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Friends United Meeting |
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November 1999
Who Was Consulted?
The report is based on focus groups, interviews and letters. There were 24 focus groups conducted last fall and winter in 22 locations across the United States, from North Carolina through Indiana to the Pacific Northwest, from Los Angeles through Wichita to New England. We invited about a dozen people to each focus group hoping that six to ten, an ideal size for a such a group, would be able to participate. In total, 210 Quakers participated in this way. Our consultants conducted broad-ranging telephone interviews with an additional 31 individuals. Finally, we placed an ad in Quaker Life and Friends Journal inviting all who were interested to write letters. In response we received fourteen thoughtful essays.
In selecting those to invite to focus groups or interviews, we worked closely with the clerks and superintendents of Yearly Meetings. We asked them to suggest those with broad experience and understanding: leaders among Friends. We worked hard to include Friends of every orientation: evangelical and universalistic; orthodox, conservative and neither of these; EFI, FGC, FUM and other. On a number of dimensions we also tried to gather a good mix of participants, for example men and women, well seasoned and not so old, those in larger meetings or churches and those in smaller, those in paid positions and those not. We could not possibly include every leader in the Religious Society of Friends, but we did include a broadly representative group.
One surprise, at least for me: a high percentage of the participants were not Friends from birth. Sixty-two percent said they are Friends by convincement, and only 43% by birthright (some indicated both). Forty-four percent said that they first encountered Friends in high school or later. Forty-two percent said they were first introduced to Friends by someone other than a parent or other close relative. We often talk as if we were a closed circle, unable to attract newcomers. But these numbers indicate that we are drawing new people to Quakerism, and that many of these are finding their way to leadership.
Doug Bennett