Eyewitness - Linda Murgatroyd wins The Friends Quarterly essay competition

Tony Stoller introduces the results of the Friends Quarterly essay competition

The prize essay competition, run by our sister paper, The Friends Quarterly (FQ) and supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, has set Friends buzzing for months. Even so, the total of 106 entries greatly exceeded expectations, and gave the judges a difficult task. We now know the winners, and what is to happen next.  First prize has been awarded to Linda Murgatroyd of Kingston & Wandsworth Area Meeting. Her essay is entitled ‘The future of Quakers in Britain: holding spaces for the spirit to act’. Two further prizes were awarded: to Simon Best of London West Area Meeting for ‘The future of the Religious Society of Friends: Simple, contemporary, radical?’ and to Felicity Kaal of Bristol Area Meeting for ‘The Future of Quakerism’. The winning essays will be printed in the next issue of The Friends Quarterly in May.

The competition judges – Jennifer Barraclough, Imran Tyabji, David Olver and FQ editor Tony Stoller – were delighted and impressed by the range and quality of those hundred-plus entries. They look forward to making them available to the widest possible readership. Taken together, these diverse essays represent a remarkable body of thought about the current and future state of Quakerism in Britain. Many of them have the potential to be of great value to the Religious Society in Britain and beyond.

As much as possible of the wisdom of the many entries will be published in an anthology later this year. The complete range of entries will also be available on The Friend website this summer. A weekend seminar at Woodbrooke Centre for Quaker Studies from 30 July to 1 August will also consider the essays, and what may be done next.

Linda Murgatroyd has been a Quaker for twenty-five years and has enjoyed a variety of responsibilities in Wandsworth Meeting and beyond. She has worked in social research and for many years in the Government Statistical Service. She uses art to nurture the spiritual and to help bring Light to bear on life issues, and is currently secretary of the Art and Spirituality Network. Her essay makes striking use of original artwork.

Felicity Kaal joined the Society in 1999 and is currently co-clerk of elders and learning coordinator for her Area Meeting. Her concerns include deepening the spiritual life of the Meeting and introducing new attenders to Quakerism. Her particular interest is Ken Wilber’s integral philosophy.

Simon Best has been attending Quaker Meetings all his life, and was active as a young Friend, including serving as Young Friends General Meeting’s representative on Meeting for Sufferings. For the past twelve years he has been involved in a variety of Quaker events for young people, as an adult volunteer and staff member. In 2004-2005 he undertook a Joseph Rowntree Quaker Fellowship, with Paul Levy, offering workshops for Meetings enabling adults and young people to share their spiritual journeys. He is in the final stages of studying for a PhD in Quaker Studies at the University of Birmingham and is currently employed as Children and Young People’s Programmes Officer for Britain Yearly Meeting.

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