Quakers in Sofia?

A very good question! If you yourself or anyone you know is a Friend and is in Bulgaria, please get in touch with us.
mail@QinBG.org
thank you

The first draft of a final report of the 2007 Triennial.

It is not quite two weeks since I left Dublin and the 2007 Friends World Committee for Consultation's Triennial with 308 Friends from all over the World and about half a hundred Friends from Ireland Yearly Meeting hosting us. It is probably going to take some weeks more to fully digest but let me just say that it was, for me, a very inspiring event. Even though the official dates for the Triennial were August 11th to 19th, the event started for me with the pre-triennial mini-conference on Peace and Re-conciliation in Northern Ireland and really ended on the 29th of August when I left the UK for Germany where I am spending a week or so before returning to Sofia and Bulgaria.



I want to mention here and now the following ideas for possible action which came to me during this time...



1. To establish a Worship Group in Sofia, which will then apply to be a Recognised Meeting. The next step would be, possibly with other Recognised Meetings in Eastern Europe, to establish a Recognised Monthly Meeting with the aim of establishing a new International Yearly Meeting.



2. To establish a new State-registered Charity in Bulgaria with a name such as "Quaker Service Bulgaria". The new charity would take on some of the responsibilities of Bulgarian Aid Project, would benefit from the goodwill generated since 1993 and could then build on this foundation so that, for example, the new Small Business Advice project could apply for funding and support. The new charity would also exercise Outreach in Bulgaria and South East Europe both through Online Video Meeting for Worship as well as Podcasts (both radio and video) through a new web-based, part-time, radio and tv station called Quaker Broadcasting BSEE (Bulgaria and South East Europe).



3. We have to start spreading the Quaker Universalist Message using a two-pronged approach. Firstly through publishing online and possible on paper in English. Secondly through starting a publishing programme in Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian using Russian language texts in cooperation with other Universalist Friends in Eastern Europe.

Bryn Jones writing from Germany

Quaker FWCC Triennial, Dublin, Ireland August 11 - 19

First Report, Tuesday 13th August.

Last Saturday, after a most impressive and experiential experience in Northern Ireland, Bryn Jones went to the Triennial in Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland.

Bryn Jones:
"Well this is certainly quite different. From being 1 of 18 Friends, I was one in just under four hundred Friends from all over the World. With the notable exception of Friends from "Evangelical Friends International" (check google)- who are at the moment sending missionaries to Romania and Hungary where they have more than 4000 (yes with three 0s) "converted" (a rather strange concept for those of us coming from a "Quiet Universalist Quaker" tradition, but nevertheless a word that a lot of evangelising Friends use to describe their work and activity) Friends. On Tuesday the 14th some of us here will be looking at how to invite these Friends to enter into a process of communication with those few Friends who are, and have been for years in this part of the World. more hopefully in a few days."

Your comments are requested.

1st Report from Northern Ireland

On the 8th of August, Bryn Jones, participating in the Pre-Triennial Small Conference on Peace and Reconciliation visited the Quaker Visitors Centre outside the new prison for men just on the outskirts of Belfast. Very impressive work by the Ulster Quakers over the last 30 years culminated last year in their being granted a 5 year contract for providing this service from the Northern Ireland Government. This means that they are no longer dependent on grants and can do some long term planning!. They have just in this one centre a staff of around 37 people, equivalent of about 14 full time positions. More info at end of August on our website. Then we, after a very complex and arduous security check were able to inspect the family visitors area inside the prison and met the Governer. That was in the morning. The afternoon was spent visiting Stormont, the Northern Ireland Houses of Parliament where we had tea with the Speaker and met Members from three parties: one from SinnFein, one from Ian Paisley's Union Party(both sharing power in the Government) and one from the opposition Alliance Party.

Corruption

Corruption is a major factor in bulgaria. We plan to publish in the autumn extracts from a recently published book on our web site. This book was written in german, was published in germany and has still not found a bulgarian publisher brave enough or rich enough to take the risk. The author, a bulgarian, lives and works in germany. More news in september!

The Cover of the Docs that Bryn will take to Dublin. More at www.QinBG.org

QinBG
Quakers in Bulgaria

http://www.qinbg.org/

Paper presented at the
22nd Triennial in Dublin
11-19 August 2007

&

Proposals for Action
in the Eastern European States
neighbouring on Bulgaria

Friend Members of the Working Party
“Truth & Power“
are
Rachel Goddard, Bryn Jones (both in Bulgaria)
and Charles David Tauber (in Croatia)

Email: mail@QinBG.org

new team member

Waiting patiently here in Bulgaria!