Stuart Masters delivering the 2026 Swarthmore Lecture. Photo: By Mike Pinches for BYM.
Convincement time: Rebecca Hardy talks to Stuart Masters, 2026 Swarthmore lecturer
‘We need to return to what it was that animated those young people.’
As soon as I meet Stuart Masters, we’re off. I come laden with questions, but the moment we start chatting, it’s hard not to get swept up in his rich ideas and historical knowledge. Stuart’s a lively talker, easy to gab with, and our conversations meander seamlessly into all kinds of areas. The first thing I tell him is how much I enjoyed his Swarthmore Lecture, organised by Woodbrooke, and how much I learnt about early Friends. I had this rather simplistic idea that they were all rooted in the Pentecostal way, I tell him, so was interested to hear that George Fox created the system of Meetings which is partly why the movement survived. Rather embarrassingly (as a committed feminist), I forgot to credit Margaret Fell – which Stuart is quick to correct.
