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114
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1 Meeting for Sufferings
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2
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3 4 February 2017
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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 *Headlines*
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8
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9 Two high-profile statements, on foreign policy (that is, Donald Trump)
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10 and on fracking, were agreed:
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11
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12 http://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/fracking-must-be-banned
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13 http://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/quakers-stand-alongside-victims-of-racist-policies
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14
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15 All the papers for the meeting are available online at
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16
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17 http://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/meeting-for-sufferings-agenda-papers-package-december-2016
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18
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19 where much more detailed information about these and other matters are
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20 available.
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21
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22 *BYM Sustainability Group*
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23
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24 This group was set up by BYM at 2011 YM, it is now attached to MfS.
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25
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26 They delivered an annual report, after 3 years, "review[ing] progress
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27 in 2016 and priorities for 2017"
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28
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29 There has been considerable action centrally, particularly with
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30 respect to Friends House itself, but also by providing help to local
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31 meetings through a new "project officer providing advice to local
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32 meetings on property matters, including sustainability".
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33
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34 Much harder to assess what's happening across AMs/LMs, as useful
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35 information gathering and analysis takes resourcing they don't have.
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36
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37 They've recently tried to focus on "What's _Quaker_ about this
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38 concern? Where does it get its spiritual grounding?" Less guilt,
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39 more love!
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40
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41 We are asked to feed back to the group on what we think about the
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42 proposed "a project _Nurturing our Sustainability Ministry_, enabling
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43 and encouraging Friends to give expression to our sustainability
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44 commitment in many different forms" If AM is interested in doing so,
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45 someone should contact Lis Burch, Clerk BYM Sust. Grp..
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46
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47 Do we, as other AMs apparently do, report our annual energy usage (at
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48 least for 7VT and Kelso) to BYM along with our annual accounts?
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49
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50 An interesting echo of some of the STIR group's observations: The
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51 Canterbury Commitment was a commitment made by BYM, but has been
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52 adopted and acted on by AMs to widely varying degrees. What does it
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53 mean for a more central body to make a notionally binding commitment
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54 when the action involved has to be taken 'lower down'?
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55
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56 As the group was established in 2014 for an initial period of three
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57 years, there will now be a review group established to consider
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58 whether "this approach is the right way for our concern to be carried
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59 forward".
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60
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61 *Opposition to Fracking*
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62
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63 (From a meeting of Pendle Hill AM)
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64
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65 We ask Britain Yearly Meeting to maximise involvement in ecumenical
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66 and interfaith structures that allow faith groups to have a strong
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67 united environmentalist voice on fracking, and that as Quakers
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68 nationally we take a public stance against fracking.
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69
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70 MfS supported this, and the minute [see link at the top] makes a
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71 specific statement on behalf of Quakers in Britain in support of
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72 sustainable energy and in opposition to "unconventional approaches" to
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73 fossil fuel extraction, including fracking (expanded from the original
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74 to imply worldwide, in response to a mention about the role of
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75 Grangemouth in processing US shale gas).
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76
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77 There will be some kind of event on Pendle Hill on 6 May...
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78
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79 *Cadet Forces in Scottish State Schools*
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80
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81 QPSWCC has taken up this matter, and broadened it in the area of
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82 transparency and accountability
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83
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84 Junior Yearly Meeting application deadline is 15 March
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85
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86 *Quaker Housing Trust*
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87
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88 An excellent, detailed, informative report was given. I recommend it
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89 highly, see item *MfS 2017 02 10* in
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90
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91 http://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/meeting-for-sufferings-agenda-papers-2017-02-04
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92
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93 I was hugely impressed: they do outstanding work, with enormous
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94 almost-all volunteer effort: give them more money!
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95
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96 *Yearly Meeting Gathering*
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97
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98 An 'Anchoring' initiative is in place for this event: making time and
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99 space to digest, both food and mental/spiritual/emotional inputs,
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100 meaning, among other things, that there will be no (centrally
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101 organised) meetings over lunch
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102
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103 Two afternoons with 'all-age activities' (lots of facilities for sport
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104 at the venue).
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105
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106 Overall theme is 'Movement Building: Working with others to make a
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107 difference'
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108
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109 *Statement as "Response to the current international situation"*
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110
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111 A good one, see the link at the top.
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