Issue 29-09-2023
Featured story
Safe keeping: Joanna Dales’s Thought for the week
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives’ (John 14:27). I used to think these words referred to an inner peace, transcending outward turbulence. I have come to see, however, that they may also refer to an outward...
Top stories
Quakers push peace education in Scotland
Last week, schoolchildren treated the Scottish Parliament to a part-Quaker-created performance to demonstrate the power of peace education.
A pilgrim’s progress: Adam Woods takes an inner and outer journey for peace
There is something profoundly liberating in the repetition of walking a long path. Footsteps simplify the world, somehow drawing the soul into sharper focus. Carried forward by the road, each individual step is small and inconsequential, yet one somehow feels oneself transformed. Towns and cities pass, places and perspectives shift,...
Global exchange: Young Israel Izere on a visit to Burundi
A vibrant exchange of ideas and beliefs unfolded in August, as Simon Lamb, clerk of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) world office, visited Burundi’s Young Friends for an open discussion. The event took place at Rohero Monthly Meeting and marked a significant moment for Burundian Young Friends.
Eye - 29 September 2023
A summer of sharing Sheffield Central Meeting was packed with around 100 people for a Shared World Celebration on 21 July. Chrissie Hinde told Eye: ‘Invites were through personal connections and links with multicultural groups from our richly diverse city… we congregated under one roof, sharing a bountiful array of tasty food...
Reaching 50: Jeff Beatty of Quaker Peace Studies Trust
The Quaker Peace Studies Trust was set up in 1972 to support the creation of a chair in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, and for ‘financing research into, and the teaching of, peace studies’. This was two years after Friends decided to part-fund a Peace Studies Centre in the...
All articles
‘Make Polluters Pay’, say Friends
Quakers and other activists called for more international action on the loss and damage caused by climate breakdown last weekend. Friends across the country marked Make Polluters Pay Action Day on 23 September, demanding that fossil fuel companies pay for environmental damage.
Friends back climate trial protestors
Quakers have spoken out about the arrest and investigations of protestors holding placards outside courts to support the rights of jurors.
EarthQuaker magazine relaunches
The Living Witness group is relaunching EarthQuaker magazine in an attempt to spur more action on climate justice.
Friends House hosts homicide-bereaved memorial
Friends House hosted a memorial service to support people bereaved by homicide last week. The service also featured artwork depicting a large white poppy field commissioned by Escaping Victimhood, a Quaker Recognised Body (QRB) which also organised the event. Vicky Torrance, who works for the charity, told the Friend that...
General Meeting for Scotland: Mary Woodward reports
Change isn’t easy. While some people look forward to it, others look back longingly, wishing that things could be as they always were: ‘The system has worked brilliantly up to now, why do we have to change things?’. Alas, things in Scotland haven’t been working brilliantly for some...
Quaker employment: Phil Chandler on a work in progress
The pandemic had a huge effect on employment patterns and practices – and, indeed, whether people had any employment at all. Many organisations struggled to deal with these upheavals, some trying harder than others to support the welfare of their employees. It was, without doubt, a very difficult time for anyone...
Class acts: Anne Watson says teachers need support
For many years I educated teachers in a university. I was delighted to find that, for most applicants, the drive to be a teacher was love – love of working with young people, love of learning, love of a subject, and a desire to work in a nurturing and optimistic atmosphere...
Wake brain
WAKE BRAIN, DRAW BREATH, CRY LIFE Return once more to consciousness, the roar of being, of seeing half-bright galaxies roaming overhead, of struggles in foaming floods of alien...
Israelophobia: The newest version of the oldest hatred and what to do about it, by Jake Wallis Simon
Friends may remember an article I wrote just a year ago: ‘Is the Religious Society of Friends antisemitic?’ (30 September 2022). It was based on an analysis of letters and articles in the Friend. It provoked a wide range of responses, not all critical. I haven’t been able to pursue the...
Letters - 29 September 2023
Anti-Boycott Bill Thank you for highlighting the Anti-Boycott Bill to us in the 15 September edition of the Friend. It is something, I agree, that we should be very worried about. Taking away the local voice and choices of local government and other public bodies is, I think, undemocratic. Can...