Archive of old news items
Quaker Family Camp 2006 - Survived and thrived!
The ‘survival in the wild ' camping idea came from the young members of Toulouse meeting, it shifted to ‘living simply’ as the adults got to grips with what this meant. We took our pre packaged food, largely ignored the wild cherries that were growing nearby but we did manage to cook by the open fire and exist happily without running water and other sanitary niceties. There was a long walk up the hill to collect the water from the cattle trough and a walk down the hill to the ‘hole in the ground’ facility. We had hired Donkeys to take the weight but they took a holiday as it turned out they could carry less than a human being with a wheelbarrow!
We settled on a hillside that had an uncanny resemblance to a sacred site, excepting that it was on a slope. There was a large flat stone (about 3 X 2 m) at the centre surrounded by circle of six 2m high rocks. Large oaks shaded us and a few metres away there were views of the mountains.
The Cocteau family of 6 christened their new tent and discovered that the slight slope where they chose to pitch tent was not conducive to a good nights rest! Their children enjoyed their first camping experience despite some illness which was a good job as they had travelled from Paris to the Ariege to join us. It was a relaxed camp with a lot of running about playing while adults stood around and chatted and prepared meals. Up to 21 sat down to eat and worship together with children from ages 4 – 14, including a mother and daughter from Scotland who had wanted to join us for a couple of years. We missed some familiar faces and we hope to see everyone again next year.
We have Kim Chevalier to thank for organising her neighbours field, and the donkeys even for the TV for the world cup final. We are very indebted to her for helping the smooth running and providing those things that we had forgotten, including duvets for the colder than anticipated mountain nights. The weather was in fact very kind to us. Unexpected bonuses of the camp were the family dogs and particularly a local dog that was very loyal and chatted at every opportunity and was the last to leave the camp site! We had to leave her behind but took with us our happy memories.
Annual Report 2005/2006
Over the last year, the prevailing mood at the Toulouse Quaker Meeting has been one of consolidation and continuity.
We have finally established ourselves as an association under French law, the ‘Amicale des Quakers de Midi Pyrenees’, with the appointment of a president (Mary MacKaill), a secretary (Kim Chevalier) and a treasurer (Ewen Cobban). This enabled us to take out third-party insurance with Assurance Generale de France, a necessary requirement to enable us to rent our central-Toulouse premises from the Protestant ‘Eglise Réformée’.
Our group, which includes some 30 members (most of whom are not members of France Yearly Meeting), has continued to meet every first Sunday of the month at our rented premises at the Temple de la Cote Pavée in central Toulouse. Meeting for Worship is held from 11 to 12, followed by bring-and-share lunch and occasional Business Metings.
One of the main concerns discussed at our Business Meetings this year has been the quest for new premises. While the Cote Pavée has been useful in many ways (esp. its central location and moderate cost), most of us feel we would like a venue where the children feel more welcome and able to work and play freely; in our current premises, the rooms are poorly sound-proofed and there is no outdoor access. Moreover, the venue lacks a certain warmth and intimacy. We have therefore decided to start looking for alternative premises that meet the following criteria:
The venue should have:
- 1 large, quiet room for Meeting for Worship
- 2 smaller rooms (for Children’s Meetings)
- 1 kitchen, or at least modest kitchen facilities
- toilet facilities
- some form of safe outdoor access (esp. for the children, during and after MfW)
- parking facilities
- handicapped access (at least a lift if there are stairs)
- it should be located within the perimeter of the Toulouse ‘peripherique’
In April, Conner Whitney, currently the clerk of Toulouse Meeting, attended a 2-day Woodbrooke workshop for clerks at Maison Quaker in Congenies. It was run mostly in French by Judith Rhodes, and provided Conner with lots of information and inspiration to help her conduct her job in a slightly more organised and ‘focused’ way. Many thanks for this excellent event. (After 2½ years as clerk, Conner has recently announced that she would like to hand over the position to someone else at the beginning of 2007.)
Two members of the Toulouse Meeting, Mary MacKaill and Peter Hill, were married on July 1 at the town hall of Prayols. They plan to hold a Meeting for Worship on September 10 at their house in Cumminges (near Foix) to celebrate marriage -- their own and others!
Two members of the Toulouse Meeting, Conner & Glenn Whitney, recently became members of ‘Assemblée de France’ by transferring their membership from the UK, where they belonged to Hampstead Monthly Meeting. They are very pleased to be a part of French Quakers, and look forward to participating in and contributing to the French Quaker is community in years to come.
In early July, some of the children of the Toulouse Meeting took part in a four-day summer camp held in the Ariege, on a meadow next to the house of our member Kim Chevalier. The theme of the camp was ‘Simple Living’, and simple it certainly was, with no electricity, toilets or running water, but full of joy, worshipfulness and camaraderie.
We were pleased that the popularity annual Family Camp is spreading throughout France and beyond, with the participation of a new family from Paris, Annabelle & Jean Cocteau and their four children, as well as a Scottish Friend, Jane Palmer, and her daughter Kate, who joined us a the end of their Pyrenean hiking holiday. (See detailed report from Karina Knight-Spencer.)
Quaker family camp - 16-20 July 2005 - at
Maison Quaker, Congénies (Back to index)
This year the Quaker family camp will
be held once again at the home of French Quakerism, Maison Quaker Congénies in
July from Saturday 16th to Wednesday 20th. You are also welcome to pitch your
tent on the Friday evening. There may be the possibility of sleeping inside the
house if you prefer. Last year the theme was living with nature (see report
below). The theme this year is undecided so new ideas are welcome. Please email
us as soon as possible if you hope to come. We will be sending out further
details later but please direct any questions or enquirers to Mary, Kim or
Karina (see contact details above). Children of all ages 2 -16 and their
parents, grandparents or guardians are welcome.
Financial assistance is available if there is a need. Please ask.
Report - Visit to Plum Village (Bergerac) for a Mindfulness Day and Dharma Talk by Thict Nhat Hanh
I am writing this for all those who wanted to go to Plum Village but were unable to on our last visit in May and also for general interest. This is a personal account, other people may not have been as impressed as I am but it was a day well worth reporting. The web site www.plumvillage.org provides very good insights as to what to expect and how to gain from the time spent there and is well reading. It is always difficult to find out the information from plum village as to where the Dharma talks will be held and one has to persevere with phone calls and emails. It is unsettling to us, who are so used to being organised and charged and sure of where we stand, that the monasteries are vaguely and imprecisely open to visitors on Sundays and Thursdays. Having visited Plum Village before we knew what to expect and this was a particularly full and wonderful day.
This time we went to Lower Hamlet at Loubes-Bernac. Lower Hamlet is the women’s monastery and has the advantage of a bookshop. As most are aware Thict Nhat Han is a prolific writer and is referred to as Thay (teacher) in Plum Village.
The space is very peaceful and a sign announces ‘you have arrived’ and ‘you are home’ when you take the path in. This is one of many reminders to be present in the moment. It won’t be too long before someone ‘invites’ a large singing bell from Vietnam to sound and everyone stops what they are doing and breathes and returns to their breath.
One is aware of the appreciation of beauty with well tended flowers and paths and love and attention spent on the environment. There is a lack of gadgets and modern paraphernalia, if a telephone rings no one rushes to answer it, people stop what they are doing and centre to their breathing, only then someone answers the phone.
Having gathered in the large hall with headphones at the ready for simultaneous translation, (it is easier to hear if you bring headphones) Thay (teacher) will enter and there is bowing and he will invite questions from which he responds with a teaching. At the end of an hour and a half the meditation cushions are feeling inadequate.
On this Thursday there were two French protestant monks sitting near Thay perhaps influenced by their beliefs, there were many references to Jesus and the great Presence. He makes life very simple. His main themes are the connectedness of everything, how there is no death because everything just changes to another form, and everything is interdependent. Although the questions he responds to are often intellectual he does not criticise this although he asks for questions from the heart, even beliefs and truths are manifestations. He stresses that the body, the heart and the mind are all one.
He talked of all one’s ancestors being in one’s hand; we were asked to look at our hands and see our fathers and mothers and all our forbears and then put the hand on our forehead and feel the support that they are giving us. It was very powerful.
Thay calls himself a Buddha, which is initially quite shocking but it is not an arrogant statement. One result of this is showing us with ease that this can be achieved. If you are being/mindful you are in the kingdom of heaven.
He talked of the Buddha in him also being the Buddha in you, which is another way of seeing the Great Presence (that of God in everyone). Everyone can be Buddha and have Jesus walking with them. Walking as/with Buddha and Jesus is the result of mindfulness. As a teacher he knows he is living in his students now.
He also talked of his last trip to Vietnam where the authorities wanted Buddha Thay to go to the mausoleum of Buddha Ho Chi Minh, but he refused he wanted to meet HO Chi Min living in the lives of his followers, but he did not see it. Whereas Ho Chi Minh lived a simple life his followers were not.
Thay advised us to water the seeds of happiness. Appreciate the people around us and let them know we appreciate them. All his messages are simple and based in humanity which is connected to all things. In response to a question about how one’s practise deepens after years he said, if you are happy in your practise you have arrived, you are mindful.
He talked of the four precepts, which are all dependent on each other, again his theory of interconnectedness; Mal être: The causes of mal être: State of well being: The causes of well being.
It is hard to recall all the dharma talk but whether one hears it in English or French it is very available and easy to understand.
Thay’s grace and charisma may come from his very slow and deliberate movements. He requests that everything is performed gently - we walk caressing the earth with every step. That is hard to do when you are in an unnecessary hurry. The practise of one is a reminder to another. He suggests that practise may be the most important thing that you can do for the world, if you rushed off to help Tsunami victims you may be more of a hindrance than a help travelling to the other side of the world.
There is quite a lot of ritual at Plum village. There was chanting before the dharma talks in all three languages; French, English and Vietnamese. There is bowing ‘a lotus blossom to the Buddha to be’ but for me is all easy and purposeful because it is mindful, the basis of which is the awareness of the great presence.
After the dharma talk and a chance to relax and take a coffee or drink, which you just help yourself to, when Thay is ready he sits and someone starts singing, everyone joins in the songs which usually have actions and then the walking mediation begins. The group halts every now and then to appreciate.
When the meal bell is rung people queue in silence and take some of the delicious and spicy vegan food. Sometimes there is an eating meditation and today was one of those days. When everyone is seated in the large meditation hall (that is 100+ people) coming in taking one’s shoes off and seating on the floor or a chair facing the centre a bowl is passed along the line and morsels of food added and taken out, more sharing. Only when all are seated and silent do people bow to their food, look deeply into it and start slowly eating. As you have no knives and forks to clatter and no whispering (please pass the salt…) it is a slow and truly silent meal.
After the meal notices are read out and sometimes people ask things of the Sangha. Monks put on special yellow robes to ask permission of the sangha .Today a group of monks were leaving the monastery for Germany. They draped their brown habits in a deep yellow. Thay asked that they practised well so they would shine out to others (rayonnement). Someone announces that their mother is with them and they are very pleased and she is greeted and welcomed by the Sangha.
After lunch (or breakfast) one washes ones eating utensils in a series of bowls and dries them and returns them to the eating hall. The afternoon is more unstructured for visitors and we sat around, maybe watched nuns and monks playing football with an old water bottle. There is lots of laughter and chat.
After searching one will find a donation box it into which you can put some money but there is no request and certainly no guideline for payment. It is easy to feel the power through love and acceptance of the Sangha led by Thict Nhat Han. Some Quakers have a problem with reference and ritual but Plum Village is very special and well worth the journey.
Karina Knight-Spencer
Quaker Meeting in Bordeaux - 17 April
2005 (Back to index)
We had a special, south-western France Quaker Meeting for Worship in Bordeaux on Sunday 17 April. It was arranged by David Leonard. As well as Midi-Pyrennees group Quakers, Jeanne-Henriette Louis from Paris meeting joined us for the first recorded Quaker Meeting in Bordeaux.
Maison Quaker Work Camp at Congénies - 23-27 April 2005 (Back to index)
The Midi- Pyrénées group organised a
work camp to help decorate and repair Maison Quaker over a long week-end from Saturday 23 to Wednesday 27 April.
It was convivial and enriching as well as being a great opportunity to
get together for adults and children from different parts of France. Our
thanks to all who contributed.
2004 Report - Quercy Region Meeting (Back to index)
During the year we have aimed to meet twice monthly for
Meeting For Worship, usually achieving this, with Discussion group following
lunch at several meetings. Meeting twice a month sometimes proves difficult due
to the wide geographical spread of our members. Our meeting room at Duravel
being unavailable in the summer holiday months we have been meeting in each
others homes. One such meeting in Karina and Philip Knight-Spencer's sunny
garden brought the pleasure of having Francoise and Dennis Tomlin with us and
four American visitors to exchange life news and views. After a good lunch we
shared a "lively" discussion on Ageing.
We happily welcomed Cynthia Cobban to our group who has transferred membership
from Harare. We welcomed two new members from Bergerac last July, Paul and
Didier, who have sadly now left to return to Britain after unsuccessfully trying
to fit into the French Social work profession. They will be greatly missed. Tony
Hollingworth has also left us and is now happily ensconced in a Quaker residence
near Wolverhampton in the UK , feeling very appreciated and with a busy
calendar.
Steve Davidson's death during this year was a great loss to the group and his
eldership is sadly missed. Some of us attended his memorial service in Toulouse
and also one held by the Toulouse and Ariège Meeting in December.
Some of the Quercy Region members join the Toulouse group meeting once a month.
This also gives our two young members the opportunity to join with Toulouse
young friends.
Several of us wanted to attend and Yvette actually did visit, the Salon
International des Initiatives de Paix in Paris in June.
Karina represented us at the Executive Committee Meeting in Paris.
The two groups in the area , Mercués and Quercy
Region, meet independently. Gerard, the Mercués
clerk, has kindly supplied us with a list of books available for loan from their
Quaker library.
Six of us spent another Mindfulness Retreat day at Plum village, Thich Nhat
Hanh's Buddhist retreat centre in the Dordogne. A powerful spiritual experience
in a beautiful setting!
Highlight of the year.....Our retreat weekend in March was hosted by Cynthia and
Ewan Cobban on the Saturday and Wendy and Brian Cadman on the Sunday and
attended by Friends from Quercy Region, Toulouse and Ariège and Mercués
groups. This was a very stimulating weekend. In addition to Meeting for Worship
our activities included Silent Walking Meditation, Children's Equinox
Celebration, Circle Dancing and Discussion Group. It was good to have more
extended time together. (A more detailed report on this is given below).
Thanks to Philip Spencer we now have a web site up and running linked to other
Quaker websites which will be useful to refer prospective enquiries to.
The family camp last year in July at Congénies is to
be repeated in the Ariège this year, also at the begining of July. (A
report on the 2004 camp is also shown below.)
We are aware of our need to build on our community strengths and are trying to
support each other where possible, including taking time out to assist on those
tasks which seem too daunting for one family alone i.e wall demolition!
Our group embraces members and attenders of independent liberal thought and also
Buddhist inclinations as well as convinced Christians. This variety of a sense
of the Divinity greatly enriches our worship and continues to usefully challenge
us in our discussions.
2003-4 Report - Toulouse
& Ariège Meeting (Back
to index)
The last year has been a busy one for Toulouse-Ariège Quakers. There were very uplifting moments and satisfying developments in our Meeting, but also a time of great sadness when a member of our Meeting died suddenly.
Exactly a year ago (July 2003), the children of our Meeting (and their parents) took part in the first French Quaker Summer Camp that was held at Maison Quaker in Congénies. To a theme of ‘Native American Spirituality’, the children played, baked, acted, sculpted, sewed, sang and read for five days with great enthusiasm. Trips to the beach, communal meals and camping in the beautiful grounds of Maison Quaker and an opportunity to get to know each other better made the experience unforgettable.
Indeed, the camp was such a success that another one was held this July in the Ariège, involving children from Toulouse-Ariège and Cahors/Quercy Meetings. Despite the somewhat inclement weather, the children once again revelled in each other’s company. The theme this year was ‘Nature and the World Around Us’ which made the setting of a wooded campsite next to a rushing mountain river ideal. Trips to a goat farm, a several-hours-long guided mountain walk to collect edible plants (which were enjoyed at dinner that evening), handicrafts involving plants, bridge- and hut-building on the banks of the nearby river and many other activities captured the children’s imagination. Conclusion: another camp next summer, and maybe a similar if shorter gathering (over maybe a long weekend) in-between.
The Toulouse-Ariège group meanwhile has continued meeting on the first Sunday of every month. Thanks to Sylvie and Steve Davidson, we were able to feel a lot more ‘established’ when we began meeting in the premises of Dickinson College in central Toulouse, which they kindly put at our disposal.
The group continued growing too; on some occasions, as many as 26 people attended Meeting for Worship. The Children’ Meeting has been flourishing, and the rota of parents taking turns to spend time with the children brought about a wide range of activities & topics including ‘prayer snakes’, world famine, dreams, making paper lanterns inspired by the St Martin’s Legend etc. The children, whose ages range from 7 to 15, have formed a very harmonious group who play and work together extremely well. They are F/friends in both senses of the word.
November was a very sad time for the Toulouse-Ariège group when Steve Davidson died very suddenly. It was a hard blow for our small and young Meeting to lose someone as supportive and ‘Quakerly’. Steve had done much in a short pace of time to get our Meeting more firmly grounded by providing premises, experience and spiritual guidance, and helping us take a more structured approach to growing our Meeting (like appointing a clerk!).
Most of us attended Steve’s memorial service at a Protestant church in Toulouse, and a separate Meeting for Worship to commemorate his life was held at Dickinson College in December. The children, many of whom had not experienced the death of someone they knew, held their own commemorative Meeting with the support of some parents, and wrote poems or texts and drew pictures for Sylvie. We continue to miss Steve greatly, and his spirit and inspiration remain among us.
Heartfelt thanks go to Steve’s wife Sylvie for continuing to support the Meeting after Steve’s death, allowing us to hold Meetings for Worship at Dickinson College and hosting post-Meeting lunches in her apartment as before. Sylvie is returning to the United States this summer, which will be anther loss for our Meeting, though we hope she will return to visit from time to time. She will be greatly missed.
A more uplifting occasion was a joint weekend retreat in March 2004. The retreat was hosted by Cynthia and Ewan Cobban on the Saturday and Wendy and Brian Cadman on the Sunday and attended by Friends from Quercy Region, Toulouse-Ariège and Mercués groups. In addition to Meeting for Worship, activities included silent walking meditation, children's equinox celebration, circle dancing and a discussion group. The retreat helped to bring our geographically widely dispersed Meetings closer together and there seemed to be an appetite for more such events.
Meanwhile, we have spent the last few months searching for premises where we can hold MfW once Sylvie returns to the US. Axel Jensen organised a trip to the Ariège where we visited several beautiful Protestant temples and learned a lot about French Protestant history and philosophy before retiring to Axel’s home for a delicious lunch. In addition to being a useful ‘fact-finding mission’, it was also a very enjoyable social occasion.
Eventually, we found a Protestant temple at the ‘Cote Pavée’ in central Toulouse (relatively near Dickinson Centre) that is available on the first Sunday of every month. Central Toulouse appears to be the most convenient location for the members of our Meeting, and once an agreement has been reached with the pastor in charge of the church, it is likely the Toulouse-Ariège group will begin meeting there from September onwards. However, until the new premises are definite, anyone planning to attend MfW in Toulouse should contact Conner Whitney, on 05 6213 4990 to confirm the venue.
Once we have settled in our new premises, a major aim of the Toulouse-Ariège Meeting should be to raise our profile in the region. The lack of permanent premises made this difficult, but once we have a central, publicly accessible place to meet, we will start making our presence more known, both among the large Anglo-Saxon population of greater Toulouse and of course the French community. A website listing our activities and contact details should also be created. This will be a topic for discussion at the Business Meeting in September.
Another area in which we want to become more active is ‘charity,’ broadly speaking. We have begun discussing ways in which our group – which so far has been very small and quite introspective -- can get involved at a social/charitable level but haven’t made any concrete commitments yet.
The Toulouse-Ariège Meeting appointed Kim Chevalier its first clerk in early; we thank Kim for her engagement during her term (and beyond!). At the beginning of this year she handed over to Conner Whitney, but continues to back up Conner as assistant clerk. We also started a collection-box this year and over of 3 meetings raised some Euros 200.
Conner Whitney, 12 July 2004
Special event – 3 to 7 July 2004 Quaker Family Summer Camp in the Ariège (Back to index)
In July 2003 the children of our Meeting (and their parents) took part in the first French Quaker Summer Camp that was held at Maison Quaker in Congénies. To a theme of ‘Native American Spirituality’, the children played, baked, acted, sculpted, sewed, sang and read for five days with great enthusiasm. Trips to the beach, communal meals and camping in the beautiful grounds of Maison Quaker and an opportunity to get to know each other better made the experience unforgettable.
Indeed, the camp was such a success that another one was held in July 2004 in the Ariège, involving children from Toulouse-Ariège and Cahors/Quercy Meetings. Despite the somewhat inclement weather, the children once again revelled in each other’s company. The theme for the 2004 camp was ‘Nature and the World Around Us’ which made the setting of a wooded campsite next to a rushing mountain river ideal. Trips to a goat farm, a several-hours-long guided mountain walk to collect edible plants (which were enjoyed at dinner that evening), handicrafts involving plants, bridge- and hut-building on the banks of the nearby river and many other activities captured the children’s imagination. Conclusion: another camp next summer, and maybe a similar if shorter gathering (over maybe a long weekend) in-between.
If you are interested in joining us on the 2005 camp please contact either Karina or Kim. (See contact details above.)
Midi-Pyrénées
retreat, 20-21 March 2004 (Back to index)
During the weekend of March 20th and 21st 2004 we held the first retreat for the
different groups in Midi-Pyrénées who
regularly meet for worship. The aim was to extend and deepen our friendships and
nourish our individual and corporate spirituality.
We met on Saturday evening, we were 14 adults and 6 children. We started by
sharing what we wished to gain from the weekend.
As it was the spring Equinox the children's meeting celebrated Mother Earth
around a camp fire while there was a silent worship indoors.
To the delight of the children the space above Cynthia's and Ewen Cobban's
living area was a great play space and dormitory. We shared a meal and then
discussed the challenges that face a primarily Anglophone group within France
Yearly meeting. The need for PR without proselytizing, dual language delivery,
and the balance of nationalities were debated. The children fell instantly quiet
and asleep above us.
The next morning we gathered at another Friend's house (Wendy and Brian Cadman).
The blossoms were out in the adjoining orchard and we took a walking meditation
through the trees or into the surrounding fields with mixed success.
We were joined by a few other friends for meeting for worship. Our youngest
member (7) ministered on God still being here after we were all gone. There was
also ministry on the eternal providing earth, humour in life and God and loving
ourselves and others enough to accept the contradictions in us. The children
were introduced to circle dancing after their period of worship.
We had planned to eat in silence but as it was Brian's birthday it didn't seem
appropriate so were typically talkative. After lunch we embraced the concept of
worship sharing and more general topics were rejected in favour of the very
emotive subject of facing our death and that of others. Jack Finnerty told how
he had experienced worship sharing in the United States. It proved an excellent
method of sharing. Letting each person speak in turn without comment or
interruption meant that deep listening and trust were very quickly established.
Meanwhile the children learnt of past and modern slavery and the story of Levi
Coffin and the underground railway. They read parts from the play called
"Hannah's Bonnet" illustrating that being recognised as a Quaker could be a good
thing. In discussing what they wanted out of our Quaker community there was a
clamour to be able to take social or political action against the wrongs in the
world. Also friendship and fun and a sense of belonging were important.
Our grateful thanks to Wendy, Cynthia and Ewen for providing physical
accommodation and sustaining food in plenty, as a grounding for our spiritual
nourishment.
We finished with some joyful circle dancing together. There was a change as the
weekend progressed culminating in a feeling of enduring warmth and
trust between us. We hope to have more Midi-Pyrénées
meetings.
Karina and Madeleine
Co-clerks, Quercy region