Report from the New Meetings Project Consultation

Almost forty Friends representing the fifteen yearly meetings affiliated with FGC gathered January 18 and 19, 2013 at Pendle Hill in Wallingford, PA. The invitation to participate in the consultation was sent to the clerks and general secretaries of the yearly meetings affiliated with FGC. Friends gathered for a time of learning about the New Meetings Project (NMP) and to explore how the yearly meetings and FGC can work together on it.

1/18/2013 Evening

After supper on Friday evening, Friends gathered for a period of waiting worship in the Barn. This was followed by welcoming remarks by FGC’s presiding clerk Sue Regen, clerk of the Committee on Nurturing Ministries, Jean-Marie Prestwidge Barch, and Connie McPeak Green, clerk of the NMP Working Group. The staff of Pendle Hill also welcomed the group.

Then Associate Secretary of Traveling Ministries Deborah Fisch shared three parables. She invited Friends to get with someone they didn’t know well and share their names, where they were from, what brought them to the consultation,and what they hoped to get out of the consultation. When the group reassembled, each person shared the responses of the person he or she had interviewed. Deborah recorded those answers on chart paper and they were posted around the room. Some of the answers included:

to know what NMP is
friendship and bridges between yearly meetings
learn how to do outreach
how FGC can nurture meetings and us
explore how to coordinate vast resources that already exist
Friends have a lot to offer to wider community that our times are hungry for. How do we offer it?

Barry Crossno, FGC General Secretary, and Brent Bill, coordinator of the NMP, then gave a Power Point presentation. Barry began by talking about the unity that exists across the yearly meetings, as well as the nuances of differences among them. Barry emphasized that this project is about serving yearly meetings, monthly meetings and worship groups and working together to grow the Religious Society of Friends. Numbers are not the focus of this effort, but rather it is about a discipline of rooting and grounding new groups in Quaker faith and practice. “We have come together to talk about how to serve seekers and those who are already among us. If we do this the growing takes care of itself,” he said. Barry emphasized importance of replicable systems.

As he spoke about the need for this project, he pointed out that

FGC has been receiving calls for such support for years
FGC’s web service, QuakerFinder.org, attracts 80,000-100,000 unique visitors each year
Recent FGC survey, completed by roughly 1,000 Friends, identified outreach and the integration of newcomers as the most pressing need

He also explained that this project was being funded primarily by a grant from the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund. The grant is $400,000 over 2 years and FGC must raise a $100,000 match. This consultation is being held as one of the actions that was part of the grant proposal. There is the possibility of additional future funding depending upon the progress of the project and FGC’s being deliberate about gathering statistics and information for evaluation.

Barry went on to say that the project plan is to develop a systematic, disciplined, and highly replicable model for helping Friends to nurture the creation of new, vibrant Quaker meetings and worship groups across the U.S. and Canada. It plans to do this by:

Developing resources to help such meetings and worship groups thrive. Working with individuals and meetings to start new worship groups or meetings, and supporting them through the travel team/liaison structure.
Creating a travel team of seasoned Friends to visit the new meetings and serve as FGC liaisons to the new groups.
Identifying practices for creating vital communities, both within Quaker meetings and also from other faith communities, and documenting them in a “founding a new meeting” manual
Helping foster channels of support through yearly meetings.

The project has three main goals:

Develop a replicable model for helping Friends to nurture the creation of new, vibrant Quaker meetings and worship groups across the U.S. and Canada.

Hold a consultation with yearly meeting leadership from at least 10 yearly meetings on how best to coordinate with yearly meetings to efficiently and dynamically implement this project.
Design and implement a workshop held at regular intervals for training those interested in seeding new worship groups and meetings.
Establish a system to assess whether applicants who wish to start new groups are prepared to seed and grow new communities.

Make the Quaker spiritual path available to many more people through documenting, teaching, and coaching deep spiritual practices.

Research, document, and publish a manual to guide the formation of new Quaker worship groups or meetings. Include best practices from both Quaker and non-Quaker spiritual communities.

Seed 10-15, or possibly more, new worship groups and meetings.

Recruit and train a minimum of 10 Friends to serve on the traveling team for seeding meetings.
Train and support a minimum of 30 Friends or seekers in preparation for establishing new Quaker worship groups or meetings.

Brent then shared where the project is to date. Since September 17, 2012, FGC has received 17 inquiries from all across the US. Many of the inquiries so far have come from seasoned Friends who have moved to areas where there are no Quaker meetings or worship groups.

As part of the project’s research, we will be surveying meetings or worship groups in the US or Canada that have started since 2002. So far, the project has collected the names of almost 80 such groups. An electronic survey collecting census data and other basic information will be going out within the next two weeks to these meetings. Some of the meetings will be selected for in-person interviews with more in-depth questions.

We are also in the resource development phase. A number of materials have been assembled or created already. Shorter pieces will be available in the “New Meetings Toolbox” on the FGC website. We intend to create other resources pages for in-depth resources.

A Working Group has been established and is meeting regularly to plan the project’s work. Invitations to consider being a part of the NMP travel teams will be going out in late January. There will be a retreat for the pilot travel team members in April.

Brent then gave a brief overview of the next day’s activities and invited participants to ask the following discernment questions as they consider the NMP and its work: 1) Where is Beauty in it? 2) Where is the Truth for us in this work? 3) Where will it create/give Life? 4) Where is there Love? We adjourned after a time of reflection

1/19/2013

Morning Session

Brent welcomed Friends after a time of worship with Pendle Hill folks. He announced that the day would end with a final session for questions, sharing, and discussion. He then shared that seeking group wisdom is a spiritual enterprise and our work together with God. All of the day’s activities are to be engaged in with the intent of listening to God through the collective spiritual wisdom of those gathered. The first activity of the morning was a modification of an exercise called World Café. Friends gathered around tables, with four to six at each on. Each table had a chart-paper tablecloth and some marking pens. Each table chose a “host” who stayed at that table. Questions were introduced and each table had 20 minutes to share about how they’d answer each question. Participants were encouraged to record on the tablecloth any ideas, insights or questions that emerged. When time was called and everyone, except the host, moved to different tables with different people. The host then welcomed the people new to the table and shared key ideas and questions that emerged from that table's earlier discussion. Then the next question was posed to the entire group. After all the questions were asked, each table shared its answers to the three questions. The chart-paper tablecloths were then hung on the walls so the group could refer to them during the day.

The questions asked were:

This is a great opportunity for Friends – local, yearly meeting and FGC. What hopes do you have for this project?
What roles should the yearly meetings take in this project?
What roles should FGC take in this project?
Is there anything FGC needs to know about working with your yearly meeting and new meetings/worship groups in your area?
How do we do this work together?

A sampling of some of the responses include (these are unedited, directly off the chart paper):

This is a great opportunity for Friends – local, yearly meeting and FGC. What hopes do you have for this project?

Data base and clearing house of information at FGC so that information is shared with yearly meetings so they can reach out
Yearly meetings and monthly meetings need to be willing to make contact and people need to be willing to be contacted.

What roles should the yearly meetings take in this project?

Yearly meetings should have a group to go visit with a new worship group or meetings and yearly meeting staff are resource
FGC travel team and yearly meeting staff communicate and work together and be in contact with
Worship group in some cases under care of yearly meeting not monthly meeting
Help address the loss meetings will feel if people who have been traveling a distance to be a part of that meeting split off and start a worship group

What roles should FGC take in this project?

Is FGC proactive or responsive or both?
FGC is in position to bring together resources and to see whole picture of what is happening in other yearly meetings so can FGC help yearly meetings interconnect.
Some resources are people and not written resources.

Is there anything FGC needs to know about working with your yearly meeting and new meetings/worship groups in your area?

Some regions have more than one yearly meeting. Are there ways to be beneficial to most? Some yearly meetings cover vast areas. Some regions only have two or three Friends living in them. How can FGC help yearly meetings seed worship groups or support them as isolated Friends?
Yearly meetings may have not been able to meet needs within their area, realizing this will mean some grieving of this, and why a relationship with FGC is important.
Assumption that all yearly meetings are willing to get involved in some way. They would like information to take back from this consultation to yearly meeting and lines of communication about NMP requests.

How do we do this work together?

Use Skype etc. to continue this conversation, learning because we can’t all keep coming back to meet face-to-face.
How can FGC help weave our wisdom collecting and assembling resources from out there among us to share collectively?
Visits by FGC visitors and yearly meeting visitors are both important.
Share among yearly meetings and monthly meetings what is going on. Share news among yearly meetings via regular progress reports.

Following the sharing of the answers, Friends then shared some of their hopes for the New Meetings Project. Among those lifted up during a lively time of sharing were:

That the NMP could be a clearing house of information and support for yearly meetings and their monthly meetings and getting information to the monthly meetings.
For FGC to provide mentor/trainers to help develop monthly meetings (not just worship groups) within the yearly meetings.
That the NMP start and remain centered in God
That the NMP work with openness to theological diversity
That the NMP help Quakers address cultural diversity and cross cultural bias better
Create data base for all this info to help people plug in
That tools will be developed to weave together yearly meetings,quarterly meetings, monthly meetings, and isolated Friends
That it becomes everyone’s project not just yearly meetings’ and FGC’s project

Afternoon Session

Following lunch, the attendees gathered again in the Barn. The next spiritual exercise was aimed at uncovering what gives life to the Religious Society of Friends via the personal stories of those who were gathered.

Each participant paired off with a Friend she or he didn’t know well to conduct a spiritual interview. One of them did the first interview; the other the second. Each interviewer had 15 minutes to ask two questions (see below) of the other person. They could only ask clarifying questions or questions that helped flesh out the respondent’s answers to the questions. They could not make opinion statements. The task was to listen carefully and really hear the other person’s spiritual story in order that we, together, could hear the conditions and things that bring life, and attract seekers, to the Quaker way. The two questions were:

What brought you to/kept you among Friends?
What is one of the most memorable life giving experiences for you among Friends?

When the group reassembled, Friends shared how the person they interviewed answered the question, “What brought you to/kept you among Friends? These were recorded on flip chart paper and hung around the room. Some of the answers included:

Belief based on experience (not dogma)
Quaker ideals and values
Spiritual formation program
Beauty and wonder of finding self in spiritual home
Invitation
Participating in a Young Adult Friends group
The high spiritual values of the Quaker way

Attendees then shared their own most memorable experiences among Friends. These were not recorded, but rather listened to and accepted in a worshipful attitude.

Following this sharing, Friends commented on this exercise. Some of the comments include:

we recognizedourselves in the spiritual experiences of others
we saw the spark in each other’s eyes
there was passion in the answers
seeing the way Spirit works is awesome
engagement in Light is compelling.

Friends then moved to an asset mapping exercise to help us see the tools for this project (and others) with which God has already blessed us. Participants sat around tables and had access to 5x7 colored Post-It notes and markers. Each person generated a stack of assets by writing each asset he or she could think of on separate sheets of paper.

The types of assets the group looked at were:

people assets
resource assets (books, media, etc)
physical assets
economic/financial assets

Some of the assets lifted up were:

People Assets
Friends who are attending this NMP consultation (3)
All those involved in traveling ministries (4)
Clerks (yearly meeting, quarterly meeting, monthly meeting)
Resource Assets
Websites (yearly meeting, monthly meeting, FGC, other Quaker)
Quakerism 101 (or some variation)
Yearly meetings’ Faith and Practice
Physical Assets
Our meetinghouses
Quaker affiliated colleges and universities
Our homes for more intimate meetings with newcomers and seekers
Economic/Financial Assets
Lyman Fund
Yearly meeting travel funds
Funds under the care of various yearly meeting committees

The papers were posted on the wall by asset type. During the break that followed, Friends walked around and looked at the lists that were generated. FGC staff will take these and compile them.

Following a short break, there was a time of conversation, sharing, and questions.

The question was raised about existing meetings needing renewal and wondering if this project can serve them.
No, but the Traveling Ministries Program can.
Has FGC talked about staff time to attend yearly meetings to do workshops on the project?
Yes. Brent, Michael, Deborah, and Barry will be attending some yearly meetings and available to lead interest groups and answer questions.
What is our position regarding groups that may want to affiliate with non-FGC yearly meetings? The example given was that several yearly meetings could approach a new worship group in North Carolina.
We are open to working with worship groups/new meetings where they are and no matter what the need or with whom they might wish to eventually affiliate. We will help them connect as they are ready.
We need this project to also take time to consider how we get our meetings to be closer to US/Canadian demographics so that we Friends look like the fullness of God’s creation.
If there are resources that can help us learn to reach out so Quakers can be more inclusive,the NMP would appreciate learning of them.
Can we have access to the PowerPoint?
Yes, let Brent know and he’ll send it.
Will there be access to the generated notes?
Yes, but it may be up to three weeks before that happens.
What is the time frame?
We have been funded for two years for the pilot project.
How will evaluation be done? Who will do it and how will criteria be developed? Who decides what success is and will yearly meetings be involved?
This is being developed. We are keeping statistics and talking about what success looks like. Yes, yearly meetings will be involved.
What are the concerns that haven’t been addressed? A lot have come out but there are probably others still out there.
FGC would like to have these communicated to the project so that they can be addressed. We will ask that specific question in an evaluation of this event.
Will NMP travel teams integrated with the yearly meetings?
Travel teams will work with yearly meetings and regions as we are able.
Travel groups also need to be about who we are becoming, not just who we are now. We need People of Color and people who are equipped to talk beyond our own current demographics. The NMP needs to work with local regions based on the regions assets and relationships.
Quaker Finder needs to be updatable. It isn’t accurate right now. There needs to be a way local contact people can update their own info.
What does FGC want from those gathered and the yearly meetings?

Take this information back to yearly meetings and begin conversations about this project
Yearly meeting clerks need to be involved and yearly meetings have additional NMP advocates, too
Love and commitment to the broadest concept of what NMP is about

We closed with a time of appreciation and worship.