Issue 22-09-2023
Featured story
What made me stay? Geoffrey Durham recounts his early Quaker experiences
Quaker worship gets easier with practice. Most of us know that, but when someone leaves our Meeting after a month we tend to ask ourselves the wrong questions. Were we welcoming enough? Was it something we said? Have we failed?
Top stories
Going for a song: Rebecca Hardy on how Quakers have changed their tune
The preface to Rise Again, the songbook created by Quakers Annie Patterson and Peter Blood in 1988, has a quote from the renowned folk singer Pete Seeger. ‘Why is singing good for the planet?’ he asks. ‘Nobody can put it in words. But if there is a human race here in...
Margaret Fell: Tim Gee tells a story for children
Once upon a time there was a woman called Margaret Fell, who wanted to change the world.
United front: Adrian Glamorgan on the enduring value of the Quaker United Nations Office
The work of the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), both in Geneva and New York, can seem a long way away. Yet its diligent efforts for peace, social justice and the environment affect us all. It has been doing this work for a considerable period of time, now: 2023 sees QUNO...
Friends reflect after DSEI arms fair
Quakers who feel overwhelmed after the DSEI arms fair should practise self-care, urged Quaker Roots, as the four-day event drew to a close. In a newsletter sent to its supporters, the organisers of the network said: ‘If you find yourself tired, glum or raging after the exertion and emotions of...
Best in class: Isabel Cartwright answers some questions about Quaker peace work in schools
What’s your take on why peace work is such a focus for Quakers? The Peace Testimony comes out of an insight at the heart of the Quaker faith: that there is ‘that of God’ in everyone. It comes from the experiences of Meeting together in worship, and has led...
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Friends point to rise in young army recruits
A Quaker-linked advice service for members of the armed forces has flagged concerns about a shift in the army’s focus to recruiting eighteen-year-old school leavers.
Lack of progress in anti-nuclear talks
The Northern Friends Peace Board (NFPB) has highlighted what it called ‘the lack of progress’ at last month’s international nuclear weapons non-proliferation discussions.
Indeterminate sentences opposed
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) has urged the government to re-sentence people who have been given indeterminate sentences.
Devon Quakers host beach labyrinth
Exmouth Quakers teamed up with local sand artist Paul Burton this month to create a beach labyrinth in the sand.
Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig
I have never owned a Barbie. I went into the cinema with roughly the views articulated by politically-savvy teenager Sasha when she first meets Barbie: ‘You’ve been making women feel bad about themselves since you were invented.’
Dear diary
I am so sorry that once again today I have not been able to save the world. Somehow there is never enough time. Problems arise in unexpected places and so, because of me, once more the world will fall apart. All my fault. Of course.
Letters - 22 September 2023
DSEI arms fair witness After attending the No Faith in Arms day at the DSEI (Defence and Security Equipment International) arms fair in London, I am trying to process two unexpected and discombobulating aspects of our day of witness. First, the turnout: in 2019 approximately 800 Friends joined others from many faiths...
Eye - 22 September 2023
Friendly factoids The Friend is one of the longest continually-published magazines in the world, starting in January 1843. It was once published monthly – but has been weekly since 1892! The Religious Society of Friends is so called because early Quakers called themselves ‘Friends of Truth’. The name ‘Quaker’ began as a derisive...