Deb Arrowsmith
27.12.21
Reading the Epistle from heads of Quaker Agencies (The Friend 17.12.21), I was struck by the following paragraph and, as we launch ourselves into the choppy waters of 2022, I wonder how the encouragement resonates with you?
“We call on Friends to be humble and to be bold, to be faithful and determined, to work inwardly and outwardly, within our Quaker communities and outside them, to build the just and peaceful world God tells us can be ours.” Got it? Right, best get on with it, then?
I felt this directive could slot straight into our little red book: “Be humble and bold … faithful and determined … work inward and outward and …” Perhaps – shake it all about?
I wondered. We are already exhorted to live adventurously, walk cheerfully, let our lives speak – and that’s just no. 27; there are 41 other Advices and Queries to get to grips with.
Don’t get me wrong; we all need support, encouragement, and sharing perhaps, of what we Quakers are all about and the difference we can actually make within ourselves, our families, communities, towns, cities, and countries. I was pleased God got a mention though – right in there saying (apparently) it is possible. A just and peaceful world is possible, but the reality is that we actually have to do something to achieve that.
So, what have we been doing about it this year in Oxford Meeting House? Well, there’s stuff that’s routine for us but deserves a mention: the Remembrance Day vigil, Hugh’s giant hanging poppy, white poppy sales and white poppy wreath, and now inclusion of us and our message of peace in Oxford’s Service of Remembrance itself. Then the COP26 posters developed by our SEE Justice group, and the many willing volunteers leafleting on the street raising awareness of Quakers’ responses to climate change. We got rid of gas in favour of controllable electric heating. Good work folks!
We are known as a distinctive worshipping community keen to help out alongside other people of faith involved with refugees, asylum seekers, and the homeless. We held the only in-person meeting of the Council of Faiths this year too. We open our doors as much as we can to so many groups of so much variety we make Heinz beans look mean.
Then the unleashing of staff and the support of the meeting has allowed two apprentices, Jarell and Lorren, to make a fresh start on their careers with support. We will shortly welcome a third apprentice – Joe – but more of that next month. The need for change in some our processes (simpler, streamlined working together) has been met with substantial enthusiasm around Oxford and Swindon Area Meeting (OSAM), in the smaller meetings particularly. Encouragingly, we may be able to collectively agree to consolidate our financial work across the area; there is a strong desire to pool our resources in outreach as well – to help each other, offer ideas and support, and to share best practice using OSAM-wide links to advantage. Collectively we have a stronger voice, as long as we are all singing the same words, of course, and getting the collective message over.
And then there’s you and me … what have we done to change; to make a difference? I know Quakers individually, quietly, persuasively, engage practically and financially with causes dear to their hearts and our testimonies, but can we be bold and humble together in 2022 and let people know?
Well so far I’ve merely changed into my pyjamas and fluffy slippers at an Area Meeting to make a point about change, and I’m not sure that’s really going far enough! I have wondered for so long about work and worship – one and the same I thought – and how best to achieve being “faithful and determined” as our Quaker agency heads would wish us to be. Here’s hoping that in 2022 we cannot just think this through together but rather action it together and see it carried along by humble but bold and lively spirit.
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Forty-Three Newsletter • Number 513 • January 2022
Oxford Friends Meeting
43 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LW