Agnes Sales reflects on her experience of the University of Bristol Quaker Meeting
Following the event on the 21st July about outreach to universities, Agnes Sales, a Friend involved in the Quaker work at Bristol University has shared the following reflections.
If you would be interested in joining with other friends across London in talking about university work in the city, please email Josh (joshs@quaker.org.uk) to be connected.
The meeting at the University of Bristol has been an integral part of my Quaker faith and weekly routine. Before joining, I was already a regular at the Multifaith Chaplaincy and had attended Central meeting a couple of times that year. One day in October, I saw a couple of people sitting in silent worship in the quiet room, decided to join them.
Initially, there were only three of us, but I invited my friends and we steadily grew – I think our biggest meeting had 17 people! Some people came and went and a few of us turned up consistently every Wednesday lunchtime. We started doing ‘Quaked potatoes’ and a few of us started attending Redland meeting and joining the Becoming Friends course. The University meeting has provided a gateway to the wider Quaker community, enabled me to make new friends of all ages and have a consistent way of engaging with my faith when I cannot come on a Sunday morning.
I have always appreciated the more casual nature of our meetings, where we have afterword, food and conversation and where some people move around and minister in ways that they don’t feel comfortable to do elsewhere. We have developed a real community that feels strong and fulfilling.
The chaplains of other faiths in the Multifaith Chaplaincy have also provided great company and support, whether that be pastoral support or simply making tea. I’m sure that a Quaker chaplain would be appreciated not only by the students who regularly attend the Quaker meeting but also other students who who may have questions about Quakerism or need pastoral support.
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