Hope is a Thing with Feathers by Bernie Jordan
A Quaker Renewal? by Paul Hodgkin
Aloha Mother Tree by Annie Knight-Elliott
A Community of Subjects, not a Collection of Objects by Clἱodhna Mulhern
National Emergency! by Wendy Pattinson
National Emergency Briefing by Jackie Carpenter
Precepts, Disciplines, Rules and Rituals by Andrew Taylor-Browne
Zen and the Art of Allotment Maintenance by Kathryn May
Moral Consensus and the Determination of Citizens by Gill Westcott
Conversations with Nature (creative writing initiative) by Quaker Arts Network
Living Witness is anchored, sustained and perturbed by our online meetings for worship. I often have a sense of holding tension between the urge for certainty and the truth of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in the world we inhabit. Friends draw inspiration from court wins and initiatives like the National Emergency Briefing screenings, while questioning whether the search for solutions is itself part of the problem. Our ministry often comes back to themes of relationship and community. What does it mean to answer that of God in every one, in non-human others and the Earth? Can we practice this in our worship and our lives? Can we both rejoice in the beauty and respond to the violence, brokenness and trauma we encounter – which we may be part of, and which may in some way be part of us? What might reparation require of us, in relationship with other humans and other life?
Contributors to this issue of EarthQuaker have all found ways to stay with these questions or take the next step. There are many common themes, and also differences. They include living simply, tending to an allotment, or taking action with others; cultivating an ancestral discipline of principles and practices; renewing Quaker worship in non-geographic communities through Zoom; recognising and experiencing other living entities as subjects rather than objects.
Some of the contributions were shared as ministry in Living Witness worship. Some are from Living Witness Trustees who have been considering our future direction as a charity and a community. And some reflect the ways we connect to other communities and processes, locally and nationally.
Britain Yearly Meeting’s July session was the first in the new format of holding discernment throughout the year rather than in just one event. We considered offering formal Quaker membership through non-geographic meetings – which might relate to the question of what membership means for Living witness. Friends were deeply moved by ministry on the need for reparation in relationships with those living with the heritage of Quaker involvement in transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans. This will be explored at a conference, online and at Friends House, open to all, on 23rd October and YM sessions in 2027. There are close connections for our Living Witness community in asking how we are led in the work of reparation. In November Friends in Britain will have first sight of our draft Book of Discipline, for consideration over the coming years. Perhaps this will help with our explorations in Living Witness.
Living Witness Trustees have agreed to make the change from a charitable trust to a membership-based CIO. Over the next few months we expect to begin conversations with Friends on our email list and those attending our meetings for worship and other events, to discern what new structures and processes are needed.
Laurie Michaelis on behalf of EarthQuaker editorial group