Quaker History - Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas

A Midwest Regional Gathering

by Luanne Hagee

Friends, if there is one thing I have learned the last two and a half years is that I must be patient (near impossible for me) and that patience pays off.

It was way back in March of 2019 during the FWCC-SOA Section Meeting near Kansas City, Missouri members of the Midwest Region (Illinois YM, Indiana YM, Ohio Valley YM, Western YM, the New Association of Friends and Central YM) began a discussion of a possible event/gathering in our Region before the next Section Meeting in 2021. It was suggested that we might hold such a gathering in mid-2020 in conjunction with the annual sessions of one of our Yearly Meetings . . . and then COVID struck, but COVID could not and did not stop us from continuing conversations and planning for a Midwest Regional event/gathering. Lots of emails were sent/received and virtual gatherings were held within the Section.

In April we finally had a location and date secured along with a speaker and a field trip! David Edinger and I discussed options for lunch. In July registration opened and I saw that we had two speakers and a field trip! After I registered I began watching as Friends began to register – it was exciting to see which Friends were going to be attending and anticipating seeing them in person for the first time since the 2019 Section Meeting.

Patience finally paid off . . . and on Saturday, September 24^th, 2022, in Plainfield, Indiana over 40 Friends gathered at the Plainfield Friends Meeting on U.S. 40 for the first “post COVID” hybrid FWCC-SOA gathering.

The afternoon began with a brief gathering in the Plainfield Friends Meeting Room then Friends were dismissed to the basement where a variety of box lunches from McAlister’s were available along with lemonade and ice tea. As Friends returned to the Meeting Room they were welcomed with Tom Roberts (Western YM) playing the piano. After a brief welcome to those in attendance both in the Meeting Room and virtually by our Midwest Regional Coordinator, David Edinger, Tom played a couple more tunes for us followed by a period of waiting worship.

We then heard from two dynamic speakers – Shawn McConaughey, the new Western Yearly Meeting Superintendent, who had been serving on staff with Friends United Meeting in East Africa and Robin Mohr, Executive Secretary of FWCC-SOA. Shawn shared about the work he did while working on staff with Friends United Meeting serving in East Africa and Robin shared the ongoing work of FWCC around the world.

Tom Hamm, archivist at Earlham College, shared with Friends the history of the historic Sugar Grove Friends Meeting House. Sugar Grove Meeting House is currently used by local Friends for Easter Sunrise Service and a group currently meets there once a month on Sunday afternoon for worship in the manner of Friends – unprogrammed worship. The Meetinghouse still has the wooden panels that separated the men and women during Meeting for Worship. Twenty-nine Friends visited the Sugar Grove Meetinghouse where they heard a bit more about the history and how the Meetinghouse is being used today.

I enjoyed seeing so many of my FWCC Friends in person and having the opportunity to have conversations with them face-to-face and not virtually and getting a few hugs as well.

Thanks to Plainfield Friends for sharing their facilities with us, Pastor Cathy Harris, Bill Clendening and Tom Roberts for helping.

The afternoon program speakers and music were recorded and can be viewed at: FWCC Midwest Regional Gathering – 2022 – YouTube

Planning for this gathering began three and a half years ago and was over in the blink of an eye . . . but it was so worth the wait!

How to Conduct an Interview

1. Before the interview

a) Get your phone up and working and install Smart Voice Recording app.
b) Arrange a time and place to meet the one to be interviewed- choose a time when the person being interviewed is most awake/alert if they are elderly
c) Make sure you arrive on time or slightly early
d) Test the phone, microphone, and the camera using your own voice (practice testing)
e) Make sure you open Voice recorder app on phone and then choose under setting WAV.
f) Take a recording and then play it back, so you can determine how close you need to be to get a good clear recording. Older people often speak softly, so make sure you can hear their voice before you start taping the interview.

2. Set up apparatus

a) Find a location where it will be least noisy. Avoid windy places, places that echo (empty buildings or ones with high ceilings), or places next to traffic or other noises. Or turn off all other cell phones in the room during taping.
b) Turn phone on the airplane mode to cut down distracting noises.
c) Set up the tripod so the phone is in a secure place. It should be not more than 6 feet
away from the person being interviewed. Make sure the microphone is facing the person being interviewed.
d) Attach microphone to shirt/collar of person to be interviewed.
e) Make sure there is no phone case, fingers, etc blocking the mic.
f) Do a 1 minute or less practice to make sure it is catching the sound before interviewing.
g) Take a photo of the person before taping.

3. Recording

a) Start the recording by indicating:

It’s (month)/ (date_)___/(year)_ and we are located in
the town/ village/ YM . This is (Your name)_ and I am here with (interviewee’s name) as part of the
Oral history project for World Quaker Day. (Which language are you speaking?)
Use the questions on back of sheet, but add follow up questions for information that would be especially interesting for used in Sunday School story telling.

4. End of Interview

a) Take a photo of the person (often they will be more relaxed and smiling afterwards)
b) Thank the one being interviewed plus any family members who assisted.
c) Disinfect the phone after the interview
d) Wash your hands.
e) Check the photo taken and Play back part of the interview

QUESTIONS TO ASK

Personal information:
Where were you born? Or where did you spend your childhood?
Did you attend any Quaker schools? What difference did it make to your life? Challenges faced when you were young?

History of Friends in your area:
Who was the earliest Quaker in your area or village? (or the first people to become Quakers in your area).
Which Quakers were your mentors? Describe why. How were the earliest Quakers in your area different from people from other churches/faiths ? How were they different from Quakers today?
What can we learn from the earliest Quakers in your region?
Leadings and challenges of being a Quaker:
How and where did you become a Friend?
Can you describe any callings or leadings you have had in ministry?
What challenges have you meet while being an adult Quaker or as a woman Quaker?
What are the most serious challenges of being a Quaker today?
How has Quakerism changed your life?

Joys of being a Quaker:
What has been the best thing about being a Quaker? How has it helped you?
Being a Quaker as a child:
If you have been a Quaker from childhood,
a) Describe what it was like to grow up in a Quaker home. How was it different from being brought up in another church?
b) Describe what you remember most about any Sunday school as a child.
c) What did Quakers offer to you as a child?
d) How did you find your wife/husband?

Message you have for future Friends:
What message would you like to give to young Friends today or to your grandchildren?

CREDITS: FWCC Section of the Americas is deeply grateful to the Quaker Religious Education Collaborative-Africa which developed this very useful guide to interviews which we have adopted for World Quaker Day 2021. May God continue to bless their ministry. https://quakerrecollaborative.org/
COVID PRECAUTIONS- wash your hands before you start- don’t touch your face.
Only one person should be using the phone- disinfect between users.
Maintain a safe distance. If the interviewee is ill, postpone the interview until they are better.