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To all Friends everywhere,

We send loving greetings from the Friends World Committee for Consultation World Plenary, held August 5 to 12, 2024 online and in Vanderbijlpark near Johannesburg, South Africa, on the banks of the river variously known as the IHai!arib, Lekwa, iLikwa and the Vaal. We are truly ‘down by the riverside’ as we lay down our burdens and lift them up to God.

500 Friends have gathered at the river’s edge and online, coming from 53 countries and representing 95 Yearly Meetings, worship groups and Quaker organisations. Half of them joined the gathering online, individually and organised in 50 hubs all over the world, a first for a World Plenary Meeting. With joy we reflect on how great it has been to have the contributions from online Friends in the room. For those of us online, it was a joy to be included and to experience the togetherness. Sadly, some Friends were prevented from joining us. We regret their absence and hold them in the Light.

Our theme is ‘Living the Spirit of Ubuntu: Responding with Hope to God’s Call to Cherish Creation and One Another’. Ubuntu is a Zulu word that speaks to the power and ceaseless work of the Holy Spirit between us, enabling us to go beyond our individual selves and grasp that ‘I am because we are’.

In this joyous gathering, we have expanded our understanding and appreciation for who we – as Quakers – really are. What a gift. Despite our multitude of differences, we have celebrated that we share not only our Quaker founders – happy 400th birthday, George Fox! – but also deep Friendship, an openness to new Biblical interpretations, our structures and processes, our deep commitment to peace and justice, our love of the Earth, and our love of God.

Eager that all gathered Friends may participate as fully as possible, we have bridged geographical distance and differences in language with technology, patient interpreters, and God’s grace. We are thankful. In the inclusive spirit of Ubuntu, we have all – and particularly English speakers – been challenged to speak slowly and clearly enough for our interpreters to do their work. We have all been challenged to find a Spirit-led balance between speaking and listening, between action and contemplation, between doing and simply being.

Prior to this gathering, 46 of the Young Adult Friends among us came together for four days of shared experience, conversation, reflection, laughter, worship, and song. Living in community, Young Adult Friends explored, held, and danced with commonalities and differences. In an exciting development, a world committee of eight Young Adult Friends from all FWCC sections was formed. This reflects a joyful commitment to keep nurturing the newfound sense of community. Aware of the magnitude of the responsibility, Young Adult Friends call on all of us for support and trust.

We were warmly and joyously welcomed by our hosts from Southern Africa Yearly Meeting and the Africa Section of FWCC. A local Friend shared with us the South African greeting ‘sawubona’, which means ‘I see you and not only you, but all who have made you who you are’. She also spoke of how coming to Quakers helped her to believe in life beyond racist segregation. Excursions both virtual and local enriched our programme. Field trips to the Cradle of Humankind and the Apartheid Museum grounded the gathering in the context of our host country’s own painful and turbulent journey. We have been inspired by the Spirit-filled resilience of our hosts, emerging from the struggles of the past and present steadfastly to affirm that through God’s grace, we are still here. We are one.

Together, we have worshipped, prayed, sung, been warmed by the sun, chilled by the evening frost, and, of course, we talked — and talked — and talked some more. We have sought to discern Spirit-led ways forward to honour our commitment to our three interconnected themes: care of creation, the healing of relationships in the light of historic and ongoing injustice, and nurturing Ubuntu. Our emerging concerns have been captured and woven together in a tapestry document.

We are seized with the urgent need to do transformative work in the world. We are also called by that still small voice to pause, to listen deeply to one another and to creation. Jeremiah 29: 11-14 says: ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.’ God is with us. We are here.  We are one.

We have been challenged, and many of us are called to join collective, global Quaker action to live out our concerns — to be, as George Fox said — “valiant for Truth”.  Others among us focus on local community. We are learning to expand our compassion for who we are, just as we find ourselves in all our brokenness and our beauty.

The variance in our perspectives, some large, some small, have become more apparent, at times painfully so. We have been able, with God’s blessing, to resolve some tension through compassionate conversation, while some was simply held in our midst. We are not discouraged.

Our past and present reminds us of our capacity to be faithful, courageous changemakers. With radical hope, we trust in our collective ability to “recognise, repent, redeem and restore” and to work together in beautiful and transformative ways. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  We know that through Jesus’ invitation to new life,  ‘All things are made new.’ God has no hands but ours, no feet but ours, no lips but ours, so we keep imagining a better world. I am because you are. I am because we are. I see you. We belong to each other. We are still here. We are one.

George Fox’s radical insistence on bringing the Kingdom of God to all aspects of our lives, invited what he called ‘the new creation’. Are we ready for what is to come?  Are we prepared to do what is required of us to birth the new creation? How does our living Ubuntu change the world?

As we return to our homes, with renewed love for our international Quaker family, may God bless the spaces between us as we seek a better world for all creation. Let the new creation come.

In God’s love, with radical hope,

Simon C. Lamb,

Clerk, FWCC, on behalf of all who were part of our World Plenary Meeting

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Today has been very busy and it is only in this brief half hour between dinner and the evening worship session that I’ve had a chance to take time to pause. It has been interesting, but it will take a bit of time to process everything from today’s sessions. It feels like a very long time since the unprogrammed meeting at 7am and since then I have heard stories from so many people, had conversations with even more (in several languages!) and eaten mountains of delicious food once more. For now, I’ll add a few pictures and at a later stage I’ll add some context!

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El equipo de intérpretes y traductores - translation and interpreting team

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El equipo de intérpretes y traductores - translation and interpreting team

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I did very little compared to Mary, Cat, Darwin, Rita and our Kiswahili team, so felt a little bit of a fraud, but Darwin insisted I join the photo!

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Today I’m hoping to get pictures of all the beautiful day-to-day things we here have probably started taking for granted! First up - our beautiful FWCC bags with coordinating Ubuntu bracelets and FWCC water bottles.

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Lots of birds, one cat but no monkeys yet today!

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IYM reps are en route - checked in and ready for boarding!

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IYM reps are en route - checked in and ready for boarding!

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Many Central American Friends on the interpreting team did not get visas so the team is very small and I’ve been drafted in as an emergency backup - I think I’m bringing the necessary gravitas to the job already!

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Stephen and I both successfully navigated Doha and have landed in Johannesburg. I’m currently playing my own little game of ‘Can you spot a Quaker in a customs queue?‘

I think I’ve possibly spotted two. We really should have worn some secret Quaker ID so we could find each other!

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Our bags are packed and the rooms have been emptied. Coaches have been heading to the airport from 5am so our gathering is getting a little smaller every hour.

We’re all feeling a bit emotional to be leaving - I was going to say to be going home, but the South Africans have greeted many of us with ‘welcome home’ since we arrived here (as we all originate from Africa) and it does very much feel like home here.

Though we are sad to be saying our goodbyes, Ricardo told us this morning not to be sad as the sooner we leave, the sooner it will be that we get to meet up again.

I’m taking a moment down by the river, in one final attempt to see at least one monkey. Maybe they are hiding from me because they know I’ll come back to see them another time.

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I have chosen this thread for the week and it feels like the one I was meant to be in. In my Spanish-speaking home group this morning I heard again from Bolivian and Peruvian Friends of the travel difficulties involved with getting visas, and the discrimination faced travelling through customs on the journey. For some this was their first time flying anywhere and, having heard of the bad experiences from the Young Friends travelling here, they had a fearful journey, not eating or sleeping as they were too nervous about what they would be faced with on arrival.

In Europe perhaps we take our visa-free travelling for granted and do not always remember it is not as easy for most Friends in the world. This is not the first gathering where Friends from the Americas or from Africa have been prevented from attending, or where those travelling have found the journey traumatic. What can we do in the future to provide more support and to combat ‘travel discrimination’?

As the day progressed, Esther Mombo (who Irish Friends may remember from IYM 2022 in Belfast when she spoke to us online) shared ministry this morning inspired by the children’s song ‘There’s a hole in my bucket’. There are so many holes in the world - racism, human trafficking, social and economic injustice, climate injustice, colonialism, genocide - we cannot skirt around them, we can’t make excuses, we must confront them. For repentance we need to acknowledge our complicity - we need to recognise that we have benefitted and continue to benefit from historical injustices. With repentance we can change the system. We must change the system.

In a small group discussion in the ‘Healing Historical Injustices’ workshop we wondered, when discrimination is so ingrained in a society, do we always recognise when we are being discriminated against? I found myself going a step further and wondering, if that discrimination is so ingrained in our society (including in our Quaker community), do we recognise when we are the perpetrators?

I found myself taken aback when I arrived here on Monday at what seemed to me a disproportionate number of white European (particularly British) Friends at this gathering. I continue to be frustrated by the speed of native English speakers; and, despite many, many reminders, by the lack of slowing down and pausing to allow time for comprehension, processing, and interpretation for non-native English speakers. As a language teacher, it has long been a bugbear of mine that there is an assumption that everyone speaks, or at least understands, English.

The majority of Quakers in the world are not white.

The majority of Quakers in the world are not European.

The majority of Quakers in the world do not speak English as their native tongue.

Do we need to follow Esther’s advice and stop avoiding what seems to me to be a massive big hole in our own Society of Friends?

Can we look at how our structures could change to be more equitable for everyone?

We may have to be creative - an Italian Friend suggested we all learn Esperanto ahead of the next World Plenary!

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Simon Lamb assures us all that he is not the Pope!

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Simon Lamb assures us all that he is not the Pope!

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‘I see you’ was the message from Dudu (on the left). Meaning I see not just you, but your people, your history, the ancestors who brought you to where you are. I see each who is fearfully and wonderfully made.

Having been brought up within the box allocated to her by Apartheid, being introduced to Quakers who shared food and drink with her, who shared cups and cutlery with her, and who invited her outside of her ‘box’ to their homes, she thought, ‘These people are strange, but I think I’ll stick with them.’ (Probably something most of us can identify with as Quakers!)

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I met Pradip, from Nepal, back in 2005 at the World Gathering of Young Friends in Lancaster. Lovely to reconnect after almost 20 years!

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I met Pradip, from Nepal, back in 2005 at the World Gathering of Young Friends in Lancaster. Lovely to reconnect after almost 20 years!

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Gretchen spoke of ‘Foxy George’, one of several founders. He was human, he was flawed, as are we all, but he and other early Quakers were revolutionary & uncompromising.

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Wherever we are on the Quaker Spectrum, there is something in our beliefs that George Fox would recognise and relate to.

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George Fox’s birthday cake (delicious like all the food so far!)

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George Fox’s birthday cake (delicious like all the food so far!)

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Got the Tee Shirt!

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The food - did we mention there was a lot??

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The food - did we mention there was a lot??

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Heard earlier that visiting monkeys were playing on the conference centre's slide this morning.

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Heard earlier that visiting monkeys were playing on the conference centre's slide this morning.

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First set of questions for the Ubuntu stream

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First set of questions for the Ubuntu stream

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The phrase that ignited silent worship this morning 

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The phrase that ignited silent worship this morning 

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Ex rc

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I’ve been to the Apartheid Museum. Very powerful and very well done. For those of you who know me well I did not have Miss Piggy moment, but it was touch and go.

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Excursion Day! The Cradle of Civilisation...

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Excursion Day! The Cradle of Civilisation...

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Friends from Moscow and Georgia say so too

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Friends from Moscow and Georgia say so too

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Malva pudding South Africa’s gift to the world

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With Ricardo Rojas, longstanding friend from Cuba

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(Yesterday was billtong in the big goblet!)

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Janet Scott from BYM also says hi, especially to Will Haire, Rachel Bewley-Bateman and Eoin Stephenson. (Sorry about the shakey or should I say Quakey photo)

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Janet Scott from BYM also says hi, especially to Will Haire, Rachel Bewley-Bateman and Eoin Stephenson. (Sorry about the shakey or should I say Quakey photo)

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And finally, Ethel with the cheese board!

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And finally, Ethel with the cheese board!

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The Irish contingent finally managed to be in the same place at the same time just long enough to get a group photo!

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The Irish contingent finally managed to be in the same place at the same time just long enough to get a group photo!

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The two Spanish speaking home groups for one reason and another have come together for our sessions so far. I think today we concluded we are happy this way, so will remain one big happy group!

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The young adult Cuban Friends put themselves in the naughty corners this morning after sleeping in.

I would encourage everyone to learn enough Spanish to be able to enjoy the experience of being part of the Spanish speaking world of Quakers. We started the day with so much laughter this morning, and it was wonderful

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Rachel Bewley Bateman, Dag from Norway says hello! 

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Rachel Bewley Bateman, Dag from Norway says hello! 

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Dag from Norway says hello, especially to Helen Fanning 

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Dag from Norway says hello, especially to Helen Fanning 

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Some impromptu music at the coffee break

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Some impromptu music at the coffee break

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This Young Adult Friend has such a gift. It may be a combo of tiredness and hormones, but there is something very special in his voice which seems to go straight to my heart and from there to my tear ducts. I well up every single time I hear him sing.

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Paty says hi to everyone in Ireland, especially everyone in Frederick Street

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Already this morning I have at last managed to get hold of an Ubuntu t-shirt. I think it’s a good omen that today is the day I will also see the monkeys!

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Already this morning I have at last managed to get hold of an Ubuntu t-shirt. I think it’s a good omen that today is the day I will also see the monkeys!

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Last night Paula from Germany told us she went to the Young Adult cabin to find that the monkeys had broken in and were in the process of trashing the place and marking it as their territory, so I think staking out that area may be my best option!

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This morning my trousers were not quite fitting as comfortably as they had been, so today I will be trying to stick to the healthier options - there’s so much fruit it shouldn’t really feel like I’m missing out!

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This morning my trousers were not quite fitting as comfortably as they had been, so today I will be trying to stick to the healthier options - there’s so much fruit it shouldn’t really feel like I’m missing out!

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Discernment, Latino style. Even if you can’t understand it, this might give you a sense of the fun, Friendship, occasional chaos, and noise of the Spanish-speaking base group. The aim here was to decide what song to perform in tomorrow’s celebration/talent show. We got there in the end!

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Thanks Jackson for the photo from yesterday's incursion. I believe no biscuits were left behind. We'll try again tomorrow to see them ourselves 

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The monkey has something to add to the agenda 

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The monkey has something to add to the agenda 

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DuDu from SAYC has given brilliant vocal ministry here. 

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DuDu from SAYC has given brilliant vocal ministry here. 

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Ludwig Bon from the Philippines says hello to Irish Friends. He remembers his visit to Dublin and Cork in 2014 well and says hi especially to Fran Brady.

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Ludwig Bon from the Philippines says hello to Irish Friends. He remembers his visit to Dublin and Cork in 2014 well and says hi especially to Fran Brady.

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Lots of thought and work went into representing the different cultures in this part of the world. All the ministry was given in native languages, with accompanying text in English. ❤️

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I loved this idea. Japanese Quakers chose a kanji character to represent what being a Friend means to them.

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From Asia Pacific worship this morning: voices from Japan..

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From Asia Pacific worship this morning: voices from Japan..

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...followed by a version of the Lord's Prayer from Aotearoa New Zealand 

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...followed by a version of the Lord's Prayer from Aotearoa New Zealand 

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Adoración con la Sección de las Américas 

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Adoración con la Sección de las Américas 

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Evening programmed worship from the section of the Americas. From left to right:

Cristela (El Salvador) welcomed all in both Spanish and English, and introduced what would be happening.

Ivana (Bolivia) gave the opening prayer in Spanish and Paty (Mexico) translated it into English.

Jorge (Cuba) read the Bible reading and Neyda (Bolivia) then read it in English.

Myron (Bolivia) translated for Raussie (USA) who was introducing the preacher.

Kelly (on the right - also USA) was the preacher for this session. Ricardo (Cuba) translated his message into Spanish.

Manuel David (Cuba) led us in prayer and introduced a video of a group of Young Adult Cuban musicians with Hazel (Costa Rica) translating for him.

Elvira (Peru) gave the closing prayer, translated into English by Darwin (Guatemala) not in this picture as he was also the multi-talented roving mic man, also translating ministry from the silent worship into English.

The programmed worship also contained video contributions from some who should have been here but did not make it due to travel issues.