Britain Yearly Meeting, taking place this coming
weekend, has managed to draw a little press attention, both
specialist
and general
(paywall), regarding the question of whether to revise our Book
of Discipline. So I thought I'd take another little look at the whole
matter.
Firstly, both of the linked pieces put an
unreasonable focus on specific elements of change that Friends think
might happen in a revision process. One focuses on environmental
matters and gender & sexuality; the other focuses on the
suggestion that we might remove “God” (or, they acknowledge,
maybe just reduce the use of the term). These are all things that
will be live issues if the revision goes ahead, to be sure, but they
miss the key point of revision.
