The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted Woodbrooke, an international Quaker learning and research organization based in Britain, to provide more online offerings. Having offered online worship for some years, Woodbrooke suddenly found it was essential to many Friends who joined from all over the world and have shared how valued the virtual worship is. Online worship is offered 12 times a week at a variety of times of day.
Online learning has increased from around 10 percent of the learning program to 100 percent, while keeping a similar number of courses available. Woodbrooke reports learning a lot in this process and staying open as it experimented with different formats to be as relevant and accessible as possible.
The annual Swarthmore Lecture, usually held during Britain Yearly Meeting, was live streamed. Tom Shakespeare’s lecture “Openings to the Infinite Ocean: A Friendly Offering of Hope” was watched by over 1,000 people live and by many more afterward on the Woodbrooke YouTube channel.
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