
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24 * In response to a financial crunch and a wide-ranging review (sound
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25 familiar), Philadelphia YM concluded "we can't go on the same way"
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26 and laid down _all_ central committees, replacing with a framework
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27 for time-limited efforts, called 'Collaboratives' and 'Sprints',
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28 largely carried out by Friends from constituent Area Meetings
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29
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30 * Responses to racism (in the nation at large) and a lack of
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31 diversity (in the YM itself) were high on the agenda at
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32 Philadelphia, under the title _Undoing Racism_
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33
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34 * The situation of "Young Adult Friends" (YAF) (18--35ish) was a
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35 concern at both YMs, with the Epistle of YAF at Philadelphia
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36 describing anger and frustration at their marginalisation, leading
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37 to the creation of structures outside the 'official' ones:
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38 http://www.pym.org/pym-young-adult-friends-epistle-2016/
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39
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40 We received our annual report from Quaker Peace and Social Witness
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41 Central Committee, presented by its Clerk Charlotte Seymour-Smith and
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42 by the relevant 'civil servant' Helen Drewery, now styled Head of
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43 Worship and Witness (see my July report for details on the
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44 restructuring of the staff at Friends House).
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45
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46 * Mention was made of two new booklets on 'The New Economy', which
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47 are available via
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48
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49 http://www.quaker.org.uk/our-work/economic-justice/new-economy
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50
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51 and may be of interest to those looking for insight into what many
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52 Friends see as the failure of our current economic structures
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53
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54 * Some sobering remarks were offered about the Ecumenical
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55 Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI): "EAPPI is
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56 an international World Council of Churches programme. EAPPI
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57 UK/Ireland is a joint project of church partners, implemented by
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58 QPSW." The situation in Israel/Palestine for Ecumenical
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59 Accompaniers is dire, under constant review, with careful risk
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60 management processes. "The problems [EAPPI] are having is a sign
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61 that it's successful."
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62
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63 QPSW, using legacy funding, is about to appoint someone to a one-year
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64 post from December tasked with identifying appropriate national-level
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65 work that is best _for us_ in the areas of Forced Migration in
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66 general, and help for refugees in particular. They will liaise
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67 closely with Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN). Some actual
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68 actions, maybe, but mostly planning/reporting. For those Meetings and
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69 individuals wanting to do something _now_, the advice was to work
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70 through QARN.
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71
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72 I have previously reported on the Vibrancy project -- this is now
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73 underway, but only in south of the border. Four pilot 'local
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74 development workers' have been appointed for a year in Devon, Cornwall
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75 and West Somerset; The North West; Wales and Southern Marches and Sussex,
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76 Surrey and Kent. Rachel Matthews is the Vibrancy in Meetings
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77 Programme Coordinator at Friends House. She described the goal of the
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78 exercise as supporting local meetings to thrive, defining vibrancy as
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79 "being full of life". See
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80 http://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/pages/vibrancy_in_meetings.html
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81 for details.
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82
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83 Our attention was called to the Ammerdown Invitation, an _ad-hoc_
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84 group including Friends who have some very interesting things to say
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85 about the nature of (national/worldwide) security and how to go about
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86 getting it. For an introduction as well as a detailed exposition see
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87 http://rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/
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88
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89 A minute from GM Scotland was received which raises important issues
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90 in connection with this AM's concern regarding militarism in schools:
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91 The granting by the previous Chancellor of the Exchequer of monies
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92 from fines levied against the banks to the Ministry of Defence for the
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93 introduction of cadet forces in 500 state schools throughout Britain
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94 bypasses Scottish oversight of education in Scotland, as well as
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95 parliamentary oversight by both Westminster and Holyrood.
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96
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97 This is particularly concerning (and may come as news to AM as it did
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98 to me), because it means that there's no straightforward way to ask
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99 the Scottish government/parliament for equal time, as it were, for
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100 peace education.
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101
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