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author Henry Thompson <ht@markup.co.uk>
date Sun, 14 Jun 2020 14:23:05 +0100
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1 *Meeting for Sufferings*
2
3 6 June 2020
4
5 Henry S. Thompson, SE Scotland AM representative
6
7 All the papers for the meeting are available online at
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9 https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-2020-06-agenda--papers
10
11 The minutes and other follow-up material are available from
12
13 https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-2020-06-follow-up-package
14
15 *Cancellation of 2 April Meeting for Sufferings*
16
17 The meeting scheduled for 2 April was cancelled. A letter including a
18 number of the reports that _would_ have been considered at that
19 meeting was circulated to members, and is available at
20
21 https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/information-members-mfs-april-2020
22
23 It contains a report from Trustees, an interim report from the Review
24 Group for Quaker Stewardship Committee and, perhaps most importantly,
25 *Britain Yearly Meeting and Woodbrooke Integrated Strategy for
26 Supporting Quaker Communities 2020-2025", produced by Quaker Life
27 Central Committee. It gives more detail than previously available
28 about the plans for the new approach to many of the structures and
29 activities of Britain Yearly Meeting.
30
31 *BYM Trustees report*
32
33 COVID:
34 80% of the Quiet Company (responsible for running Friends House
35 and Swarthmore Hall) staff and 50% of Friends House staff have
36 been furloughed.
37
38 COVID notwithstanding, the focus for fundraising going forward
39 will be on systematic funding growth for the long term, not a
40 single crisis appeal.
41
42 Hiring of new Local Development Workers and the establishment of
43 the first regional Hub have been postponed.
44
45 Online activities improve accessability for some, but make it
46 harder/impossible for others. Are we (SESAM) looking at
47 identifying and helping those who lack either the skills or the
48 hardware to participate?
49
50 *Yearly Meeting*
51
52 There will be an abbreviated virtual YM on the afternoon of 15
53 September, two one-hour sessions. Attendance open with early notice
54 required, capped at 1000.
55
56 Some necessary business, some shared worship...
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58 Sufferings to be empowered to do some required business between
59 then and the YM in 2021.
60
61 Yearly Meeting Gathering will, God willing, be held in summer 2021 in Bath.
62
63 *Small group session*
64
65 Some Area Meetings are looking to continue holding Area Meeting
66 online and/or doing some Area Meeting business online 'after COVID'.
67
68 Some form of go-around or after-word is happening in some places.
69
70 People with mobility issues found regular attendance to be very
71 welcome.
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73 One Area Meeting is hold a weekly online Epilogue.
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75 There were many questions about hybrid meetings 'after COVID' (also
76 called 'blended meetings')
77
78 Ellie Harding reported that
79
80 "I have been to a blended memorial before - happy to pick up
81 separately if useful. It was held at Liverpool meeting, so their
82 elders might be worth reaching out to as well."
83
84 Anna Sharman asked
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86 "Is it really silence if there couldn't be noise?"
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88 Her online Meeting has experimented with leaving people unmuted
89 unless there's a lot of background noise...
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91 Some problems with online meetings that were mentioned:
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93 "It's difficult to reach out to new people"
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95 A few people have pushed back on the concept as unQuakerly...
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97 Technology and/or financial issues exclude some people
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99 One eldering problem has arisen, resulting in lack of unity on the
100 value of the online meetings...
101
102 In one case where there is no online Area Meeting, a Local Meeting
103 that chose not to meet online has left those members who _would_
104 like to do so out in the cold