Blended, Hybrid Quaker Meetings: Technology and Technique

Conversation Circles, October 18 & 20, 2022

I  n this time of experimentation and innovation, many Quaker communities are exploring hybrid or blended meetings in which some Friends sit in the meeting room while others attend online. Technology-assisted connection has allowed Friends separated by distance, disability, or disease to gather in Spirit with those at the meeting house. However, meetings are working through the variety of technological arrangements that would truly encompass those present online and in-person yet minimize the intrusiveness of equipment during Meeting for Worship, Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business and committee meetings. 

Join this conversation to learn from Friends with deep experience of inclusive technology and technique to support Quaker worship and process.  

Queries:

• What equipment can best support blended or hybrid Quaker meetings for larger or smaller monthly and yearly meetings? 

• How much should our meeting budget for equipment and software? 

• What techniques and procedures help the meeting feel truly inclusive, yet minimize the sense of technological intrusion? 

Conversation Starters:

• David Coletta, Tech Ministry, Three Rivers Meeting, NEYM
• Jen Higgins-Newman, Program Director, Beacon Hill Friends House, member of Beacon Hill Friends Meeting, NEYM

Facilitator:

Andrew Wright, Durham Friends Meeting, NCYMC

Resources

• Being the Church Online, Blog by Kathleen Wooten
• Best Practices in Hybrid Worship, David Coletta, Tech Ministry, QREC Pre-Conference Workshop, July 29, 2021
• Guidance for Meetings, Emily Provance
• Pendle Hill’s Hybrid Worship Experiment, July 22, 2020
• Hybrid Meeting Design Handbook V2.3, Richmond Shreve, Newtown PA Monthly Meeting

Learn more: Visit the QREC Resource Library and subscribe to our announcements