Message from the Pastoral Care and Eldership Team (PaCET) for Sunday Meeting 21st September 2025
Dear Friends, We were told recently that several of the teenagers in our Meeting were attending residential summer events for young Quakers. I remember how important such gatherings were for … Message from the Pastoral Care and Eldership Team (PaCET) for Sunday Meeting 21st September 2025
Dear Friends,
We were told recently that several of the teenagers in our Meeting were attending residential summer events for young Quakers. I remember how important such gatherings were for me. Not least having Meetings for Worship with a large group of others of my age group and developing my ideas and commitments. I hope that our young people have found the same.
When Quaker Faith and Practice came out in 1994, I was told that Section 2.17 by Rachel Needham was written when she was 16. As far as I remember, we were also told that she did not want to change the ‘he’ pronoun she used about God, which some contributors had chosen to do in view of non-sexist language being widely adopted at that time. I like Rachel’s straightforward way of describing what Meeting for Worship meant to her and hope her extract echoes some of your experience:
“Meeting is the chance to escape from the trivial thoughts of everyday living, and to find answers from yourself or from God. Some people are scared of the silence. Without the noise that serves to reassure us, that blocks out thoughts we’d rather not have, we’re vulnerable and find it’s time to face ourselves. We can never hide from God, but it’s easy to minimise the effect he has on our lives – except in the silence where he can be heard. Don’t feel restricted by the silence, it is there to set you free from the pressures of life. No-one is judging your movements, your thoughts… Freedom of expression is the freedom to worship God on your own terms. Value the opportunity to think unguided by the world. Learn what you feel you need to know, let other information pass. No moment of silence is a waste of time.
Rachel Needham, 1987 (Quaker Faith and Practice 2.17)
Chris Lawson
Quakers value diversity. We share this Friend’s message in the hope it will speak to others.
Pastoral Care and Eldership Team: Patricia Cockrell, David Hitchin, Sharon Krummel, Tim Pitt-Payne, Theresa Samms, Emily Slater.