How the truth has prospered in Stourbridge Meeting

Stourbridge Local Meeting

We are a busy and lively Meeting, and hope that amongst the “great busyness” the truth is prospering. 

Spiritual development, communications and social events

• The Meeting’s primary means of communication is the monthly Friends Newsletter, distributed to 75 current and former members and attenders, and other friends of the Meeting. 
• The Experiment with Light group continues to meet approximately monthly.
• Several “Desert Island Discs” events have been held, each followed by a shared lunch.  In addition to sharing Friends’ music choices the real value of these events is being able to listen to the life journeys of the castaways.
• “Pop Up Breakfasts” (before Meeting for Worship) are held a few times each year
• An All-age Meeting for Worship was held on 24^th November 2024
• Elders arranged an Enquirer’s workshop on 5^th October, titled “Why Be a Quaker?”
• A “Pilgrimage” walk over the Clent Hills (with an alternative activity for non-walkers), followed by a shared lunch in Clent Parish Hall, took place in May 2024
• A visit to the Black Country Museum took place in June 2024. 

Rainbows – Stourbridge Children’s Group

• Rainbows meet on the last Sunday of each month.  Though small in number the children are enthusiastic, and they help to choose and support charities for the Meeting’s special collections. This year they have prepared an animated film celebrating the 400^th anniversary of George Fox’s birth.  Due to declining numbers of children, the future of the group is presently under review.

Faith in the community, faith in action

• Each year grants totalling ca. £12,000 are given to over 20 beneficiaries including the Meeting’s own projects, Area Meeting and BYM
• Stourbridge directly supports a number of local asylum seekers.  There is an ongoing special “Meeting of Sanctuary” collection to support this work, and £2,200 was raised during 2024.  Our “Sanctuary friends” joined us for a shared lunch on 17^th November.
• The Meeting plays an active part in Churches Together (Stourbridge).  We hosted a discussion evening on 23^rd October 2024 on the theme, “The Work of Prison Chaplains”. 
• 10 “Peace Pilgrims” walking from Malvern to Telford stayed overnight in the Meeting House on 12^th September
• Many individual Stourbridge Friends are “concerned activists” and take part in a range of local and national events/protests.

Outreach

• The Meeting took part in Heritage Open Days on 14^th – 15^th September, with a talk on “Dr Samuel Johnson, Stourbridge and the Quakers” on 15^th
• National Quaker week at the end of September was celebrated with daily Facebook posts sharing a range of information about Quakers
• The Meeting had a stall in the centre of Stourbridge on 4^th October
• 9 members of the Meeting visited Oakwood prison on 7^th October to take part in their Meeting for Worship, in celebration of World Quaker Day
• The Meeting’s “outreach group” is particularly active, and one member serves on the Area Meeting Outreach and Communications Committee

Sustainability

• A study group of 11 Friends was formed to explore “Faith and Climate Justice”, using the resources provided by BYM, and held six sessions (each based on one of six booklets) in 2024.  (We commend this resource to other Meetings)

Projects: Stourbridge Meeting supports, and holds restricted funds for, three projects:-

• Uganda: the peace-building and education work undertaken by John and Diana Lampen in Uganda continues actively, and a detailed report was published in the Autumn 2023 edition of “Roundabout”, the Area Meeting newsletter.  A member of the Meeting, Julia Furminger, undertook a third trip to Uganda and a second trip to Kenya in Spring 2024 to teach women and girls how to make reusable sanitary products.
• Stourbridge Seir Twinning Group (Palestine):  for several years our Meeting has supported a Women’s Co-operative in Seir, a small village in the West Bank near Hebron. Following the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack, the villagers have been threatened and attacked by Israeli settlers, illegally occupying Palestinian land, and there is deep concern for their safety and future.  We receive regular updates.
• Journeymen Theatre: our Meeting has provided administrative support for Journeymen Theatre, who have written and performed powerful and thought-provoking productions on themes reflecting Quaker concerns and testimonies. A legacy book was launched in June 2024, and is on sale. 

Children are welcome at our meeting. There is a special children’s meeting on the last Sunday of every month.

Access to the Meeting House is suitable for people using mobility aids. A large wheelchair friendly accessible toilet is also available.

We let rooms to local groups for individual events and series of sessions, subject to availability. Alcohol is not allowed in the building. Hiring enquiries to Diana at 013854 377518 or lampen@hopeproject.co.uk

What3Words locator for the Meeting House: lease.weep.bunks

By Bus: the number 9 from Birmingham will take you to Stourbridge Bus Station – then see map below.

By train: from/via either Moor Street or Snow Hill Station to Stourbridge Junction, then take the shuttle to Stourbridge Town – then see map below.

By car:  Note that parking in Scotts Road outside the Meeting House is very limited and parking time is restricted to two hours.  Please avoid bringing a car unless absolutely necessary.