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Quaker Life Network News Spring 2015

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Quaker Life Network News Spring 2015 Quaker Life Network news Spring 2015 Quaker Life Network news Quaker Life Network news is an annual publication from Quaker Life. This edition shares stories of interest of some of the Network’s activities in 2014 and 2015. It is published before each Yearly Meeting and is circulated among the Quaker Life Network membership electronically, unless a paper copy is specifically asked for. A paper copy is sent to each local meeting and is also available to Friends attending Yearly Meeting. Content is generated by Quaker Life staff and Network members. We ask Quakers who have worked in meetings or have been involved in activities for the Network whether they will write about their experiences. We also value stories from Friends who have used the Network to contact and work with each other without informing Quaker Life. Our Network of Friends is not dependent on linking through Quaker Life, and sharing our experience of direct engagement is one way of helping this to develop. If you wish to contribute to a future edition of Quaker Life Network news, please submit articles to [email protected] or call 020 7663 1007 for further information. Contents: Network review Page 3 Encounters with mental distress: Quaker stories Page 4 Quaker Life staff and work Page 6 The Network in stitches Page 8 Conflict in meetings Page 9 Quaker Life in meetings Page 10 Being Friends Together Page 12 Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this edition of Quaker Life Network news. Subscribe to the Quaker Life Network email by visiting www.quaker.org.uk/qln-enews. Like our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/QuakerLifeNetwork. Quaker Life Network news 2 Spring 2015 Quaker Life Network Network review This year the Network has continued in its Clusters are informal groups of Friends that engagement with Friends and meetings. It has engage with each other in relation to a become apparent to me that the number of particular area of work. The structure of clusters Friends who are subscribed to the Network is flexible so that each one’s form serves its email will reach the milestone of 1652 (the year purpose rather than being of a fixed model. George Fox travelled around the North-West of England) during 2015. The communications A key piece of work that you can read about on reach much further than that because I am page 4 is the Mental Health Cluster’s stories aware of lots of Friends who send on the project, which has led to the publication information to others within their meeting and Encounters with mental distress: Quaker beyond. stories, which will be available to buy at and after Yearly Meeting in May 2015. You may have noticed that last year the Network changed its logo. Quaker Jean Lyon Being Friends Together is a new resource responded to the request for support with this developed by Quaker Life and Woodbrooke. It and a new image was developed. Jean’s story is based around an online resource that of spiritual connectedness through developing supports meetings in their learning together. the image is told in this edition. Network members are supporting meetings by In 2014 five new clusters were formed: walking alongside to help Chaplaincy Cluster; Quaker World Relations them to make the most of Committee Cluster; Quaker Values in Education the resource and events. Cluster (that has since re-shaped its work and Find out what is wanted and become a listed informal group); Island whether you could be a Oliver Waterhouse Quakers Cluster; Quaker Parenting Cluster. meeting visitor. Network Development Officer The Quaker Life Network is one of the key tools that Quaker Life has available to help its objective of supporting Friends and meetings and develop connections within the wider Quaker community. Some of the ways it has helped are to: respond to conflict | plan and deliver events in meetings review work | proofread publications | connect Quakers offer advice and support to Friends | walk alongside Some of the work of the Network is carried out by interest groups or clusters. Clusters can be created around any area of work where there is a need identified. Quaker Life Central Committee holds an overview of clusters’ work and approves the formation of new clusters. Contact: [email protected], 020 7663 1007 Quaker Life Network news 3 Spring 2015 Quaker Life Network Encounters with mental distress: Quaker stories In May 2013 the Mental Health in Meetings Cluster Core Group asked Friends to share stories of their experience of mental illness and distress. Having received in excess of forty different stories the group wanted to find a way to share them with Friends, so we have published a book that will be available from Yearly Meeting 2015. This article is an edited version of the introduction of the book and gives an insight into some of the work that Network members have been doing to try to help with this area of Quaker meeting life. It was in response to Isobel Lane’s article in The Friend on 24 May 2013 that Quakers started to share stories of their experience of mental illness. We wanted to try to understand some of the difficulties that Quakers were experiencing and thought that asking Friends to tell us would be a good place to start. It was a leading, and with the same faith that guides Quakers in many decisions, we followed it. Stories started to come in. It took a while before the Project Group, made up of members of the Quaker Life Network Mental Health in Meetings Cluster, decided what to do with them. Initially, we were hoping to discover from Friends what their experience has been, what sort of things were happening in meetings and in what ways those meetings were coping. The group has also had its own story in its work together producing the book. The request was for Friends to share their experiences and in addition whether they would be happy to have that story shared in its entirety or if they would prefer it to be anonymised for confidentiality reasons, for their own protection. On reading We knew that there would be a huge through the stories and starting work on the diversity in what was happening in book, anonymity was a topic that the group kept meetings. We also knew that there returning to. Reflecting upon the themes that would be a great variation in the way came up in many of the stories, we felt that it that meetings responded to different was not only the people who have shared their situations. story but also others around them that may Quaker Life Network news 4 Spring 2015 need that protection as well. It took some time accounts of a range of issues related to mental before we finally decided that what we thought illness and distress, that are present in Quaker would be best was for all of the stories to be meetings. A concern of the group was that by completely anonymous; to try to keep safe any carefully editing the text we might lose some of person or meeting linked to a story that we felt the spiritual and emotional impact that comes might be easily identifiable. Removing the from the very personal nature of many of the identifying information from the stories was a stories, yet the power of those stories remains. big piece of work. It was also difficult because It felt important not to direct the reader by we felt that we wanted to be respectful to the interpreting the stories for them and so we have stories and their authors. They had shared tried to put the stories together simply in a way stories that contain emotion, compassion, hurt that they read well together and support one and in many cases love and friendship. another. The book is intended to be accessible to the reader, whether Quaker or not. Would individual situations be recognised? We are immensely grateful to all those who Perhaps, yes. But the area of mental health is have sent in their stories and to everyone that very diverse and many similar mental health has shared a story informally. We hope that experiences, behaviours, and life situations are reading this book will be helpful to everyone in played out in more than one place. So a meetings and that it helps to allow greater situation may be recognised but it may be one communication, mutual understanding and that is taking place in more than one meeting. compassionate care. If it does this, then it has What became very clear as we got to know the fulfilled its purpose. stories is that although these stories are probably played out in many different ways in A copy of Encounters with mental distress: other organisations, religious or not, these Quaker stories will be sent to stories are Quaker stories. each local meeting. It will also be available to buy from the The result is a collection of stories. As with the Quaker Centre Bookshop at confidentiality issue it was not a straightforward Friends House or online at process deciding how to present the material. www.quaker.org.uk/shop. What we have tried to produce is a series of powerful stories that share open and honest Oliver Waterhouse Network Development Officer Quaker Life Network news 5 Spring 2015 Richard Summers Ruth Charles Tabitha Driver Thais De Oliveria General Secretary of Quaker Life Children & Young People’s Officer Librarian Quaker Life Support Officer Quaker Life staff and work Quaker Life’s purpose is to strengthen and sustain the fabric of Quaker life throughout the yearly meeting, a remit which covers faith and practice: both spiritual nurture and the practical tasks required for the running of our Quaker meetings.
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