Issue 10-02-2023
Featured story
Conversation peace: Matt Rosen’s Thought for the week
Early Friends, like Christ’s disciples, were no strangers to injustice. Their time was as turbulent as ours, and they suffered willingly, even joyfully, for their faith. They endured punishment by the state, and sang in the prisons. They knew war – many had been soldiers – and weren’t oblivious to...
Top stories
School of thought: Laura Church on peer mediation
The human need for food, sleep and safety is fundamental. Feeling safe can vary with the situation, and conflict can sometimes make us feel unsafe. Conflict, if we include low-level arguments in that definition, is something we all have to handle at some point. Teaching children the skills to handle...
What is Temple Theology? Michael Jones says Quakers should take note
I have become increasingly interested in something called ‘Temple Theology’ over the last few years. According to Temple Theology, the roots of Christianity lie in what we would call the ‘first temple’ – the one built by Solomon. The Old Testament tells us how this temple was destroyed when the Israelites...
Bayard Rustin film due this year
A film about the US Quaker and civil rights leader Bayard Rustin will be released later this year. The actor Colman Domingo (pictured) will star in Netflix’s Rustin biopic, along with Chris Rock, Glynn Turman and Audra McDonald.
Supreme being: Tony d’Souza on real life
It is. That is, it always existed. For this reason, there never was a beginning nor will there ever be an end. It is eternal and timeless – beyond past, present and future. Though it cannot be known by the mind, by thinking, it can be remembered because it lies in...
Multiple choice: Daniel Clarke Flynn finds perspective
I was raised, as we all were, in a specific time and place. There, we were taught and influenced by the beliefs and traditions of the community into which we were born, in order to maintain that community and its culture.
All articles
Historic Farfield Meeting House faces ‘uncertain future’
A Yorkshire Friend has highlighted the ‘uncertain future’ facing the historic Farfield Meeting House and other old Quaker buildings.
Asylum-seeking children ‘frightened’ by age tests
Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN) has highlighted a new report suggesting that unreliable age tests on asylum seekers may leave children ‘frightened and unsafe’.
Peers reject Public Order Bill proposals
Friends welcomed the news that the House of Lords has inflicted a number of defeats on a bill intended to crack down on protest.
Quaker-chaplain sets up prison fund
A Quaker-backed new charity to support people at Wandsworth Prison was publicly launched last month.
Help create a storm: Gill Sewell & Olivia Sewell Risley from the Friends Quarterly
A blank page sits before you. You are bursting to write, but you don’t know what to focus on, and you have a multitude of ideas whizzing round your head. If this sounds like you, the Friends Quarterly can help. We would love to hear from you!
Conversation peace: Matt Rosen’s Thought for the week
Early Friends, like Christ’s disciples, were no strangers to injustice. Their time was as turbulent as ours, and they suffered willingly, even joyfully, for their faith. They endured punishment by the state, and sang in the prisons. They knew war – many had been soldiers – and weren’t oblivious to...
In defence of parental signifiers
Contaminated words like ‘father’, ‘mother’, ‘God’ take on the sins of others: not their fault, but their cross to carry. We generously offer cups of soured breast milk and brew of yew tree needles, assuming they’ll bear everything.
Eye - 10 February 2023
Name spotting Eye got a thrill when a message appeared in the mailbag from someone who appeared in January’s ‘On this day’ article, which dipped into the Friend’s 1950 archive. What caught Eye’s attention was this entry: ‘Four young members of the First-Day School at Blackburn, Peter and...
Letters - 10 February 2023
Getting real Warm thanks to Abigail Maxwell for her letter (27 January). She demonstrates both the necessity and the daunting nature of the task of confronting one’s ‘real self’. It is so easy to be content with a shallow and flattering version of who we are and to fail to...