Britain Yearly Meeting

First Quaker meetings in Britain (1654–1672)

Britain Yearly Meeting, which until 1995 was known as London Yearly Meeting, grew out of various national and regional meetings of Friends in the 1650s and 1660s and has met annually in some form since 1668. The first meeting of Friends from different parts of Britain to be organised was at Balby in Yorkshire in 1656. This consisted of representatives from each Church in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire "to consider of such things as might (in the Truth's behalf) be propounded unto them; and to enquire into the cause and matter of disorder, if any be." The Quaker book of discipline, Quaker Faith and Practice records:

We may think of that at Swannington in 1654 or Balby in 1656 (the postscript to whose lengthy letter of counsel is so much better known than the letter itself) or Skipton the same year, or the general meeting for the whole nation held at Beckerings Park, the Bedfordshire home of John Crook, for three days in May 1658, and attended by several thousand Friends. This in some ways might be considered the first Yearly Meeting were it not for the fact that the 1660s, through persecution and pestilence, saw breaks in annual continuity. The meeting in May 1668 was followed by one at Christmastime, which lasted into 1669, since when the series has been unbroken. It is 1668, therefore, that we have traditionally chosen as the date of establishment of London Yearly Meeting. But many (though not all) of the meetings up to 1677 were select, that is, confined to "publick" (or ministering) Friends: from 1678 they were representative rather than select in character.

Establishment of Yearly Meetings (1672)

In 1660 was a meeting which was attended by representatives from Friends from the whole of Britain. At this meeting it was decided that an annual "General Assembly of the Brethren" be held in London annually, the first being held in Fifth Month (May) 1661. For various reasons, this meeting was not held every year, although there has been a national annual meeting of some sort in Britain every year since 1668.

At the "General Meeting of Friends for the Nation" in 1672, it was decided that there would be a:

Generall Meeting of friends held in London once a yeare in the week called Whisun week to consist of six friends for the Citty of London, three for the Citty of Bristoll, two for the Towne of Cochester and one or two from each and every of the Counties of England and Wales respectively (sic)

Minutes are preserved from 1672 which record that this meeting was held in 1673, and from 1674-1677 consisted only of recorded ministers. The Yearly Meeting with representatives from each area as described above was restored in 1678, and has met on an annual basis every year since then.

The end of official persecution in England (1689)

Under James II of England persecution practically ceased. James issued a Declaration of Indulgence in 1687 and 1688, and it was widely held that William Penn had been its author.

In 1689 the Toleration Act was passed. It allowed for freedom of conscience and prevented persecution by making it illegal to disturb anybody else from worship. Thus British Quakerism became tolerated though still not widely understood or accepted and were instead identified in English and Welsh law as a dissenting group.

Yearly Meeting for Women (1784–1907)

Participation in Yearly Meeting was originally only men. In 1784, a Yearly Meeting for Women was set up, which corresponded with equivalent Yearly Meetings for Women in other countries, and corresponded with the Monthly Meetings for Women and Quarterly Meetings for Women in Britain. In 1898, London Yearly Meeting produced a minute stating that

in future, women Friends are to be recognized as forming a constituent part of all our Meetings for Church Affairs equally with their brethren

and since then women have had an equal right to attend London Yearly Meeting. The Yearly Meeting for Women was laid down in 1907.

Fritchley General Meeting (1868)

Fritchley Meeting in Derbyshire split off from London Yearly Meeting in 1868 because they felt that London Yearly Meeting was becoming too evangelical in its outlook. They also objected to Friends in London Yearly Meeting stopping the practices of plain speech and plain dress. They therefore established Fritchley General Meeting as a self-proclaimed Yearly Meeting for Conservative Friends in Britain, which existed as a separate Yearly Meeting entirely independent of London Yearly Meeting, until 1968. Friends from Bournbrook in Birmingham also joined with Fritchley Friends for a few years, before emigrating to Saskatchewan in Canada. The separation was healed in 1968 with Fritchley Meeting rejoining London Yearly Meeting. Fritchley Quaker Meeting is now a full member of Britain Yearly Meeting, with a variety of theological outlooks amongst its membership.

Post-war World Conference (1920)

A proposal was suggested at London Yearly Meeting 1916 for a post-war conference "of all those who bear the name of Friend" with the intention of "giving full consideration to the deeply important subject of how to secure a general and lasting peace". In November 1916, Meeting for Sufferings appointed a committee to begin arrangements and considerations for a Peace Conference of all Quakers. The World Conference was proposed in 1917, and during the First World War preparations to facilitate the gathering continued between British Quakers in London and American Quakers in Richmond and Philadelphia. Nine hundred and thirty-six delegates assembled at Devonshire House on 12 August 1920 to begin the All Friends' Peace Conference. Friends began with discussion of the historic Testimony and its application to "the conditions of the world today". Attending the conference, Henry Hodgkin noted the enduring effects of the war on participants:

During the war we have all passed through deep waters and out of our struggle and sorrow new convictions have been won and… old ones have been strengthened. For ourselves, the War has meant a certain measure of isolation and misunderstanding, but also a great fellowship with many very fine spirits in various circles. Even more important, it has led us to see that the way for social renewal is the way of Christian adventure, the full acceptance of all risks entailed in the way of love.

The Swarthmore Lecture, "The Nature and Authority of Conscience" was delivered by Rufus Jones at the beginning of the Peace Conference, and the session was closed with the "Message to Friends and Fellow-Seekers" which demonstrated how the Quaker vision could be taken into the future by Quakers all around the world.

Friends House (1927)

Quaker architect Hubert Lidbetter (1885-1966) was the winner of a competition to design a "new home for Quakers in London" which opened to public entries in 1923. Moving from its base at Devonshire House in Bishopsgate, the new building was constructed on Euston Road, close to Euston, St Pancras, and King's Cross railway terminals. The Grade II listed building was completed in 1927 and awarded a medal for design by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Friends House not only contains within it the organisation space of Britain Yearly Meeting but also a restaurant, café, bookshop, meeting rooms, and the large meeting house space, latterly referred to as The Light, which was renovated in 2014.

Meetings outside London

In the twentieth century, Yearly Meetings started to be held outside London, namely in Leeds in 1905; in Birmingham in 1908; in Manchester in 1912; in Llandrindrod Wells in 1924; in Scarborough in 1925; in Manchester in 1926; in Bristol in 1937; In York in 1941 and in 1942. in Edinburgh in 1948. In 1945, London Yearly Meeting produced a minute stating that the Yearly Meeting should be held in Eighth Month (August) outside London every four years. These four-yearly meetings, which have become known as "Residential Yearly Meetings" have been held in Exeter in 1986; in Aberdeen in 1989; in Coventry in 1993; in Aberystwyth in 1997; in Exeter in 2001; in York in 2005; in York again in 2009; and in Canterbury in 2011.

London Yearly Meeting in 1994 decided on a change of name to "The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain" in 1994, with the short form being "Britain Yearly Meeting". This name change came into effect at the start of 1995.

Quaker involvement in the Kindertransport (1938)

In 1933 London Yearly Meeting appointed the Germany Emergency Committee to help Jewish people and other victims of Nazi persecution leave Germany. Bertha Bracey was appointed its secretary and led the committee's work to evacuate and support refugees. For the next five years Bracey and the committee supported hundreds of Jews seeking to escape: lobbying the British government, filing paperwork on behalf of the displaced people, and seeking to help those imprisoned for supporting their work. The violent events of Kristallnacht in November 1938 was a catalyst for the GEC to drastically increase its work. Invited by German Jews, a six-person Quaker mission was sent to ascertain the facts of the violent event and the mission reported back to British Jews and the British Government. Based on their report a delegation of British Jews met with Neville Chamberlain, only five days after Kristallnacht to ask him to lower the barriers to immigration and admit children but their requests were denied. A joint Jewish/Quaker delegation including Bertha Bracey met the Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, only a few days after Chamberlain. At a Commons debate later that evening, the Home Secretary announced that ten thousand children were to be admitted to Britain.

The Germany Emergency Committee opened offices in major German and Nazi-occupied cities across Central Europe where permits could be obtained for children. Quaker and Jewish organisations in Britain began to make arrangements to accommodate and support the refugees. Dovercourt holiday camp near Harwich, Cheadle Hulme House, and Bunce Court were three of the first sites which were opened to help with the effort. The trains continued to come until war broke out in September 1939. Ten thousand children were evacuated from Nazi Germany in this short time.

Nobel Peace Prize (1947)

British Quakers were first nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1912, when a member of the Danish Parliament nominated the Peace Committee of the Society of Friends in London. In 1923 and 1924, respectively, Quakers were nominated by Professor Walther Schücking for their post-war food relief work in Germany. Subsequently Quakers were also nominated in 1936, 1937, and 1938, and Nobel Committee member Wilhelm Keilhau remarked:

"No reasons have been cited [for nomination], the proposers probably thought it was unnecessary. For anyone who has participated actively in peace work knows that the Society of Friends can be seen in a way as the oldest peace organisation in the world. It is actually somewhat surprising that the first proposal took until 1936 to be made, …here we have a candidacy that can be supported as a century-long activity that could be brought forward at any time."

In 1947 the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that the peace prize would be awarded to the Quakers represented by "their two great relief organisation, the Friends Service Council in London (FSC) and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Philadelphia" for 'pioneering work in the international peace movement and of humanitarian work carried out without the regard for race or nationality'. In the presentation speech the committee stated:

“It is not just the extent of their work or in its practical form that the Quakers have given most to the people they have met. It is in the spirit in which this work is performed.… The Quakers have shown us that it is possible to translate into action what lies deep in the hearts of many: compassion for others and the desire to help them – that rich expression of the sympathy between all men, regardless of nationality or race, which, transformed into deeds, must form the basis for lasting peace. …They have shown us the strength to be derived from faith in the victory of the spirit over force."

Landmine Ban Treaty (1997)

Quakers have had an international presence in Geneva since the foundation of the League of Nations in the early 20th century. The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) has staff in Geneva and New York and the Geneva office is closely supported and funded by Quakers in Britain. In the mid-1990s QUNO's Disarmament programme under David C. Atwood became involved in the landmine work through the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL). QUNO played an important role in the 18-month period prior to the completion of the Anti-Personnel Landmine Ban Convention in 1997, hosting off-the-record meetings with sympathetic governments which sought to re-frame the convention as a humanitarian, rather than a military issue.

Equal Marriage (2009)

In 1988 Meeting for Sufferings recognised same-sex relationships and suggested that individual meetings might celebrate them. Following the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which permitted the civil registration of same-sex relationships, the ability of Quakers to recognise marriage in a religious context was excluded from the terms of civil partnership. The issue was then considered at various levels of Yearly Meeting over several years. After consulting all British Quaker meetings during 2007 the group appointed to review current opinion reported: "There is overwhelming evidence that attitudes have changed significantly in recent years, even since our current book of discipline Quaker faith & practice was published in 1995."

In 2008 Meeting for Sufferings recommended that the Yearly Meeting, "consider how we should celebrate and recognise committed relationships within our Quaker community and what revisions to Quaker faith & practice would follow from this to include same-sex partnerships."

Divestment from Fossil Fuels (2014)

In 2011 Quakers in Britain committed to becoming a low-carbon, sustainable community as part of a commitment to sustainability and climate justice. The formal decision to divest from fossil fuel extraction companies was made in October 2013 after a process of discernment by Britain Yearly Meeting Trustees and Meeting for Sufferings:

"[Quakers should be] putting our money and energies into places which support our testimonies; accounting for 'peace', 'joy' and 'respect' alongside financial values. Investing in the alternative is crucially important to a flourishing of a new economy, an economy that faces up to climate change and is based on principles of justice and peace. Transferring capital out of the fossil fuel economy and into sustainable and just organisations is a powerful step in our transition journey. The odds are stacked in favour of big business and sustainable ventures need our financial support to prosper."

Organisational structure

Britain Yearly Meeting is the name used to refer to both the Yearly Meeting of Quakers and the central organisation of Quakers in Britain, based in Friends House, London. Britain Yearly Meeting is the national organisation of Quakers in Britain. Its membership consists of the members of all Area Quaker Meetings in England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands. Any member of Britain Yearly Meeting is entitled to attend the Yearly Meeting.

The national work of Quakers in Britain is undertaken by Meeting for Sufferings and four central standing committees. The committees are composed of representatives who correspond with Area Quaker Meetings throughout Britain. Similarly, Area Quaker Meetings are made up of representatives from Local Quaker Meetings, which cover smaller areas. This correspondence and representation means that Quakers in Britain can have unified response on major issues. The central work of Meeting for Sufferings and the standing committees is supported by the staff of Britain Yearly Meeting who work from London,(Friends House), Swarthmoor Hall, and Edinburgh, and Vibrancy teams whose work covers large areas of Britain.

Central committees

There are committees set up to deal with particular issues, including long running committees consisting of representatives from all over Britain: Meeting for Sufferings, Quaker Life and Quaker Peace and Social Witness.

Meeting for Sufferings

Meeting for Sufferings is a national representative committee which deals with decisions which need to be made on a national basis for the Yearly Meeting during the year whilst Yearly Meeting is not in session. It has two representatives from each Area Quaker Meeting in England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The General Meeting for Scotland is a member of the ecumenical organisation Action of Churches Together in Scotland.

Committees

Britain Yearly Meeting currently has four national committees who carry out work at a national level on behalf of Friends in Britain. Each have both representative committees of Friends appointed by Yearly Meeting to oversee the work, and a paid secretariat who carry out the day-to-day work of each department:

Britain Yearly Meeting assembles and publishes British Friends' Book of Discipline, which since 1995 has been known as Quaker Faith and Practice.

Yearly meeting

Before 2009, three out of four yearly meetings of BYM were held at Friends House over one of the May bank holiday weekends, and once every four years a week-long Residential Meeting was held in the summer. In a change to this practice, the first Yearly Meeting Gathering (YMG) was held in York in 2009, with the 2010 Yearly Meeting being held at Friends House in London on May. The second YMG was held in Canterbury in 2011. A new three-year rotation has been extablished with Yearly Meetings being held two years running at Friends House, and the third year as a residential YMG.

All types of issues are discussed in the standard fashion of Quaker decision making. Among several lectures over the gathering, one of the highlights is known as the Swarthmore Lecture, relating to issues concerning Quakers. There is also an under 19's programme, with activities tailored to each age group.

Under 19s Programme

The Under 19s Programme is held during the annual Britain Yearly Meeting and is attended by young Quakers aged 0 to 19, with appropriate age grouping (i.e. 0-3,...,15-18). The programme aims to provide young Friends with an insight to Quaker beliefs and values, as well as providing a safe environment for relationship building within the society.

Junior Yearly Meeting

Junior Yearly Meeting, commonly known as "JYM", is an event for young Quakers aged 15 to 18. The annual event is normally held around the Easter holidays at the Pioneer Centre in Kidderminster, and coincides biennially with Yearly Meeting Gathering in late July. It acts as a stepping stone for the transition from the Under 19s Programme into the Society of Friends.

Transition Group

The Transition Group is a fairly new programme for young Friends aged 19 to early twenties who would still like to attend yearly gatherings however do not feel ready for the full adult programme.

Relationship with international Friends

Britain Yearly Meeting participates in the international Religious Society of Friends through the Friends World Committee for Consultation. Quakers are a highly decentralized denomination with a great degree of diversity in beliefs and practices. The faith and practice of British meetings resembles that of the Ireland, Canada, Australia and the US meetings affiliated with the Friends General Conference, and is characterized by unprogrammed worship and liberal to universalist theology.