Connection vs Recruitment
This October, monthly meetings are encouraged to send representatives to the upcoming October 21st Outreach and Communications Thread Gathering. Irene Oleksiw, member of Downingtown Quaker Meeting, and Joshua Ponter, member of Haddonfield Meeting, discuss connection versus recruitment in outreach efforts, as well as successes in growing meetings. Our discussion will focus on why outreach is important and what meetings can expect to learn from this upcoming event.
Q: Why is this Outreach and Communications Thread Gathering so important for Friends to attend?
Irene believes Friends will greatly benefit from this Thread Gathering event as it will allow them to come away with specific ideas they can try out. “It is more than just conversation but rather an opportunity for Friends to return to their meetings with tangible ideas and resources,” says Irene. Another benefit is the ability to establish a community of practice around outreach in the Yearly Meeting. This gives Friends the opportunity to come away with a network of people from other meetings they can contact later to get more information or use as sounding boards in their outreach initiatives.
Joshua Ponter added: “Often, when people talk about outreach and communications, it’s framed around a failing meeting.” But Joshua offers hope that there is a plethora of spiritual resources at our fingertips to connect with each other – resources that our predecessors could never have imagined. He specifically points to the need for individual motivation to drive the change we want to see particularly after the world emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the emphasis on Friends needing to change themselves, he noted the importance of the role Quarterly Meetings can play in Meeting revitalization. Utilizing the Quarter’s resources can result in a better communications outreach with surrounding communities.
Joshua truly believes Quarterly Meetings are the “feet-on-the-ground” and therefore, vitally important to the successful collaboration needed for Meeting revitalization, outreach, in-reach, and community building.
What is the intention behind inviting Meetings to send ‘teams’ and how can Meetings prepare teams to attend the Communications and Outreach Thread Gathering?
The invitation to Meetings includes encouragement to send more than one Friend to participate, learn, and bring back ideas to the Meeting. Joshua explained how important it is for people to have an outlet to share key learnings. But more importantly, before a Meeting sends a team to participate, it could be very useful to discuss how to integrate the ideas brought back to them from the Thread Gathering. Irene agrees that a bit of preparation will yield better results. Another reason for sending a team is that “outreach and nurturing new members is a team effort,” according to Irene. “It’s never the job of one single person.” Sending multiple members of a meeting to listen and contribute to the exchange of ideas will bring with diverse perspectives on how to carry potential initiatives forward.
How will this Thread Gathering speak to the concern of the decline of ‘Organized Religion’ and address the hope for Meetings to grow?
Recent studies cite the decline of ‘organized religion’. Joshua believes the decline may be partially self-inflicted. “People need to worship, it’s part of our natural makeup.” He challenges Meetings that are considering how to address decreasing membership and attendance to ask – how many times a member in their meeting has brought forth an idea that was new or scary? How often was that idea embraced? Was the idea quietly pushed aside? Generally, people want to go where they are felt, seen, heard, and needed.
Irene noted that the longevity of the meeting depends on the people involved today continuing to make it relevant so it can continue on in the future”. Meetings of earlier generations were largely assemblies of people who were extended families, and so everyone knew each other. This is a stark difference from meetings of today where most meeting members were not raised Quaker, she points out; therefore, the experience of becoming Quaker is much more varied.
Is the outreach approach remarkably different in some way for Meetings that are growing?
“Quaker meetings often hide their light under a bushel”, says Irene. She believes one of the characteristics of growing meetings is that the work of outreach is intentional and that they seek to make their meeting more visible.
Joshua also shared how outreach is defined differently for each meeting. “Some meetings think about outreach in the context of filling benches. Another way meetings define outreach is being of service to their community, but the ideas are not mutually exclusive which then begs the question for meetings to ask themselves – what is outreach for them?” He also adds, “during the Thread Gathering, members may share stories of significant efforts undertaken to get people in the doors, but does that also translate to retention? Are people coming back?” In his experience, serving helps people remember and encourages them to come back.
Irene points out that Quakerism is very different from other religions in that there is no dogma. Successful meetings recognize that people who are Quaker-curious want to learn, so programming is needed to be offered to guide people on their journeys. Although Meeting for Worship is the core of Quakerism, newcomers typically do not understand what that means and how it benefits them. The meetings that are growing understand the need to invest in different mechanisms for cultivating an understanding of Quakerism.
What kinds of questions should Friends be asking themselves to support outreach initiatives?
It starts with what the motivation of the Meeting is. Joshua encourages meetings to discern whether it is a desire to simply fill benches or is it a genuine desire to serve people. “If the motivation is to fill benches, you’ll never attract enough people, but if your meeting’s desire is to serve people and to meet spiritual needs, people will naturally be attracted to the meeting and the individuals they come in contact with.”
Irene adds the importance of thinking not only about why people – ‘come’ but also why people – ‘stay.’ There is no one answer and the reasons to attend Meeting (or church) can change over a person’s lifetime. So, the question becomes how is the Meeting serving those needs as they evolve? She encourages meetings to think ‘outside the box’. “Just because something worked30 years ago doesn’t mean it will necessarily work today”, she added.
This thread gathering is an in-person event, is there a way for Friends to participate and contribute ideas even if they are unable to attend?
Absolutely! Meetings are invited to send a team of 2-3 people to facilitate further conversation once they return with new contacts and seasoned strategies.
What are you hoping Meetings and Friends will accomplish through this Outreach and Communications Thread Gathering?
Irene explains that each attendee will be provided a form to document actionable ideas and collect contact information in order to build a bridge for Friends to access resources. Joshua hopes people will leave with a sense of urgency to try new things, knowing that what’s been done so far is not sustainable for the Society of the future. Both agree that meetings should be intentionally focused on connection vs recruitment, and that it is the ‘how’ this specific Outreach and Communications Thread Gathering seeks to unpack.
Interested in sending a team to the upcoming October 21st Thread Gathering? Here’s what you need to know:
Register your Meeting’s team to attend at www.pym.org/event/outreach-comms-thread/. The Outreach and Communications Thread Gathering takes place Saturday, October 21st from 1pm to 5pm at Downingtown Friends Meeting, 800 E Lancaster Ave, Downingtown, PA. Childcare will be available.
