Letters - 14 September 2018

From a Quaker wedding to the importance of context

A Quaker wedding

Thank you, Rajit Gholap (24 August), for your article about your wedding. You, Rachael and your Quaker registrar of marriages should be congratulated on the thought and care you took to conduct your ‘Solemnisation of a Marriage’.

It is quite right that all your guests should expect and receive a Quaker experience and to do that they need the preparation to enable them to participate in the worship as well as they can.

Using the occasion to express Quaker values rather than secular fashions was entirely valid.

The flexibility of the Quaker wedding is significant, but we should avoid short-changing everyone by truncating it or allowing it to turn into a ‘reception party’.

There is time for jolly speeches, anecdotes, and other rituals over food and drink later.

Barney Smith

A welcome contribution

With all the current debate within Friends about gender assignment, nontheism, ‘God words’, membership and the like, it was good to read Jon Anderson’s very amusing ‘God bothering’ in the 30 August edition of the Friend.

It was very humorous but also had thoughtful comments as a balance. I’m not suggesting this publication should be full of such material but it was a very welcome contribution.

Richard Stewart

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