A visualisation of what we experience during Meeting for Worship. Photo: Courtesy of YFGM.
Celebrating each other: Jennie Atherton & Juno Lee at YFGM
‘The future of British Quakerism is queer, vibrant, and flourishing.’
Young Friends General Meeting (YFGM) had its first 2025 gathering at Edinburgh Meeting House from 14-16 February. A whopping ninety-two people attended, roughly thirty-five of whom were newcomers. This is almost fifteen more than the average number of attendees at our 2024 events, and the biggest turnout YFGM has seen in over two decades! We have not been to Scotland for a gathering since 2019, and were delighted to be returning.
For a moment coming in the door, it felt chaotic: we were unpractised with hosting so many people. But we relished in the chaos, leant on the established parts of our community, and settled comfortably into our usual Friday evening welcome session, where we presented key housekeeping notices and information about the agenda for the weekend between ice-breaking activities.
Given the amount of newcomers, it was essential to start the weekend with some of our key sessions: ‘Introduction to Quaker Business Method’ and ‘Introduction to Nominations’. We heard from our Nominations Committee around committee sizes, as well as our practice on the age of role-holders.
We heard: the proposed budget for 2025; the report from our representatives at the Future of British Quakerism Conference (Friends felt welcomed by individuals but found the event itself inaccessible); and the report from our Quaker Rainbow representative. We also heard from our Planning Weekend newcomers on their experiences at our recent gathering in Derby in January, and from our Switchboard Committee and our trustees, all of whom are integral to the running of YFGM, as well as from our clerks and our Meeting for Sufferings representatives.
As a Meeting, we also discerned on the Nominations Committee’s proposal to change the committee sizes for Pastoral, Logistics and Elders, from five to ‘five or six’, to allow for further flexibility and accommodate the varying needs of committee members. We also adopted a complaints policy proposed by trustees, and discerned some suggestions for minor amendments.
On the Saturday, we held two Special Interest Group (SIG) sessions. The first set of options were:
- a ‘pop-up choir’, which was a casual choral workshop led by a passionate and beautiful individual voice. Members went around the Meeting house on Sunday morning singing everyone awake in a gentle and charming melody.
- ‘What is Quaker Rainbow?’, in which YFGM’s Quaker Rainbow representative presented the work the Quaker Recognised Body is doing. We explored what it was about the LGBTQIA+ fellowship’s activity that piqued the interest of YFGMers in particular, and brainstormed ideas to strengthen our connections.
- ‘What is a Guest?’: In 2021, YFGM decided that the age limit for the event would be set at thirty-five, but that guests were always welcome. A discussion was held to explore what constitutes a guest, and possibly shaped a future business session on the topic.
- Quaker badge-making: Friends brought Quaker phrases, images, old magazines, and collaging materials, and made badges.
- questions about Quaker residential courses: brainstorming ideas that would appeal to us as eighteen- to thirty-five-year-old Quakers.
The second selection of sessions were held later on in the afternoon:
- cults and high demand religions: what makes them, and how might we recognise these elements in ourselves? (This SIG was especially popular, with over thirty participants!)
- future budget ideas: a drop-in session discussing fundraising and spending ideas for the 2026 budget and beyond.
- a Quaker-themed escape room: ‘The Meeting House has been left in a mess by the renters last night! You have been tasked with putting the room back together before Meeting starts in an hour.’
- book of discipline revision consultation: the Book of Discipline Revision Committee is meeting with various recognised bodies and joined YFGM to give us the chance to consult on the new draft.
- far-flung Friends: we explored how we can support YFGM members who often can’t physically attend YFGM because of distance.
Given the current political situation, especially in its relation to LGBTQ+ rights, our Pastoral Committee felt that we needed to celebrate each other, and there’s no better way to do this than to host an open mic session! We were together on Valentine’s weekend, and our chosen theme was ‘Queer Joy: Love and Pride’. The evening started off with a smashing sketch of a Business Meeting, complete with eerily-accurate clerk facial expressions and a running football-style commentary that had everybody crying with laughter. We shared in the endless talents of our community, including poetry, music, and dance (and maybe thought once or twice about starting a The Mountain Goats tribute band).
On Sunday morning, during Edinburgh’s early Meeting for Worship (MfW), we had our usual spirituality session, where we explored ‘What is Meeting for Worship?’. We were invited to ask ourselves: ‘What does Meeting for Worship mean to us?’ And to draw visualisations of what we experience during Meeting for Worship (see example above). We were given the following questions to ponder:
- What do you seek coming to MfW? What nourishes you? How often do you find it? How would you describe your internal experience of MfW?
- Does it feel active or passive? How does the experience of worship change over time, in new contexts and circumstances?
- How do you centre down? Is this an active process for you? Do you have a routine? Is it something that happens easily for you?
- How do you process and absorb ministry? Can you think of a time when ministry has challenged you, or warmed you? Has anything particularly stayed with you?
- What does ‘holding in the Light’ mean to you? Is this something you do in MfW? What does that feel like?
- If you have experienced it, what does being moved to minister feel like? Does a particular memory stand out?
- What makes a Meeting feel ‘gathered’? What was your most profound experience during a MfW? What was meaningful about it?
We also considered Quaker faith & practice (Qf&p):
- ‘In a gathered meeting there may be few spoken words, but there is rich ministry. An hour passes quickly. Other meetings are lifeless. They may be full of words, but there is little ministry, little that is of service. Time drags and people feel the need to fill the silence. A gathered Meeting has the strength to absorb the differences and support the needs of those who attend it; this is easier when the meeting is a community of people who know and trust each other, who are not afraid to share their experience of worship and to learn from one another’ (‘Exploring the fundamental elements of Quakerism’, 1986, Qf&p 2.38).
- ‘True worship may be experienced at any time; in any place – alone on the hills or in the busy daily life – we may find God, in whom we live and move and have our being. But this individual experience is not sufficient, and in a meeting held in the Spirit there is a giving and receiving between its members, one helping another with or without words. So there may come a wider vision and a deeper experience’ (Qf&p 2.11).
- ‘Ministry is what is on one’s soul, and it can be in direct contradiction to what is on one’s mind. It’s what the Inner Light gently pushes you toward or suddenly dumps in your lap. It is rooted in the eternity, divinity, and selflessness of the Inner Light; not in the worldly, egoistic functions of the conscious mind’ (Marrianne McMullen, 1987, Qf&p 2.66).
In spite of panicked cries from the wider Society on ever-decreasing numbers, we find ourselves in the joyful position of having our largest YFGM gathering in recent memory. We were enlivened by the spirits of so many newcomers, and of course were warmed by the return of so many old friends. In deep chats over veggie haggis, in stolen catch-ups on the stairs, and most of all, in worship, we are reminded that the future of British Quakerism is queer, vibrant, and flourishing.
Jennie & Juno are from YFGM, which relies on donations to run its events. See to contribute.
Comments
I am extremely moved and enthused by this account. One of the most positive descriptions of a gathering I have read in years. Gives me confidence for what is happening now and the future. The reflections on meeting for worship are particularly relevant.
Harvey Gillman
Rye Meeting, Sussex East AM
By Harvey on 13th March 2025 - 9:10
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