Meetings, like humans and all living things, have life cycles: beginnings, middles, and ends. The average life span of a meeting is 75–80 years. The ends are often the hardest, but they don’t have to be.
My interest, specifically, has been in the end of the life cycle of a meeting when it has to transform itself or lay itself down. This came about when I was quarterly meeting clerk and two of our meetings and a worship group closed. Actually, one had disappeared and we hadn’t noticed; one disbanded that we had thought was healthy; and one very slowly and carefully laid itself down. All very different experiences and ones I wish I had been better prepared for. There was sadness and regret. Why hadn’t I realized that a nearby meeting had basically laid itself down without telling anyone?
Friends in the quarter experienced the full range of emotions over the loss of these Friends and determined to pay attention. Other meetings may soon be considering where they are in their cycle. How can a meeting's transition recognize its legacies? Will Friends’ witness be recognized and received as blessing? Is it time for the meetings to write their advanced directives or is it too late? What resources are there to help a meeting decide its future? How can monthly, quarterly, and yearly meetings help bring weak meetings to healthier positions or ease their exits?
These are some of the questions a group of Friends under the guidance of Emily Provance (a New York Friend traveling in the ministry) have been working on for more than a year. We have produced two timely resources that now live on this website: the September issue of SPARK on the life cycles of meetings and Faithful Always: Transitions and Endings For Quaker Meetings and Churches Near the End of the Life Cycle. There will be ongoing conversations in 2023 and these opportunities will be posted on the Yearly Meeting events calendar. Friends seeking accompaniment during a life-cycle transition in their meeting are also invited to contact the Meeting Accompaniment Group at [email protected].