M&O Dec 22 Update

11/12/22 21:12 Filed in: SBQM Update

Update from the September meeting of the Ministry & Oversight Team:

The last couple of weeks have been gloriously busy around the Meeting House, with the building be very much used by many groups. It is wonderful that both the Worship Sharing Group and the Quaker Book Group are now meeting in person each month, and that the monthly After Meeting Conversations are seeing great engagement. Likewise, it was a joy to have the annual Christmas Fair for Quaker Service at the Meeting House, with our Friends from Frederick Street and indeed other Meetings, enabling not just fundraising but a lovely sense of networking.

In the M&O team, we are now planning for After Meeting Conversations for 2023, looking at many different aspects of our faith and practice. These will take place on the third Sunday of each month, although in July and August we will plan for Meeting picnics, as we did this year.

To help explain some of our "practice", and demystify some of the peculiar jargon we Quakers use around our Meetings, we are also about to publish on our website a "jargon-busting" guide. We hope that it is helpful, but do use it to raise with us any questions you have. Some of the ways we do things can seem strange to newcomers, but there is generally a good, challenging and positive reason underlying our actions - or so we dearly hope!

Related to that is the whole issue of how we communicate to those who might be interested in Quakerism. We are wary of proselytising, with the danger that we appear to be denigrating other approaches. Against that we find Quakerism a rich and important way in which to live and are very keen to make it accessible to those who are seeking. Getting the balance right in communication is therefore very important to us, and a theme that we think about a good deal in M&O.

We also continue to gently remind you about our Funeral forms, setting out your wishes. We have had a number of the new forms returned, and we would be keen to see more, since it helps everyone. We also may be gently checking your age - not for any malign reason but because we want to ensure that older Members get access to some financial support to which they are entitled!

The Ministry and Oversight team - Felicity, Jonathan, Ian, Kerry, Marie, Michael, Sylvia and Will

SOUTH BELFAST QUAKERS

Quakers (or the Religious Society of Friends as they are also known), have held Meetings for Worship in Ireland since 1654. After a previous failed attempt to establish a lasting Belfast Meeting around 1665, the first permanent Belfast Quaker Meeting was established in 1799, and in 1810 it moved to Brewery Lane, now known as Frederick Street. It wasn’t until 1956 that a second Meeting was approved for Friends who lived in Belfast, this time based in the south of the city. South Belfast Meeting House is an active Meeting with approximately 45 adult members and attenders who worship together each Sunday. Children & Young People also play a large part in our meeting, and we have on average 22, 1-18 year olds joining us for the last 10 mins of our worship, after their own activities.

Meeting for Worship takes place at 10.45am each Sunday at our meeting house ( see address and directions on the contact page )

Alternatively you can join us on Zoom with the following details:

Meeting iD: 4613195026
Pass: 143412

South Belfast Meeting is part of the larger Ireland Yearly Meeting (see details of Quakers in Ireland below)