Issue 05-05-2022
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Epistle from Britain Yearly Meeting, 28 April to 1 May 2023
Loving greetings to all Friends everywhere – Cyfleuwn gyfarchion cariadus i Gyfeillion ym mhob man. We meet at a time when existential issues face us within our aging and numerically-diminishing Society, and in the wider world. These require urgent responses. Quakers can show leadership and offer counsel that will help our...
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Yearly Meeting 2023: Session 1 - Opening session
More than 1,500 Friends had registered to attend Yearly Meeting (YM) 2023, said incoming clerk Adwoa Burnley in its Opening Session (down from almost 2,000 in 2022). It would be the fourth time YM was enabling online attendance, and more than half of those registered intended to join that way. It was unlikely that...
US Friends support Vanguard arrestees
Quakers in the US are urging Friends to support sixteen people who were arrested for taking part in climate protests against a major global company.
Yearly Meeting 2023: Session 2 - Releasing Energy and Revitalising Quaker Communities
In Session Two, on Saturday morning, Friends considered the first part of the theme: ‘How to release energy and revitalise Quaker communities’. First, in worship, a Friend spoke of how he ‘fell in love this morning’, on the way to Friends House, looking at the blossom and the ‘lack of...
Yearly Meeting 2023: Session 4 - Truth and Integrity
Session four opened by minuting the morning’s worship and welcoming interfaith visitors. The theme for the session was ‘Truth and integrity’, and Friends heard prepared ministry from Diane Randall, who served as general secretary of the US Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) until 2021.
How we can change society: Rebecca Hardy hears Esther Loukin’s Swarthmore Lecture
When Esther Loukin, co-founder of Reasonable Access, first considered whether to accept the invitation to deliver the Swarthmore Lecture, her discernment was dominated by the platform-lift at Friends House. Feeling uncomfortable both at the idea of using the lift and not using the lift, Esther said she had no idea â€...
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Quaker presence at LGBT+ service
Paul Parker, recording clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting, said that he was ‘moved to tears’ at a memorial service last week, held to remember LGBT+ people who’ve been harmed or died as a result of the trauma induced by rejection by their Christian communities.
Lloyd’s urged to stop insuring fossil fuels
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) joined other faith groups to urge Lloyd’s of London to do more to tackle climate change.
Banbury Quakers celebrate beech tree
Banbury Friends have been celebrating the life of a beech tree which graced their garden for over 150 years, but recently had to be felled.
Woodbrooke partners with Glenthorne
Woodbrooke is developing a partnership with Glenthorne Guest House and Conference Centre, with two residential retreats already planned this year.
Yearly Meeting 2023: Session 3 - Looking at Central Committees
Session Three looked specifically at Quaker Central Committeees – the bodies appointed by Meeting for Sufferings to shape the work carried out centrally for and on behalf of Friends. Did these bodies need changing to better fit the contemporary Society of Friends? If this sounds like a simple question, it proved...
Yearly Meeting 2023: All-together’ Meeting for Worship
Sunday morning saw a distinct change in tone. This was an ‘All-together’ Meeting for Worship, and those who made it to Friends House were greeted with a table full of art materials. Many Friends joined with their Local Meetings online, for a session that was to be part-programmed but based,...
Yearly Meeting 2023: Session 5 - Looking at Meeting for Sufferings
As Sunday afternoon’s Session Five opened in worship, one Friend lamented the way people had been talking about committee work in Saturday’s session. ‘One of the things that gave me greatest joy was being on Children and Young People’s Committee… I am really was saddened by the...
Yearly Meeting 2023: Session 6 - Required business; as led
It was clear in Session Six that Friends had been processing overnight. In opening worship, participants recognised that BYM trustees were hard-working and dedicated, and that their service had not always been easy. ‘Trustees are our Friends’ said one, ‘and we are grateful for them’. ‘Great is their contribution’, said...
Yearly Meeting 2023: Session 7 - Our all-age community, closing session
Session Seven, YM’s last, contained quite a lot of required business. But some of it was ‘really lovely’, said Fred Langridge, assistant clerk. It would deal with the YM epistle (see page 15) and hear from younger people attending in the relevant age groups. After a round of thanks, the...
Letters - 05 May 2023
Editor’s note: An incorrect version of the below letter was published in our 28 April edition. Somehow, in the blur of editing, wording from a letter published in the previous week’s edition was carried over and used as an additional sentence. Our profound apologies. Here is the letter as...
Eye - 5 May 2023
An insight into turbulent times Eva Deregowska, of Aberdeen Meeting, drew Eye’s attention to an exhibition, running until September at Aberdeen Art Gallery, that explores the life of a seventeenth-century Friend. She writes: ‘2023 marks the 350th anniversary of the death of Alexander Jaffray. Born in 1614, he was twice provost...