Bucks Quarterly Meeting historically holds an annual Quakerism in a Nutshell (QIN) workshop – that is, until 2020, when the scheduled workshop had to be cancelled due to the pandemic shutdown. Fast forward to 2023, and Fallsington Friends felt called to hold a QIN workshop for their meeting and the wider Quarter community.

Organized and presented by Jonathan Snipes, Melanie Douty-Snipes and Charlie Thomforde, they offered a hybrid QIN program on Saturday, February 25th. There were over 40 attending, with thirty in person and ten on Zoom. In the morning, participants heard about the history of the Religious Society of Friends, what Quakers believe, how they worship, and Quaker social action. After a delicious and healthy lunch prepared by the meeting, the program continued in the afternoon, explaining how Quakers have established a nurturing, supportive community.

When asked why the meeting wanted to have a QIN workshop now, Jonathan explained that about a year ago the meeting had a conversation to explore how to move forward post-pandemic, and the idea to hold this workshop arose. “I think coming out of COVID people were hungry to gather, and we hadn’t been able to do these kinds of things for so long,” he explained.

“I knew that the Quarter had been considering reviving it after the pandemic, but we decided that with the support of the Quarter, the meeting could hold the workshop,” said Melanie. The Quarter publicized the event on their website, in their monthly newsletter, and in a local publication. They also made informational materials available.

Melanie and Jonathan went on to explain that since they had both lead this type of workshop in the past, they had a clear understanding of the basic principles they wanted to cover. They added that they referred to the syllabus from Peter Blood’s 2004 Basic Quakerism course, noting that it has a terrific set of readings and queries to present. And of course, they referred to Faith and Practice for guidance.

Before Charlie Thomforde’s presentation on Quaker History, the group was asked if they had any questions. “We wanted to make sure we were addressing peoples’ interests – if they came for something else, we’d have to switch gears,” Jonathan said. “It’s like a testing of the waters – are we in sync with the group?” Melanie added, “You have to pay attention to your audience and adjust accordingly.”

When asked what went well, Melanie replied, “I think we were responsive. Some things arise spontaneously. For example, just before lunch, we asked people to turn and talk to someone about what they had gotten out of the morning’s program. That was very powerful.”

Another moment was when someone asked, “what do you do during worship?” “I think that was one of the moments when I felt the energy shift in the room,” Jonathan said. “We had been talking at them a lot and when we began to get into what we actually do during worship, I felt the energy shift a little bit and there was more engagement and interest.”

Regarding challenges, both Melanie and Jonathan agreed that there could have been better engagement with participants on Zoom. They noted that having Neil Vance as their dedicated technology person had been critical for the workshop’s succcess.

Their advice to other Bucks Quarter meetings who would like to hold a Quakerism in a Nutshell workshop was to use their model of a panel of three Friends who can each speak to a different aspect of Quakerism. “It engages people, you get different perspectives and voices, and it’s just more interesting and keeps it livelier,” said Melanie. She also felt that opening registration to seasoned Friends was helpful, as they could add their personal experiences of being a Quaker.

Fallsington Friends plan to continue the conversation throughout the year by having future workshops that take a deeper dive into Quakerism. Something that started as outreach will continue as community building inreach.

“One of the goals of QIN is to help make new connections between people, to make them feel comfortable and welcomed, and to give everyone a voice,” offered Melanie. When asked how often these workshops should be offered, Jonathan replied, “The sense is more than once a year, but anytime is a good time to talk about God.”

Fallsington Friends Hold Quakerism in a Nutshell Workshop

Worshiping with Solebury Friends

Bucks Quarterly Meeting Goes Hybrid