Time for change?

Michael Long asks whether it is time for some shape shifting

by Michael Long 23rd November 2017

In Manchester Quaker Meeting House, which was the venue recently for Meeting for Sufferings, there is a striking image: a tapestry panel that depicts a major event in the history of nineteenth century Quakerism. The panel celebrates the Manchester Conference held in 1895 when some thousand Friends gathered in the city.

Our Society, at that time, faced the challenges of falling membership, changing demographics and generational divide. It was middle class through and through.