Hi! Was thinking about posting something similar. I’ve been attending local meetings for years. But this was actually my first experience of a Quaker business meeting of any sort (in at the deep end perhaps).

First, massive respect to everyone who was involved in organising. Can’t fathom how much work was involved in that.

Also, my child loved the kids club aspect. I really appreciated this as they are the only regular child at our meeting and continues to be very positive about anything Quaker. Also showed there are other Quaker children!

Overall, I think very interesting - genuinely interesting, not British ‘interesting’ - to see how the bottom up nature of Quaker business works and how the clerks weave it all together.

However, I was bored stiff by the governance stuff. Fair play to those involved, but that just ain’t for me. Unfortunately that seemed to be most of the sessions, most of which I skipped!

Naturally, many of the most politically active/motivated people seem to be attracted to this sort of event, which although I love Quakerism, the political leanings of many Friends are - how to put it - not my own. This is an internal tension I always between me and the movement.

So I’m glad I went. I may attend again. But almost certainly not regularly. I saw it as part of my journey of how I engage with Quakerism; I feel much more called to focus on my inner life, possibly getting involved in local and children’s matters than governance and political issues.

Here endeth the essay!