*Meeting for Sufferings*

2--4 October 2020

Henry S. Thompson, SE Scotland AM representative

All the papers for the meeting are available online at

  https://www.quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-2020-10-agendapapersv2-1

The minutes and other follow-up material are available from

  https://quaker.org.uk/documents/mfs-2020-10-follow-up-package

This would normally have been a weekend-long residential meeting at
Woodbrooke, and it was very frustrating to miss the opportunity to
spend _informal_ time together.

We did meet online from Friday evening through early Sunday afternoon.
My report below covers only some of the sessions, and I refer Friends
to the links above for topics not covered, marked with an asterisk
below.  The bracketed string in each case gives the item number which
can be used to find relevant material in both the papers in advance
and the follow-up package.

*Session list*

  Sustainability and the Climate Crisis [MfS 2020 10 06]

   - Report from the Sustainability Monitoring Group *
   - Update on the project: ‘Climate crisis: spiritual nurture and
     learning’
   - Preparations for COP26

  BYM Trustees [MfS 2020 10 08]

  Responding to racism [MfS 2020 10 09] *

  Review of Quaker Stewardship Committee [MfS 2020 10 10]

  Quaker Recognised Bodies [MfS 2020 10 11] *

  Annual report from Quaker Committee for [MfS 2020 10 12]

  Update on minutes received by Meeting for Sufferings [MfS 2020 10 13] *

  Report from the Book of Discipline Revision Committee [MfS 2020 10 14]

  Yearly Meeting 2020 MfS [2020 10 15]

*Update on the project: ‘Climate crisis: spiritual nurture and learning’*

Maud Grainger, Woodbrooke's Faith in Action Programme Coordinator,
introduced the work of this new project.  Its three main aims
are

  1. Supporting Friends to explore, understand and become more
     confident in articulating the spiritual underpinning of Quaker
     commitment to caring for the earth and creation."

  2. Providing advice, guidance support and encouragement to enable
     Friends to make practical changes to individual lifestyles and to
     take community-level action, particularly around the use and
     management of property.

  3. Building community to support and strengthen our individual and
     corporate response.

Maud described a brilliant set of plans for achieving this goal,
including a wealth of suggestions for concrete action.
Woodbrooke's web page for this work is here:

  https://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/learn/climate-crisis/

but there's more detail in the papers in advance than there is there
at the moment.

*Sustainability*

Livvy Hanks, Britain Yearly Meeting’s Programme Manager for Economics and
Sustainability Project Development and Programmes, reported on plans
for BYM involvement in COPS 26 in Glasgow.  The QPSW item in the
papers in advance gives lots of detail on how Friends can get involved
in our input to COPS 26.

Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW) have also launched the *Build
Back Better* campaign "for a green and just recovery from the
pandemic", appointing three people to work on this.

The *Quaker Faith in Action newsletter* (back copies available at 
https://us7.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=7506c29d95944ba554b4871f8&id=b525b532da)
contains information about both of the above.

*Review of Quaker Stewardship Committee (QSC)*

A big change is coming: QSC, which was established nearly 20 years ago
to oversee Trustees' responsibility for compliance with Charity
regulations, both at Yearly and Area Meeting levels, is to be laid
down, and their responsiblities transfered to Quaker Life Central
Committee and Meeting for Sufferings.

Lots of details on how this will work in practice remain to be worked
out...

Book of Discipline Review Committee interim report*

The co-Clerks, Catherine Brewer andRosie Carnall, gave an encouraging
report on the committee's work to date.  Although the group is still
mostly getting to know each other, working out procedures and
generally laying the foundations for the effort ahead, the co-Clerks
were able to share some of the early results:

Seven key themes are emerging:

 * Spirituality, worship and discernment
 * individually and collectively with God 
 * Quaker community --- life in our meetings 
 * Testimony and faith in action --- in the world 
 * Stages of personal life journeys and close relationships 
 * Church government --- how we organise ourselves 
 * Our story --- where we have come from and where we are going 
 * Advices & Queries

Along with five key insights:

1. We can all have direct access to God/Spirit/the Divine. This
   experience/encounter/relationship can transform us.

2. We live under guidance from God/Spirit/the Light/the promptings
   of love and truth in our hearts

3. We recognise and seek to address that of God in each human being ---
   each of us is unique and precious

4. There is a dynamic Spirit bringing continuing revelation

5. We hold the whole of life sacramental and so we do not divide the
   sacred and the secular

There is a webpage 

https://www.quaker.org.uk/resources/quaker-faith-and-practice/revising-quaker-faith-practice

which gives details of how to be in touch with the committee,
including a link to the collection tool where ideas (both general and
specific text) can be offered.

Several vacancies have arisen, and nominations suggestions (of others,
or oneself) are invited to be sent to nominations@quaker.org.uk

The committee is planning to coordinate an activity at Yearly Meeting
Gathering in Bath: *Open to New Light - an invitation from BYM's Book
of Discipline Revision Committee*.  There is a website where
contributions can already be made: https://padlet.com/bdrc/OpenToNewLight