Quaker Quest Is Revitalizing PYM Meetings

Norval Reece
Newtown Monthly Meetin

PYM Friends have taken a page out of the British Friends handbook for outreach.

Any Friend who knows what is going on among British Quakers today has to be excited. As British Friends say, “There’s a remarkable change of heart in the Society.”

In 2002, a London grass roots movement to re-introduce Quakers and Quaker Meetings to the wider public caught fire among British Friends.  Now at least 90 British Friends Meetings have engaged in the program, conducted hundreds of Quaker Quest public sessions, and reached thousands of people.

The British Friends’ inspired goal was to offer seekers a way to know Quakers better, setting aside Quaker references and jargon and offering open dialogue in a welcoming atmosphere. It has been excitingly simple and successful in welcoming seekers into dialogue and has now traveled to Australia and South Africa, as well as to the United States.

There have been exciting spin-offs of Quaker Quest.  Among them are: revitalized meetings, new attenders, and growth.  Another is “National Quaker Week” in the United Kingdom.

One news outlet in England described National Quaker Week this way: “The aim of the Week from 22-30 September is to encourage Quakers to drop their traditional modesty and to let their souls ‘sing a different song’.”

And an article in the Guardian referred to a Quaker Meeting in Scotland as having “The ‘Glasgow Library scheme’ where there was a ‘human library’ at the meeting house on Saturday, when visitors could ‘borrow a Quaker’ for 40 minutes for a chat and cup of coffee.”

Some Friends in PYM are now working to have “National Quaker Week” declared nationwide in the United States in the fall of 2011.  The genius of this British grass roots effort is that each meeting decides what it wants to do and how it will celebrate the week in its community.  The larger bodies of Quakers handle supportive regional and national advertising.

Meanwhile, Quaker Quest is catching fire among Friends in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

Two years ago, 111 people attended PYM Quaker Quest Consultation Day at 4th and Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia.  They represented 40 Monthly Meetings and all 13 Quarters. Jean Jenn, one of the British cofounders of the Quaker Quest program, spoke and expressed her joy at the attendance and enthusiasm of the group.  After returning home, she wrote, “Everyone (in London) is thrilled that (Consultation Day) went so well . . . they could not stop me from bubbling over with joyful reporting!”

Jean Jenn’s enthusiasm was well placed.  Six Quaker Quest public sessions have now been held by four PYM Meetings: Haverford (2), Abington, Media, and Arch Street (2). And a robust 16 more Quaker Quest public sessions are in process! Four Meetings are scheduled for early 2011: State College, Richland, Lehigh Valley and Arch Street. Repeat Quaker Quest sessions are being considered by Media, Abington and Haverford. Possibilities for the fall of 2011 include London Grove, Western Grove, Medford and Arch Street. And Meetings that have gone through the training and plan to offer the Quaker Quest program sometime in the future include Swarthmore, Camden (DE), Millville, Chestnut Hill and Third Haven.

This is made possible in part by nine members of PYM who have now been formally trained to assist meetings in launching Quaker Quest: Co-Clerks Harry Forest and Lois Forest, Janet Jackson-Gould, Lee Parry, Carol Suplee, Lola Georg, Ben Lloyd, and Amy Kietzman.

Many more meetings have had information presentations and are considering launching public Quaker Quest programs in the near future.

Were you fortunate enough to hear some of the outstanding Quaker Quest announcements on National Public Radio (NPR) stations in Philadelphia this year?   Haverford, Abington, Media, and 4th and Arch Street meetings cooperated very effectively with joint media advertising for their Quaker Quest programs in the spring of 2010.  It was enough to make a Friend teeter on the brink of pride.  

Here’s what the NPR stations aired: “Quaker Quest supports (the local public radio station) and announces a series of information and discussion sessions to introduce you to Quakerism. During April and May, four Quaker meetinghouses will each be offering Quaker Quest: in Abington, Haverford, Media on Third Street, and Old City Philadelphia at Fourth and Arch streets. Sessions are free, open to the public and held weeknights, Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons. Each meetinghouse will offer warm hospitality and child care.  Come hear modern Quakers speak about their faith, and learn about a spiritual path for our time. Go to phillyquakerquest. org to learn about topics and to find a Quaker Quest  session near you. Quaker Quest: Simple. Vibrant. Contemporary. “

The results of the spring 2010 Quaker Quest public sessions were exciting. Attendance for each of the six public sessions held by each meeting ranged from 25 to 40.  There were 10 to12 new people per session.  Some came several times, and some are now regular attenders for Meetings for Worship on First Day.

PYM’s limited experience to date seems comparable to that of Friends General Conference.  Elaine Crauderueff of FGC Quaker Quest says early results of an impact survey conducted this fall of 62 meetings in 30 states which have had full day workshops or public sessions of Quaker Quest indicates that 76 percent of the meetings have experienced growth since starting the Quaker Quest process, with 24 new members and 77 new regular attenders. (This is based on responses to date from only 22 meetings.)

Participating meetings have felt revitalized by the Quaker Quest process. Ann Dillard of Abington Meeting had this to say: ”Quaker Quest was a very positive experience for our meeting and a real shift in our whole attitude. When we first considered it, I thought it would be an “advertising” campaign and therefore materialistic in orientation. What actually happened was a transformation of our community towards a spiritual ministry of welcoming.”

And Ben Lloyd of Haverford Meeting said, “The Core Group affirmed its sense of the joy in working together, and gratitude for the experience of Quaker Quest, both in the planning and presenting . . . It is our hope that Quaker Quest will continue at our meeting and within the Quarterly and Yearly Meetings, and that it will inspire all Friends to work joyfully together on projects which further our Quaker ministry.”

The Quaker Quest Working Group is now scheduling Meetings for Quaker Quest public sessions in 2011 and 2012 for this highly recommended inreach/ outreach program.

For more information on how to get involved, contact co-clerks Harry and Lois Forest at callighrf [at] medleas [dot] com and/or visit the Quaker Quest web site at www.phillyquakerquest.org