Claire Bowman reports on this recent ecumenical gathering:

I’m very happy to have represented Central England Quakers at this year’s West Midlands Church Leaders Summit, which took place at Holland House in Cropthorne on the 29th and 30th of September. It was an opportunity for everyone to network, worship together and consider matters of mutual interest and it was wonderfully enriching to have leaders of black led and orthodox churches among us. We considered racial justice issues and prayed for each other, especially for those individuals who are facing big life changes, and for churches which are taking on new challenges. The whole group prayed for Britain Yearly meeting in its upcoming transformation to having a continuing Yearly Meeting into which Meeting for Sufferings will be absorbed and I felt blessed to be channelling that upholding through to us all.

It’s always a challenge to introduce a Quaker perspective when others are considering such matters as the difficulties of leading churches and the importance of preaching the gospel – but also refreshing to have an opportunity to explain how Quakers relate to Jesus and the good aspects of having leaders who serve voluntarily for a few years before giving over to others. I described how it had been so reassuring as an Area Meeting clerk to be able to look around the gathered meeting and see those with clerking experience and know that they would be upholding me with a profound understanding of what it takes to do this work. With regard to Jesus I said that for us it was more important to look at his ministry and agree that this is how we would aspire to be, living simply in community, caring for the poor and the sick and seeing that of God in everyone.

Some of the issues were common to all. Many churches are finding that the societal changes that Covid and lockdown and Brexit have brought about has affected them profoundly. People are attracted to come to church for different reasons now and some prefer to worship online. Going out into the community to reach those who don’t come to church at all has become even more important. There is also a need to articulate why coming together as a worshipping community and caring for one another is so vital to the Christian way of life.

We prayerfully considered the war in the Middle East and the wars in so many other parts of the world and wondered how the new Labour government might change life in this country and how the Conservatives might influence British politics in opposition and we offered a listening ear and shared advice to each other over meals and between sessions. To my mind this gathering is valuable to the whole West Midlands community, helping churches to work together with respect and in love whatever the differences of tradition, theology and practice.