Back in 2014, when Britain Yearly Meeting Gathering was held in Bath, Ben Pink Dandelion used his Swarthmore Lecture (video here) to challenge Friends to live their Quaker lives more simply. We have tried to take his challenge to heart. Whenever we can we stick to what we think is important e.g. holding regular Meetings for Worship rather than worrying about buildings, or getting to know each other “in that which is eternal” (as George Fox put it) rather than frightening people off with lists of jobs to do. One of the complications of 21st century Quaker life is that many Quaker Area Meetings – including our own – became charities under English law. That brought clarity in who does what, who owns what, who employs whom etc etc. But clarity didn’t bring simplicity – so here we are, years later, wondering how we can keep the clarity but ditch the complexity.

We are not alone: Friends in Wales, Yorkshire and Scotland are sharing their experience in simplifying their business processes. Now you have the chance to hear how it might work if we in West Wiltshire and East Somerset Area Meeting looked to our neighbours to share the work. And on Tuesday 16th April, on Zoom, from 7pm to 8:30 pm you could hear from a knowledgeable Shropshire Friend about Options for potential collaboration with neighbouring Area Meetings.

The Clerk of our AM Trustees, Sally Harris, tells us that this ‘could help us to better manage the tasks that are required to sustain our Meetings and fulfil our legal obligations. We know that we are not alone in questioning whether the current burdens are sustainable in the longer term. Representatives from our AM have met twice with Friends from Bristol, North Somerset, and Gloucester AMs for very preliminary and exploratory discussions. Gloucestershire AM is going to host this Zoom session. Friends from all four AMs are invited to join in and to learn from experience elsewhere. The speaker, Lesley Richards, is a member of Church Stretton Meeting in Shropshire with experience in helping several groups of Area Meetings take steps towards working together in a variety of larger regional bodies. She will explain the different approaches the Meetings have taken and will be able to help us as we consider ways forward for ourselves.  This is a good opportunity to inform ourselves and imagine how such approaches might help us.’

If you would like to attend this online session, please email bathquakermeeting@gmail.com for the joining details.