2021 PSC annual event report
2021 Peace and Service Consultation annual event report
CHALLENGING COMMUNICATIONS
The annual Peace and Service Consultation took place online for the second year in a row, in response to pandemic-related uncertainty.
The date and the location of the 2022 annual Consultation will be shared once it has been determined. Monthly sessions will continue into 2022 on the following schedule:
In January, March, May, July, September and November they are at 13:00 Central European Time.
In February, April, June, August, October and December they are at 19:00 CET.
We used the monthly network session in November, a week before the annual event, to share our news and updates with each other. We heard from individuals involved in peace, climate and activities with humans on the move. And we heard from people involved with Northern Friends Peace Board, Friends House Moscow, Coalition for Work With Psychotrauma and Peace, American Friends Service Committee and Quaker Council for European Affairs.
At our annual Consultation we used Zoom for our sessions and the Wonder space for informal meeting time.
The focus of our event was “Exploring how we use language and imagery to explain our work – challenging our assumptions,” which was ably presented and facilitated by Tracey Martin who is a staff member at Woodbrooke (the European Quaker Study Centre) and is clerk of Quaker World Relations Committee of Britain Yearly Meeting.
Using a simple image of both a younger and older woman, we were challenged to think about what we see when we see something. Most people saw the younger woman first and many could only see the older woman with help, even if they had seen the image before. One Friend later explained, the impact of such a simple exercise can be profound:
“Looking at the picture of the young woman/old woman reinforced what I perhaps tend to forget: that communication (and truth) is multifaceted. I may be trying to communicate one thing (young woman), but what is seen/heard may be very different (old woman).”
Later on, we examined texts found online from different organizations and were challenged to think about what those who wrote them were trying to convey and what we understood that they said.
A participant explained the challenge that occurred to them from exploring other people’s words:
“Looking at written texts brought home to me the potential for misunderstanding and the need to take care not to make sweeping claims that are not altogether true.”
We were reminded that when we write or say something, we have what we mean to say, what we say, what someone else hears and what someone else assumes.
Our time together was spent in plenary, in Home Groups and in individual reflection with further support from Tracey Martin.
We also had social time together, which included storytelling around the themes of water and hats and in some case both subjects.
The nature of online meetings, almost two years through a pandemic, changes and some of us found our time together to be somewhat disjointed or fractured at times.
During the business meeting of the Peace and Service Consultation we agreed to hold another weekend event next year and to continue with our monthly network sessions. Lee Taylor was appointed as co-clerk for one more year and Sue Glover Frykman was appointed for 2 years, both from the rise of the meeting.
We heard calls to think about who comes to the Peace and Service Consultation and who does not come and we were encouraged to think about how to engage with younger Friends.
Report by Jez Smith
