QUIET WAYS

The Newsletter of Sussex East Area Meeting

January 2018

Report to Sussex East Area Meeting from Meeting for Sufferings2nd December 2017

Meeting for Sufferings convenedat Friends House on 2ndDecember. This was also a YoungFriends Participation Day, whenyoung Friends from around thecountry were also holding meetingsand activities of their own but wouldcome to join us in Meeting fromSufferings for certain sessions atintervals during the day,discovering the nature of thebusiness we do and how it isconducted, and also joining in ordeliberations from time to time withvalued contributions of their own.

We heard of two new entries forthe “court register” which maintainsrecords of the literal “sufferings” ofFriends who have witnessed for

their faith, a way in which wekeep alive the tradition of thereason why Meeting forSufferings was first establishedin the 17th century. The caseswe heard of today both involvedFriends from Yorkshire. One, IanBray, had been arrested whiletaking part in a demonstration inLondon for clean air. He waskept in custody for a week, thenprosecuted and given aconditional discharge with coststo pay. The other caseconcerned Barbara Penney, whowas taking part in ademonstration outside theAmerican military base atMenwith Hill when an American

civilian drove a vehicle out fromthe base and struck her, causingsignificant injuries. The driverconcerned was in fact prosecutedfor this but was acquitted at histrial.

Of particular interest to ourArea Meeting was the concernabout paying taxes for war, whichwas discussed at Area Meeting inUckfield on 14th October andforwarded to Meeting forSufferings. Meeting for Sufferingsdecided to forward this matter toQuaker Peace and Social Witnessfor advice before having anydiscussion on taking the matterfurther. Another issues on whichour Area Meeting had become

Peter F. Bolwell - Hastings LM

The Book of Christian Discipline of the Society of Friends from 1883 held in the Woodbrooke Library

Report to Sussex East Area Meeting from Meeting for Sufferings2nd December 2017Continued…

QUIET WAYS

involved was a Minute from DevonArea Meeting asking for BritainYearly Meeting to ensure that wedid not hold any investments incompanies who were profitingfrom the Israeli occupation ofPalestinian territories. At the samemeeting on 14th October SussexEast Area Meeting had sent aMinute to Meeting for Sufferingssupporting this concern. Inresponse we heard from theTreasurer of Britain YearlyMeeting trustees to say they heldno such investments.

We then considered adocument called “SanctuaryEverywhere Manifesto” producedby QPSW. This calls for humanrights standards to apply tomigrants, for an end to indefinitedetention and the closure ofdetention centres, and an end toarbitrary deportation. After sometrenchant criticism from the floor(myself included!) of parts of thewording which were inadequate,the document was accepted. Thefinal text as amended has not yetbeen published but will no doubtappear on the Yearly Meetingwebsite in due course.

On financial issues generallythe Treasurer informed us thatYearly Meeting had incurred asmall operating deficit last year of£672 which was easily met fromreserves. There did not seem tobe the kind of panic and gloom wehad heard previously about theparlous state of Yearly Meeting’sfinances, though this willobviously depend on currentlevels of income and contributionsbeing maintained.

We heard that the committeewhich was set up to considerwhether a further revision ofQuaker Faith and Practice was

required have now come down onthe side of definitelyrecommending revision. Moreoverthis is not going to be the kind ofminor “tweaking” we have seen inprevious recent editions or just theaddition of procedural reforms buta wholesale, root and branchreworking. Even the format islikely to be radically different, withthe text of the book itself dealingsimply with basic principles, so asto explain for example why we dothings the way we do, but with thenuts-and-bolts details of practiceand procedure excluded from themain volume and being publishedseparately in a series of leafletswhich will be easier to keep up-dated.

This is likely to be the biggestshake-up of our basic referencebook that we have seen in ageneration. However it is going totake a while before this comes intoeffect. First Meeting for Sufferingswill recommend the revision toYearly Meeting in 2018, then if(and only if) Yearly Meetingagrees, it will then be sent backagain to Meeting for Sufferings fora committee to be set up to do theactual work of revision. It wasmade fairly clear that one of theaims of the proposed revisionwould be to accommodate theviews of Quakers who have nobelief in God and who apparentlyfeel under-represented in thecurrent texts. There were heart-felt pleas from the floor thatthough new texts may be includedto reflect these views,nevertheless existing texts whichare familiar and are loved andtreasured by many Quakersshould not be discarded. It willremain to be seen whether thesefeelings will be taken into account.

Finally there was news of someinteresting legal shenanigansconcerning the infamous LobbyingAct. of 2014 which is widelyacknowledged to have laid adisproportionately heavy burdenon the charitable sector ascompared with corporate interests.One of the quirks of the legislationis that when Theresa May calledthe “snap” election earlier thisyear, all campaigning activitieswhich had occurred over theprevious 12 months back to June2016 fell foul of the Actretrospectively, even thoughnobody could have foreseen theelection being called at that time.The Act is deeply unpopularamong opposition political partiesas well as the charity sector, andYearly Meeting is currently innegotiations with several charitiesto consider if any form of jointaction would be practicable inorder to put pressure on thegovernment to amend it. Watchthis space!

An early version of Advices &Queries - Woodbrooke Library

Keith Harcourt

The Peace Museum

QUIET WAYS

The Peace Museum is the onlymuseum in the UK which isdedicated to the history and(often untold) stories of peace,peacemakers and the peacemovement in the UK.

Key elements of their work areeducational outreach andpromoting community cohesion inpartnership with communityagencies. They use the collectionof 7,000 artefacts, banners,posters and videos to inspirepeople to see peacemaking as anactive endeavour.

The museum is open onWednesdays, Thursdays andFridays from 10am–4pm at 10Piece Hall Yard, Bradford BD11PJ. Visits at other times can bearranged if booked in advance.

Do have a look at theirnewsletter http://bit.ly/2DOrzEIwhich has details of events in2018 as well as their bloghttp://bit.ly/2Cc3AyP If you are inBradford why not visit?

A small snippet of the collection atBradford Peace Museum. Photo: ThePeace Museum ©

I am indebted to Canon GilesFraser for bringing a Welsh WarPoet to my attention via his piecein the Guardian Newspaperhttp://bit.ly/2ACNYnJ which Irecommend as an excellent read.

Ellis Humphrey Evans was aWelsh Farmer, Poet andShepherd from Trawsfynydd justthe other side of the mountainfrom where our Friend BettyRaymond lies buried in Wales.His Bardic Name Hedd Wynwhich can be translated asBlessed Peace, was awarded tohim in 1910. Though he was aNon-Conformist pacifist, whenone of the family had to go to thewar in 1917, he, though he was29, took the place of his youngerbrother Robert. He submitted apoem titled “Yr Awr” (The Hero)for the National Eisteddfod bypost under the pseudonym “Fleurde Lys”, as he was on his way toFrance. He died in the first threehours of the battle of Ypres on31st July 1917. The poem wonhim the Bardic Chair for 1917,and by tradition it is a physicalchair, which that year was handcrafted by  Flemish craftsman,Eugeen Vanfleteren (1880–1950), a carpenter bornin  Mechelen,  Belgium, who hadfled to England on the outbreakof war and had settled inBirkenhead. When Fluer de Lyswas announced as the winner noone rose to claim the chair andthe ArchDruid announced thatHedd Wyn was amongst thosekilled in action. The chair wasdraped in black and presented tohis parents. The Eisteddfod of1917 is now referred to as"Eisteddfod y Gadair Ddu" ("TheEisteddfod of the Black Chair").

Hedd Wyn's poem Rhyfel whichtranslates as “War” captures thefutility of conflict.

Rhyfel (War)

Why must I live in this grim age,When, to a far horizon, GodHas ebbed away, and man, withrage,Now wields the sceptre and therod?

Man raised his sword, once Godhad gone,To slay his brother, and the roarOf battlefields now casts uponOur homes the shadow of the war.

The harps to which we sang arehung,On willow boughs, and theirrefrainDrowned by the anguish of theyoungWhose blood is mingled with therain

Ellis Humphrey Evans - Hedd Wyn

Keith Harcourt

Cerny-en-Laonnois War Cemeterycovers 13,515 square metres. Christians,Muslims and Jews of French, Germanand Russian extraction lie here.

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GovernanceThe trustees met on 29th April,23rd May and 24th June.Trustees have made anapplication to the CharityCommission for the Area Meetingto be registered as a CharitableIncorporated Organisation. Weexpect this will take effect witheffect from 1 January 2018, whenall assets of the Area Meeting willbe transferred to the neworganisation.FinanceTrustees continued to keep thestate of the whole Area Meeting'sfinances under review. The mainwork in the period was thepreparation of the 2016 AnnualAccounts. The accounts had tobe reworked in the light of advicefrom Quaker StewardshipCommittee in Friends House andour professional advisers.Trustees agreed to includesubstantial provisions in the 2016Accounts to show spending onrepairs to Herstmonceux Estatethat was agreed in 2016 but notpaid until early 2017. Trustees re

Sussex East Area Quaker MeetingReport of Trustees for Second Quarter of 2017John Thurley

categorised Area Meeting fundsand reviewed the ReservesPolicy. Trustees agreed to createa Property Fund (replacing theBerta Wilson, Beatrice Chaplinand Building Reserve Funds)and a People Fund.The review of investments andfinancial controls was ongoing.RiskThe risk register was updatedand kept under review.BexhillBexhill Friends are clarifyingquotations for the replacement ofthe flat roof.LewesTrustees approved detailedproposals to tackle outstandingrepairs and maintenance of theMeeting House. This includedemploying a buildingmaintenance company to planand schedule the work. Highpriority work will start in thesummer.EastbourneTrustees endorsed the Meeting’sproposals to recommence hiringsof the Meeting House later in the

Following publication of my photobelow, Anne Johnson emailed tosay, “You may not know that Johnand Jane Pettigrew ofEastbourne Meeting used to livein Shackleton’s house…”

Camilla Pyers-Pennant, alsoemailed, “Ernest Shackleton alsolived in Sydenham, SE Londonwhere I used to live and there isa house with a plaque there too....”

Shackleton’s House

Dear All,It was good to see you thisweekend. This is just to thankthe AM and Uckfield Friendsfor having me along on Sat-urday. It was a busy day andI appreciated their welcome& hospitality.I also wanted to flag up, giv-en the AM concern for peace,that a Friend in Maidstonehas a leading that West KentFriends have discerned to

support, by looking at havinga stall at a summerevent/show in PaddockWood, called ‘War & Peace’.Friends were not sure howmuch peace was regarded inthis.https://warandpeacerevival.com/They are looking for Friendsto support this by coming tohelp man the stall for a day orhalf day between 24-28 July.

Would you be able to forwardthis out to see if any Friendsare interested in comingalong? If they want to contactSue Laidlay, clerk of Maid-stone meeting, sue laidlayslaidlay@hotmail.com or my-self carriec@quaker.org.ukeither is fine.In Friendship,Carrie020 7663 1166 (direct)07422972975 (mobile)

Letter from CarrieCarrie Comfort - Local Development Worker -Vibrancy in Meetings Project (Friends’ House) attended AMat Uckfield on 14th October and sent us this email afterwards. Can anyone help?

Edited by Keith Harcourt - keith@harcourt-consultancy.co.ukfor Sussex East Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

All images © Keith Harcourt unless otherwise credited.