Areas of responsibility are worship and fellowship in the meeting.
We have around ten Elders, who are responsible for looking after the Meeting for Worship on a Sunday. At each meeting one or more Elders will sit at the centre, welcome people to the meeting, and make themselves available for queries, concerns and discussion. Elders can provide advice on how to become more involved in the life of the Meeting, and about how to become a member of the Society of Friends.
Elders are also responsible for pastoral care in the meeting. We have several Sharing Circles, with an Elder in each, to enable us to get to know and support one another. The sharing circles meet from time to time, often with a shared meal or an outing, and also take it in turns to look after Meeting for Worship by greeting people, bringing flowers, and making teas and coffees.We keep track of who’s in which sharing circle, and publish the current membership of the circles every few months.
The Children & Young People’s committee looks after the regular Sunday morning groups for children during meeting for worship, and organises other activities.
We also have Funeral Advisers and the Memorial Book Group. The Funeral Advisers look after our funerals and memorial meetings, and can advise on planning arrangements and expressing funeral wishes. The memorial book is a record of the life and work of departed members of the meeting, and can be found in the library.
We support the work of chaplaincies in the University and local prisons, and work with other churches on multi-faith issues.