Issue 15-07-2022
Featured story
A big ask: Neil Morgan’s Thought for the Week
Here are three random associations – illustrations, if you like, followed by a question. These fell into my mind all at once.
Top stories
Inside job: Tim Gee reflects on six months at Friends World Committee for Consultation
I recently passed the six-month mark since officially beginning as general secretary to the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). The timing has been interesting, coinciding with some other big life events for me. I had just become a father, and was beginning the process of moving house. It’s...
Fire away? Moya visits Banbury Friends for the annual Adderbury Lecture
Back in June, I took a train to Banbury to attend the annual Adderbury Lecture. On the train up, I’d been reading an article about the early history of Quakers in the town. It opened with this paragraph: ‘The Society of Friends, or the Quakers, have been active in...
Double standard: Howard Grace on two joyful men
When our daughter Wendy was about seven years old, she joined us at a reception for Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth dalai lama. Wendy and her friend (pictured) were playing hide and seek, and their heads popped up from behind a sofa he was about to sit on. He loved that,...
Local campaigns resist army targeting of children
Quakers are joining campaigns against arms fairs this summer, with a particular emphasis on how the armed forces target children.
What’s Eating the Universe? And other cosmic questions, by Paul Davies
This book, written with Paul Davies’ trademark clarity and humour, answers many questions we may have about contemporary physics. For example, does it still believe in anti-matter? Somewhat embarrassingly, we read that the first anti-matter particle, the positron, an electron with a positive charge, was discovered ninety years ago. On...
All articles
New prime minister ‘a valuable opportunity’ for new direction
A new prime minister is an opportunity for the country to restore ‘the essential values of truth and integrity in public life’, Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) announced, on the day that Boris Johnson resigned.
Estonian Friends launch Ukrainian school
A school set up with the help of Estonian Quakers for war refugees has offered places to nearly 1,600 students.
Emphasise public support for climate measures, Friends urged
Scotland is not doing enough to meet its climate targets, Andrew Tomlinson, parliamentary engagement officer for Quakers in Scotland, has said.
New data reveals number of unreported drone strikes
The Northern Friends Peace Board has highlighted a new database which has revealed a number of unreported drone strikes.
Meeting for Sufferings: Friends reflect on Yearly Meeting
Friends started the afternoon session reflecting on Yearly Meeting (YM) 2022, particularly its decision to make reparations for Quaker involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, and other exploitation.
Meeting for Sufferings: BYM trustees report
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) trustees then spoke to a report from their recent gathering at Carlton Hill Meeting House in Leeds.
Meeting for Sufferings: Staff audit on diversity and inclusion
As part of BYM trustees’ report, Friends heard about a consultation that BYM had done with staff members over equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
Meeting for Sufferings: The future of Woodbrooke
Friends also considered the future of Woodbrooke, which was another item at the meeting of BYM trustees. Caroline Nursey said: ‘Woodbrooke trustees are now clear that Woodbrooke Learning and Woodbrooke Site need to be looked at separately. BYM trustees are clear that we must give support to Woodbrooke Learning. So...
Meeting for Sufferings: Response to Ukraine
Towards the end of the afternoon, Friends heard about the Quaker response to the war in Ukraine, in relation to a minute sent by Quaker Peace & Social Witness Central Committee (QPSWCC).
Meeting for Zooming
The screens reflected in their eyes, each sits in a familiar room, Friends – silent, chatty, busy, wise – united by the Quaker Zoom.
Letters - 15 July 2022
A Quaker still When I became a member of the Religious Society of Friends some twenty years ago, there were a number of changes I wished to see it make. I was a radical and lively mere fifty-year and three-quarters. There were lots of dinosaurs who refused to see things...