One of the pleasant surprises of coming to Colchester is the fact that there is a Quaker meeting in town. Quakers, not being of an evangelical bent, are not profligate in number. Last time we were on sabbatical, in Birmingham, I was in fact spoilt for choice with a number of meeting houses within walking distance of where we lived. Back then I attended the Selly Oak meeting.
Yesterday, I attended the Colchester meeting for the first time. The meeting house is a 20-25 minute walk from where we live, just on the other side of the town centre. The building was constructed for John Constable’s lawyer in 1803 and converted by the Religious Society of Friends to be their meeting house in 1974. (It has facilities for resident wardens and they clearly make a concerted effort to keep the building open.) There seemed to be plenty of attenders present, though I was told the turn out was on the small side so it seems this is a rather large meeting. There is also a children’s meeting with kids from age 4-5 up to adolescents, which augers well for the health of the meeting.
Compared to other meetings I’ve been present at this group were very chatty and there was much testimony on a variety of topics. The meting was very welcoming and there certain seems to be a lot of activity to get involved with.
Quakers have been active in Colchester for more than three centuries though it is not known when there was an organised Quaker presence in town. An early Quaker, James Parnell is commemorated by a plaque in the Castle. In 1655 he came to Colchester and preached the message inspired by the originator of Quakerism, George Fox, that being the experience of Christ was free to all without the need for mediation of clergy or ritual. At the time this was quite heretical. For his trouble he was imprisoned in the Castle aged just 19 where he died of starvation and neglect.
Current temperature: here 14C/57F, there 46F/8C