It is always great to get together to share ideas and the National Council 2022 held on Zoom on 11/12th November was no exception. The meeting was attended by those in UK leadership roles including the action group, regional and special interest coordinators. This gives everyone the opportunity to influence how we go forward as we draw out the priorities for the year ahead.
On Friday evening the welcome and introduction was followed by a summary of the last year focusing on the reports from the regions and special interest coordinators which again demonstrated what a resourceful community we are. We have made considerable progress with the priorities set last year which has resulted in regular mailouts to all group leaders, the reintroduction of a quarterly postal mailout, the database update, the integration of online groups and the website relaunch (//wccm.uk).
The database audit enabled us to understand how the shape of the community has changed over the last two years. Of the 29 regions we had data for, the number of groups had reduced significantly from 288 to 223. This difference was made up of 101 closed groups and 36 new groups. Of those 223 groups 163 were physical, 35 online and 25 a mix of physical and local online. In addition, we have 25 national online groups. While the effect of Covid led to the closure of some groups, with online thriving we are probably a stronger community.
On Saturday there were three excellent discussion sessions considering some of the challenges that we face. First we thought about how we engage with and what we can offer to those attending an online group. We moved on to think about how we can encourage members to become more involved. Finally we looked at new ways we can share the gift of meditation. After all the deliberations the 2023 priorities were finalised:
- Reach out
- To areas that are not covered at all or not covered enough e.g. young people, those in stressful jobs, those outside religious structures.
- Support the new international/national initiatives e.g.Terry Doyle (Marginalised), Mary Devane (Prisons), Pat Hay (MwC) and Sue Clarke (Contemplative Church) as well as existing initiatives.
- Find ways to meet people where they are at and use more approachable language i.e young people online and the 6-week course online.
- Take meditation to other places outside of church. e.g. community centres, developing and using the proposed advertising card idea to share the gift much more widely.
- Review The Way We Work document making it more user friendly and with more encouraging language so people will be encouraged to take on leadership roles. Consider simplifying the role of the Coordinator and making succession easier.
- Encourage and empower formation through ongoing training, mentoring, ETW’s , buddying, group leader meetings, and asking Oblates for support so people feel empowered before they step up.
The meeting concluded with the sharing of everyones favourite quotes some of which you can read in the printed and online newsletters and our closing prayers. Goodbyes are not quite the same on Zoom but the journey home is easier!
The National Council 2023 will be held on 3/5 November (venue to be confirmed.)J
Julie Roberts – UK National Coordinator