EMES Annual Report 2006 1
FWCC
FRIENDS
WORLD
COMMITTEE
FOR
CONSULTATION
Europe & Middle East Section
1 Cluny Terrace, Edinburgh
EH10 4SW, United Kingdom
Tel/Fax: +44 (0)131 466 1263
Email:
Exec Sec: Bronwyn Harwood
FWCC/EMES Annual Report 2006
What is FWCC/EMES? 2
Report of the work of the Executive Committee 2006 3
From the EMES Executive Secretary 5
Reports from Yearly Meetings and Groups 8
Quaker Youth Pilgrimage30
Amari Play Centre, Ramallah31
Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre32
Diary 200733
FWCC Bank Account details35
Note:The formal annual report and accounts, prepared in accordance with UK charity requirements, are available as a separate document on request from the EMES office.
Scottish Charity number : SC 036528
What is FWCC/EMES?
Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) was set up at the 1937 World Conference of Friends in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Its purpose is ‘to facilitate loving understanding of diversities among Friends while we discover together, with God’s help, our common spiritual ground; and to facilitate full expression of our Friends’ testimonies in the world’. Representatives, appointed by the affiliated Yearly Meeting and groups, meet at very Triennials in different parts of the world. They aim to provide links between Friends as they seek to perceive God’s will more clearly, so that they may more effectively make their corporate witness. An Interim Committee meets annually to continue FWCC’s decision-making processes and guide the work of the staff between Triennial Meetings on behalf of Friends.
The World Office in London is the centre of worldwide communications for FWCC. Its staff help organise Triennial Meetings and other gatherings and maintain contact with the work of the four Sections and the Quaker United Nations Offices. The International Membership programme links isolated Friends and worship groups around the world to the family of Friends. By means of staff travel, correspondence and publications, the office seeks to help Friends to gain a better understanding of the worldwide character of the Society of Friends and its vocation in the world.
Europe and Middle East Section
The FWCC Europe & Middle East Section (EMES) was established in 1938 and now consists of 11 Yearly Meetings, several Monthly Meetings and other smaller national groups. Events such as the Annual Meeting, the International Family Gathering, border meetings, seminars, peace and service consultations, the Quaker Youth Pilgrimage (in cooperation with the Section of the Americas), and other activities, encourage mutual respect and trust, leading towards greater involvement of Friends. A small Executive Committee, assisted by a part-time Executive Secretary, ensures communication within the Section and with other Quaker bodies and individual Friends. Among many different interests, the Section also focuses on justice, peace and service issues.
The Europe & Middle East Young Friends (EMEYF) is well-established, cooperating within the Section but remaining fully autonomous.
Some Quaker Addresses in Europe
EMES Office:/ Bronwyn Harwood, 1 Cluny Terrace, Edinburgh, UK,
EH10 4SW.
Tel: +44 131 466 1263 / e-mail:
FWCC World Office: / 173 Euston Road, London, NW1 2AX, UK.
/ Tel: +44 207 663 1199 / Fax: +44 207 663 1189
e-mail:
Europe and Middle East Young Friends / Quaker House, 50 Square Ambiorix, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.
/ Tel: +32 2 2304935 / Fax: +32 2 2306370
e-mail:
Quaker United Nations Office Geneva:
/ Maison Quaker, 13 Ave du Mervelet, CH-1209 Genève, Switzerland.
Tel: +41 22 748 4800 / Fax: +41 22 748 4819
e-mail:
Quaker Council for European Affairs:
/ Quaker House, 50 Square Ambiorix, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Tel: +32 2 2304935 Fax: +32 2 2306370
e-mail:
Report of the work of the Executive Committee for 2006
The Executive Committee will have held 3 meetings between Annual Meeting 2006 and Annual Meeting 2007, on 28th September – 1st October 2006, on 1st – 3rd February and on 5th April 2007. The members who serve as the Trustees of the Registered Charity have been: Marit Kromberg (Clerk), Laurie Naumann (Treasurer), Aidan McCartney (EMEYF), Franco Perna (International Member), Fritz Renken (Switzerland YM), and Jane Rose (Finland YM). Bronwyn Harwood (Executive Secretary) has prepared and attended all meetings.
Visiting Friend Programme
In view of the strong support for the work of the Visiting Friends emerging through the years and from the visioning exercise at the Annual Meeting 2006, a funding proposal was prepared to the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust for a 15 month feasibility study to extend our ministry and outreach support and to enhance the Visiting Friend Programme.
The project was granted on condition that we advertise the post of Ministry and Outreach Worker. The selection process has been carried out by a panel consisting of the Executive Secretary, the Clerk, Aidan McCartney from EMES Executive Committee, Clerk of Nominations Committee and Rachel Malloch from Nominations Committee. Four Friends were short listed for interviews. The selection panel was in unity about Julia Ryberg as the first choice and she has accepted the appointment.
The financial arrangements relating to the JRCT grant will be reflected in the budget as a separate project and will cover the continuing Visiting Friend work.
We have appointed the Executive Secretary and Clerk together with Ute Caspers and Diana Lampen to serve as an oversight support group for the duration of the project. We have felt that the current Visiting Friend programme which reaches the end of its three year period in December 2006 has contributed significantly to EMES and we thank all the Friends who have served. Diana Lampen, David Blamires and Tamara Dragadze have completed their term of service. We ask Ute Caspers (Baltic States), Tony Fitt (Central Europe), Elizabeth Morris (Spain), and Julia Ryberg to continue as Visiting Friends until Annual Meeting 2008.
Section Finances
Section finances have been a major concern. The Clerk, Treasurer, and Executive Secretary therefore met with the Finance Group in August to look at the broader financial issues.
The 3-year funding plan agreed at Annual Meeting in Svartbäcken in 2004 should have been completed by the end of 2006, but the projected increase in income has not materialised. Contributions from Yearly Meetings and groups vary widely in amount per capita. The Clerk and Treasurer have written to YM Clerks and Treasurers about the situation and hope that meetings will see how they can benefit from, and have their interests served by, the work of EMES.
The group also discussed the EMES investments policy. It was agreed to endorse the recommendation from the finance group that all investments should be transferred to a better managed system which would give a better rate of return on investments. We are committed to having EMES funds invested ethically. After careful investigation by the Treasurer we decided to enter into agreement with EthicalFutures (independent financial advisers) and Rathbone Greenbank Investment to manage both the Section and John Warder Fund capital assets.
We have simplified our banking arrangements closing the FWCC-EMES accounts in Switzerland, Sweden, and Scotland and transferring all funds to a new account with ethical bankers Unity Trust Bank. A Gold Savings Account has now been opened with CAF Bank for the Amari Play Centre.
It has become customary for some individuals as well as for some groups to send money to EMES for forwarding to other Quaker bodies. This increases EMES administrative work and financial costs. We therefore consider it appropriate to deduct a small percentage to cover these costs, and from the beginning of the 2007 financial year up to 5 % may be deducted by EMES from donations to other Quaker bodies, with exception for the Ramallah hardship fund.
The Accounts for 2006 will be presented as a separate document. Although incomes from groups and individuals have increased, and several Yearly Meetings and groups have been able to raise their contributions, the total contributions were € 6.120 less than budgeted for. On the expenditure side we have managed to keep well within the budget, with the exception of travel costs for the Executive Committee. This was related to extra costs in connection with the overlap of incoming and outgoing clerks and to the need for a meeting with the Finance Group. The final outcome is a deficit of just over €15,000 which has had to be offset by drawing a sum from the FWCC-EMES investments.
Handbook of Policies and Procedures
On the recommendations of the independent examiner, we have started work on a Handbook of Policies and Procedures to contain the relevant documents. In the first instance it will contain the FWCC EMES reserves policy, our risk management policy, and our procedures for complying with data protection regulations, etc. In the coming year we plan to work towards recommendations for EMES working practices in the light of global climate change, and we have also minuted the outline of an equal opportunities policy.
We recognise the need to obtain an overview of all relevant external and internal requirements, and will include the document Guidance for Charity Trustees received from the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in a FWCC-EMES Trustees Handbook.
Present Executive Secretary’s Term of Service
Bronwyn Harwood’s term of service comes to an end in 2008. A revised job description for the job of Executive Secretary will be presented to the Annual Meeting 2007 and the post advertised as soon as possible thereafter.
Ecumenical Connections
FWCC EMES has been invited to send one observer to the Conference of European Churches (CEC) Assembly 2007. We have appointed Kees Nieuwerth to represent FWCC EMES at the Third European Ecumenical Assembly of the CEC in September 2007. Netherlands Yearly Meeting has agreed to cover the costs for the participation. Kees will cooperate with Church and Peace representatives at this event.
Publications
We are grateful to Kees Nieuwerth and David Blamires for their work onFriendly Advice on Quaker Ways which is now completed. We expect to have both Friendly Advice and the reprint of Meeting the Spirit available as new publications at the Annual Meeting in the Netherlands with our new logo and house style.
Annual Meeting 2008
We have agreed that in 2008 the Annual Meeting will take the form of a joint EMES/EMEYF conference for up to 120 people. A planning group has been appointed consisting of two representatives of EMEYF, the EMES Executive Secretary and Ministry and Outreach Coordinator, one other European Friend and a representative of the Vienna worship group.
Marit Kromberg
Clerk
From the Executive Secretary
I have been reflecting on the role of Friends World Committee and in particular of the Europe and Middle East Section as I have reviewed the activities of the past year. Over the years different Executive Secretaries (and Executive Committees) have approached the work in different ways. Indeed when I took on the post in 2002 I asked the clerk for advice on priorities and was told that each executive secretary brings a unique perspective and serves the section accordingly. However I am also aware of the discipline required. Both to ensure that it is not just one’s own desire that one follows, but the leadings of the spirit, and that one’s own perception of those leadings is tested with the group through due Quaker business method. At the end of the day, and in spite of much travel, the role of the secretary is an administrative one. Listening and being part of the discernment process, yes, but in particular making sure that enquiries are dealt with, records kept, gatherings organised, a regular newsletter produced and distributed, the web-site maintained, grants disbursed appropriately and so on. As ever I am extremely grateful to the growing band of Friends in Edinburgh who help me and my assistant, Ben Miller Williams, with aspects of this work and in particular would like to mention the difference it has made to us in the past year having half a day a week office support from John Eccles.
Marit Kromberg in her clerk’s report has referred to various of the initiatives within the Section. So I here I shall just add some reflection on one or two events in the year.
2006 was indeed a year of testing of leadings. As the three years of the EMES Visiting Friend Programme was drawing to a close it was clear that there were challenges for the future. My own travels and connections with Friends groups have made me aware of new interest in the Quaker way particularly in Eastern Europe and of the ongoing needs of older groups for revitalisation and deepening of life in the spirit. The Visiting Friends group meeting in December 2005, the Executive Committee in February 2006 and then the Annual Meeting in a “visioning” session all confirmed the need for greater support for the ministry and outreach work of the Section. The Executive Committee was aware that it was breaking new ground in proposing a new part-time post specifically to take forward the Visiting Friend work and broaden the support of ministry and outreach in the Section. However it was also acting entirely within the core purposes of FWCC EMES. The first purpose listed in our constitution reads:
to encourage and strengthen the spiritual life within the Religious Society of Friends, and its outreach in the world, through such measures as worship, intervisitation, study, conferences and a wide sharing of religious experience
With the needs of small and new groups of Friends particularly in mind the Committee drew up a proposal for funding for a part-time post. The proposal also included funds for travel for Visiting Friends, for gatherings and for new on-line study circles to be developed. We were delighted that Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust agreed to our proposal and by the end of 2006 the new Ministry and Outreach Facilitator post had been advertised. (The rest is 2007’s story)
You might consider an organisation’s constitution a necessary formality but not something to return to too often. However I actually find it very helpful to review the work of EMES in the light of its constitution. This can help us to recognise whether we are achieving our core purposes – rather than just continuing comfortably with ways of working which might no longer be relevant.
Another event at which I had a sense of testing the underlying purposes of FWCC EMES was the annual Peace and Service Consultation held in Brussels in November. This time the purpose in question is:
to encourage and strengthen the spiritual life to promote consultation amongst Friends of all cultures, countries and languages. To bring the different groups of Friends into intimate touch with one another, seeking their common Quaker heritage, sharing experiences and coming to some measure of agreement in regard to their attitude to world issues.
Sometimes during my time as Executive Secretary I have wondered whether the EMES Peace and Service Consultation was achieving enough to justify the organisational challenges and costs. It brings together representatives of the peace and service committees and agencies from around the Section, and there are always benefits to be gained from the networking opportunities and some individuals have expressed how good it is to stand back from the day to day challenges for a brief period and join a wider group of European Friends with similar concerns for a period of reflection and worship. In 2006 I think the weekend achieved more than this. We heard of the challenges and rewards of providing a Quaker presence in places as far apart as Moscow and Belfast. We heard of peace witness in various places including a year long action against the replacement of nuclear submarines in Britain. The Service Committees, in sharing information about local work and concerns for which more funding would be needed, decided to embark on an exploration of how they might cooperate together to identify European sources of funding which could contribute to joint projects and enhance the Quaker capacity to respond in areas of need. (This too is work in progress in 2007) As a group, we were aware of the absence of Middle East Friends. The war in Lebanon had given particular focus to our concerns and sense of connectedness to Middle East Friends. We heard news of the Friends in Lebanon and of the Friends International Centre Ramallah and informed one another of the whole range of projects and other ways in which our different meetings are involved in other work concerned with the Middle East and with Palestine and Israel in particular. . The areas of work include advocacy, solidarity, presence, addressing social needs, promoting reconciliation and raising awareness and campaigning. Several of the Yearly Meetings and Quaker agencies are exploring how best they can support Friends and the work of Friends in the Middle East and there will I am sure be new developments in 2007.
In 2006 I found myself spending more of my time than in previous years on central work of Friends World Committee for Consultation. We have a wide remit in our connection with Friends across the world but are few in number engaged to do the work. There is increasing use of telephone conferences between the Section Secretaries and other sub-groups of the Central Executive Committee – a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly way of carrying out the business of FWCC. Nancy Irving as General Secretary in the world office has carried the heavy burden of continuing the work without an Associate Secretary. World Office is reviewing the way the International Membership work is handled, has made major improvements in its web-site which now has on it some very useful information on Friends meetings and Friends projects around the world.. We look forward to the FWCC Triennial in Dublin in 2007.