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180
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1 *Meeting for Sufferings*
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2
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3 6 July 2019
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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 https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-2019-07-agenda-papers-package
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10
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11 The minutes and other follow-up material are available from
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12
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13 https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-2019-07-follow-up-package
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14
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15 *Court & Prison Register*
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16
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17 Some 14 Friends are reported as arrested in connection with 1 or more
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18 alleged offences undertaken as part of Extinction Rebellion actions.
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19 5 of these are from SE Scotland Area Meeting:
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20
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21 Cath Dyer
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22 Justin Kenrick
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23 Saul Kenrick
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24 Lesley Morrison
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25 Eva Schonveld
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26
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27 *Gender diversity*
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28
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29 Sufferings are going to consider this matter in more detail in our
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30 October meeting.
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31
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32 The background for this is QLCC's November statement _Quakers and
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33 gender diversity_ and YFGM's _YFGM minute and values statement_. The
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34 YFGM value statement is at least in part a response to the QLCC
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35 statement.
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36
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37 We are asked "to encourage Friends [to reflect on these statements
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38 and] to explore this in our local Quaker communities."
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39
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40 My personal view is that it is the very politically-charged issue of
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41 shared spaces that is implicated in conflicting interpretation of the
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42 wordings where it is felt that "the two statements contradict".
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43
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44 Although the MfS agenda quoted above continues "... perhaps using the
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45 resource provided at the end of this paper." I doubt that this issue
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46 can be explored without participation from both sides of the matter,
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47 as third party assertions of the form "feminists think X" or
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48 "trans-rights people think Y" are rarely either accurate or useful.
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49
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50 QLCC are happy to receive submissions, which will be treated
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51 confidentially if so requested, from individuals and Meetings on this
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52 matter.
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53
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54 *Other business*
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55
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56 - Sustainability
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57
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58 Three thoughtful minutes received. I particularly like the _West
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59 Weald AM Statement from the Quaker Meeting for Worship held at the
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60 Extinction Rebellion camp at Marble Arch, Easter Sunday, 21st April
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61 2019_.
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62
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63 MfS took no action to speak of.
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64
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65 - Refugees and asylum seekers
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66
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67 QPSWCC is trying to raise 75K to keep support for Sanctuary
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68 Everywhere via Sanctuary Meetings going for another year.
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69
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70 https://www.quaker.org.uk/our-work/social-justice/migration
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71
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72 I _think_ this is an England/Wales-only initiative at the moment.
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73
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74 *Trustees*
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75
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76 At their June meeting, shortly after Yearly Meeting, Yearly Meeting
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77 Trustees (in conjunction with Woodbrooke Trustees), made a major
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78 decision about the future of Britain Yearly Meeting.
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79
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80 The two bodies issued a joint statement:
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81
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82 "a meeting-centred approach to providing support can deepen our
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83 worship and transform our communities.
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84
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85 "We share the aspiration to
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86
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87 "a) extend and expand the current model of Locally Based Development
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88 workers so that there is a local development worker within reach
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89 of every Meeting in Britain within 5 years.
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90
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91 " b) work rapidly towards more local support for Meetings and begin
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92 to experiment with new regional bases, hubs or clusters."
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93
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94 Sufferings minute reads, in part
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95
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96 "Change will not happen overnight and have reminded us that some
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97 work that is dear to our hearts will have to be laid down to find
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98 the investment for meeting-centred support.
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99
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100 "However, the time to invest in the future of Quakers in Britain is
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101 now, whilst we have reserves to enable the management of change -
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102 of infrastructure and of culture."
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103
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104 The Clerk of Trustees said
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105
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106 - Details on how this will happen are still "totally up in the air".
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107 Not a cookie-cutter, same thing is not going to work everywhere.
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108
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109 One example: an Area Meeting that has a lot of money, could fund a
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110 worker for themselves and a neighbouring AM.
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111
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112 - "Evolution not revolution"
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113
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114 - We will use reserves to cover the [short-term] overspend.
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115
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116 - Transition planning in hands of Management Meeting.
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117
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118 - Staffing impact - we're not closing Friends House! Management
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119 C'ttee are working actively on what will be devolved,
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120 where/when/how this will happen, what IT infrastructure is needed.
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121 Hubs/clusters/bases important for staff welfare: 100% lone-working
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122 is not always an easy life.
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123
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124 When asked what was meant by "within reach of", she replied that that
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125 was a challenging question.
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126
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127 Many people expressed surprise that we'd gone from pretty broad
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128 statements of support for some kind of follow-on to the Vibrancy
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129 project by Sufferings (in April) and Yearly Meeting (in May) to a firm
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130 decision about major restructuring of our central work without _any_
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131 further discernment being asked for or given by those two bodies.
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132
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133 My personal view is the cost is not just financial -- we are admitting
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134 we can no longer say that we take care our of our business ourselves,
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135 we have to pay someone to do it for us. This may well be necessary,
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136 but it saddens me to lose such a central part of our understanding of
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137 our distinctive nature.
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138
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139
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