Bideford Quaker Quest
Experience of Quaker Quest at Bideford Meeting in 2007, continued [back to News Page]
This included deciding on topics for each of the three sessions, identifying nine presenters (three for each topic) and three organisers; working out how publicity was to be achieved, designing publicity material, getting together a team of welcomers and caterers (involving as many members and attenders as possible), identifying an alternative venue in case the meeting house turned out to be too small for the number of people coming, organising training and practices - and a whole host of other things. A chart was drawn up showing clearly who would be doing what, and when. Two Friends also spent a Quaker Quest weekend at Woodbrooke. This was very worthwhile. Our "core group" who did the planning included three from Bideford and one from Barnstaple Meeting. We were later joined by two other Friends from Barnstaple - one only sporadically. Our presenters came from Bideford, Bude, Exeter and Barnstaple meetings. The three topics addressed by the presenters were, "Do Quakers believe in God?" "What happens in a Quaker meeting?" and "Quakerism as a way of life."
We received a lot of guidance, and one full training day, from the Quaker Quest team in London, and we made full use of the booklets, "Guidelines for Quaker Quest". Our budget was about £1 000, and almost all of this went on the printing and distribution of 15 000 leaflets. These were very similar to the glossy folded leaflets produced by the London Quaker Quest team, and they were distributed about two weeks in advance of the event as loose inserts in the local free newspaper. We also put some very striking A4 black and white posters in shop windows. These were, in fact, photocopies of the coloured glossy posters produced by the central Quaker Quest team, with details of time, place, etc. printed in the blank spave provided. Having large white lettering on a black background made these posters really stand out from other posters in shop windows. We also prepared a display in the Meeting House window.
Six people turned up on the first night. This dwindled to one on each of the second and third evenings. We were quite disappointed. But numbers increased again for the last three evenings. In all, about a dozen different people came to one or other of the Quaker Quest evenings. We asked most people what kind of publicity had brought them, and only one mentioned the leaflets. Others had come because of the window display, and notices in shop windows, and one had come because of a short paragraph in the local free town newsletter (the Bideford Buzz). So, it seemed ( and still seems) that the money and enormous effort put into designing, printing and distributing the leaflets was almost entirely wasted. If we did QQ again, I think we would not bother with this means of publicity - although direct mailing might be more effective.
The atmosphere on each of the six evenings was very good, and the Questers always stayed on for more refreshments and conversation after the event. We wondered if the topics we chose were appropriate. Supposing we had chosen three "Quakers and...." topics - like Quakers and sex, or Quakers and Peacemaking, or Quakers and social justice - and publicised these. Would that have been more relevant to people?
Since we finished Quaker Quest, two of the Questers have been regular (though one infrequent) attenders at Meeting for Worship. A group who call themselves "Seekers" requested a "Mini Quaker Quest" and several of them attended meeting for a while (and may still be "on board" - we're not sure). I think it drew us together as a meeting, and it certainly made the presenters think hard about their beliefs and experience.
Would we do it again? Well - not just yet, but in the future? Who knows?"
John Ward, Bideford Meeting