Issue 08-10-2021
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Thought for the week: Abigail Maxwell’s new Ignatian prayer
Christianity is blemished by its use as an imperial ideology. Some Christians believe in a ‘God of power and might’, and Quakers are not immune. A false belief about God can get in the way of seeing God.
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Women’s work: Forty years on, seven Friends talk to Rebecca Hardy about the Greenham Peace Camp
Forty years ago last month, thirty-two women, four men and some children set off on foot from Cardiff to Berkshire, in protest against the nuclear weapons that were being held at RAF Greenham Common. The march was the beginning of the Greenham Common Peace Camp, which was set up outside...
New director for QUNO
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the Quaker United Nations Committee (New York) have announced that Sarah Clarke will be the new director of Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) New York.
General Meeting for Scotland: Pamala McDougall reports
This was different. As an experiment, draft minutes were circulated prior to the meeting and we were asked for feedback after the event. If it is positive, this practice will continue. I have yet to consider the pros and cons but I was almost overwhelmed by the reading material.
A modern Meeting
Switch on the Zoom, and enter these, our homes, Our little fancies all revealed, The pictures on the wall, the tired or tended plants, Our tastes in texture, colour, unconcealed.
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Quakers denounce Universal Credit cuts
The Quaker-founded Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has criticised the government for going ahead with its £20 a week cut to Universal Credit.
Friends resist Liverpool Electronic Arms Fair
Friends in the north are getting ready to resist the Liverpool Electronic Arms Fair (AOC Europe 2021), which is due to take place in the city next week.
Quakers ponder Sikh ‘service to others’
Chichester Quakers held an interfaith event exploring the Sikh commitment to Seva, the compassionate service to others.
Friends rally for ‘Stop the Rights Raid’ week
Quakers are getting ready to take part in a week of action highlighting an increase in legislation undermining human rights.
Meeting for Sufferings: Welcome
October 2, morning session You could sense the smiles under the masks as representatives arrived at Friends House for the first Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) there since the pandemic struck. It was a blended Meeting, with most attendees sticking to Zoom, but around thirty Friends gathered in The Light to see...
Meeting for Sufferings: Trustees report
After some membership admin and appointment of new Quaker Recognised Bodies (Bamford Quaker Community and the ‘Quakers in the World’ web portal), the clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) trustees, Caroline Nursey, gave a report. Trustees had been delighted to meet face-to-face again, she said – so much so that they...
Meeting for Sufferings: IICSA report
Deputy recording clerk Juliet Prager introduced a session on safeguarding by acknowledging that the subject made people worried, and consequently reluctant to discuss it. It was important to understand that each of us had different experiences, she said, and that the issue could trigger anxiety.
Meeting for Sufferings: Amendments to Quaker faith & practice
Amendments to the book of discipline were simple to approve, said clerk Margaret Bryan, since Yearly Meeting had decided they should happen. But one Friend objected to a sentence about the role of trustees – the Friend seemed to have some expertise in the matter. The phrasing needed to be re-examined...
Meeting for Sufferings: Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill
Friends in Surrey and Hampshire sent a minute to MfS about the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is currently before parilament. They were ‘very concerned’ about ‘the impact on freedom of assembly and of expression, and the right to peaceful protest’. Recording clerk Paul Parker presented a...
Letters - 8 October 2021
Whitewash and tar Simon Webb (24 September) does a service in reminding us of the ‘whitewashing’ of our African church fathers in our Christian art. I fear, however, that the whitewash has gone farther than anticipated. Our church fathers have inflicted enormous harm on women and on our concept of...