Epistle of the 21st FWCC Triennial
Auckland, Aotearoa / New Zealand 16–25
January 2004
Tena
koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou
katoa—greetings to you, greetings
to you, greetings to all of
us, from those representatives
of Te Haahi Tuuhauwiri, the "religion
which stands because it is shaken
by the Spirit".
Our Maori welcome is sent across
the world family of Friends from
the 300 of us gathered together
in Auckland, Aotearoa/New
Zealand.
From
a nation which takes care
of the environment, which
has possibly the world's only Minister for Disarmament
and Arms Control (herself
a Quaker),
in a land of volcanoes
and hot springs, cities and forests, we send greetings
from
the 21st FWCC Triennial.
We were a scattered and
extended gathering for
five of our ten days together. A number
of African and Indian
Friends had faced increased
travel problems in a
world in which fear and anxiety for the
security of nations affect
our movements.
We
were called at this triennial
to share our experiences of being faithful
witnesses:
serving God in
a changing world. Long
queues for meals
gave us unexpected but valuable
opportunities to
exchange our
wealth of differences. Our small
worship and sharing groups increased
our depth of knowledge of
each other, as individuals and
as members of diverse Friends'
meetings worldwide.
The
keynote speech from Jean Zaru,
a Palestinian Quaker
living for over 30 years under
occupation,
gave us a message
both of hope and of challenge.
'What
is my witness? What is the witness
of my community, my people?
In the light of the challenges
we face, what responsibility
do we
bear? We have to bring forth
true justice to all, to the Palestinians
but not
at the expense of the
Israelis, to women but
not at the expense of men, to
humanity
but not at the expense
of nature and Mother
Earth: rather, justice for all
creatures and creation.'
Both
programmed and unprogrammed meetings
for worship brought
us closer
and helped us reach
the truth of Galatians
3: 28:
There
is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond
nor free, there
is neither
male nor female; for
you are
all one in Christ
Jesus.
We
were confronted
with financial reality
early into the
Triennial. Shortfalls
in income over
the past four
years have brought FWCC
to a crisis point.
Planned business was
rearranged to enable
our participation
in a
series
of structured exercises. This
process drew out possibilities
to be explored
by the Interim Committee
and others.
We discovered
that the maturity
of our Quaker practices
enabled us
to work well
and harmoniously.
We were
asked to envision
FWCC in 20 years' time.
We looked forward
to stronger
sense of
community,
greatly increased numbers of
Friends and a
better
awareness of
Quakerism
throughout
the world.
We want
all Friends to know the joy of
the world fellowship
which
enriches us through
meeting
as we
have in this Triennial. We know
there is hard
work ahead
to achieve this,
not least
in the
expectation that we shall find
more
money for this work. In our vision
of the growth
of Friends,
we know that
principles of peace,
justice and care, unity
and equality
will prevail.
Interest
groups, plenary sessions
and working groups
kept
our attention on the
many serious issues through
which our witness can be expressed
- development
and
sustainability, refugees
and asylum seekers,
sexual orientation, genetic
modification,
peace-making
in times
of war, HIV and AIDS
were amongst these.
Through
music, song and
laughter we spoke the language
of the heart
to one
another.
Our interpreters
taught us much about
communication; we
rejoiced
in
the gifts we bring
through a variety of tongues.
We
leave this Triennial imbued with a renewed
zeal for the
Truths to which
we bear witness and sustained
by the unity of our faith in the living
God.
David Purnell, Clerk
|
Above:
Campus life
from the 2004
Triennial in
New Zealand
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