Uxbridge Friends mark 200th anniversary
Uxbridge Friends held the first in a series of events to mark the 200th anniversary of their Meeting house
Uxbridge Quakers held an open meeting to discuss the resurgence of militarism as the first in a series of events to celebrate the 200th anniversary of their Meeting house.
The ‘War to End War?’ event on 28 April was also a chance to reflect on the centenary of the first world war.
Speakers included Ellis Brooks, from Quaker Peace & Social Witness; Symon Hill from the Peace Pledge Union; and Rhianna Louise from ForcesWatch.
Mike Beranek, ‘clerk-of-the-table’ at Uxbridge Meeting, told the Friend that the idea for the event came from ‘a stage of renewal’: ‘We wanted to re-own the identity of the building. We’ve set up an outreach group called Ressurgam, which is slang in Latin for “rise again”, to commemorate the end of the first world war.’
According to the Meeting newsletter: ‘With war and violence as prevalent as ever… the need to seek long-lasting peaceful solutions is as important as ever. As Quakers, our Peace Testimony is “to live in the life and power which takes away the occasion of all wars”. .’
Mike Beranek said the Meeting house dates back to 1690.
He reflected: ‘We even have an epistle from George Fox complaining about the depravities of Uxbridge, which was quite a bawdy place!’
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