Issue 08-03-2024
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Sunday best: Dana Smith’s Thought for the week
‘Did you wake up today? Then praise! Did you roll over and see the light? Then praise!’ The call and response ripples through the Baptist church of Mount Olive in Tidewater, Virginia. Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jnr’s birthday. He would have been ninety-five. He was murdered at thirty-nine.
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Getting the message: Elizabeth Coleman has more biblical history
As we discussed in ‘Cracking a book’ (16 February), many Quakers are highly educated, but our knowledge of the Bible tends to be rather limited. Some of us studied the Bible at school, Sunday school, and church, but what we were taught may be misleading and incorrect. For example, we may...
Don’t feed the idol: Wendy Pattinson on eating ethically
When we worship or pray, and when we behave in ways that uphold Quaker testimony, we are nourishing God’s work in the world, growing God’s kingdom. Conversely, if we engage with and condone things that are contrary to God’s will, then we are nourishing those things instead....
Quakers host major climate justice festival
Almost 1,000 people gathered at Friends House last month as it played host to a major climate festival.
Ukraine: Gerry Turner says people still need help
On my way into the centre of Prague, I see from the bus window a sign painted in block letters half-a-metre high: PUTIN MURDERS CHILDREN. The truth behind the slogan had been confirmed that same morning by the news that Russian missiles had once more claimed the lives of children...
Marion Fay by Anthony Trollope
Lovers of Anthony Trollope’s novels generally admire his skill in depicting the lives and feelings of young women. But you may not know that one of his last heroines is a Friend. Trollope did not always have a high opinion of Quakers, once writing of our ‘low character for...
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Friends witness against attempts to override juries
Quakers gathered at the Royal Courts of Justice in London last month to witness against a ruling seeking to override juries.
Quakers talk prisons with shadow minister
The Quakers in Criminal Justice (QICJ) group met with Quaker Ruth Cadbury, Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth, last month.
Hampshire & Islands Quakers bridge distance
Hampshire & Islands Quakers found a way of gathering together last month, despite the 150 miles between Meetings. The Area Meeting (AM) ‘faces challenges in bringing members together, while minimising our carbon footprint,’ said Hazel Inskip, of Southampton Meeting. ‘So we tried a new approach.’
Quakers get ready for World Plenary
Friends are gathering to discuss this summer’s Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) World Plenary. The theme of the meeting in August is: ‘Living the Spirit of Ubuntu: Responding with hope to God’s call to cherish creation – and one another’.
Meeting for Sufferings: Morning business
The number of representatives returning to Meeting for Sufferings in person has been creeping up post-pandemic. This meant that more than half of the attendees were at Friends House, rather than online, to hear a reading from Thomas Kelly’s A Testament of Devotion during opening worship.
Meeting for Sufferings: ‘Overseer’ in Quaker faith & practice
Friends then turned to the use of the word ‘overseer’ in Quaker faith & practice (Qfp). In 2022 MfS asked Area Meetings to cease using the term due to its associations with the transatlantic slave trade. But how should Friends deal with the number of times it appears in the Book...
Meeting for Sufferings: Letter to European Yearly Meetings
Every year, Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) stays in touch with Friends in other parts of Europe by sending a letter of greeting to each of the other Yearly Meetings. This is written by Quaker World Relations Committee and signed by the clerk of MfS. Friends noted this year’s references...
Meeting for Sufferings: BYM trustees report
After a shuffle break, Robert Card welcomed Marisa Johnson, the new clerk to BYM trustees, to give a report. Marisa began by paying tribute to her predecessors and welcoming new trustees. She talked about the experience of being a trustee at a time when, she felt, some Friends were suspicious...
Meeting for Sufferings: Review of Meeting for Sufferings
The afternoon was devoted to reports from the Group to Review Yearly Meeting, Yearly Meeting Gathering and Meeting for Sufferings (GRYYM).
Meeting for Sufferings: GRYYM Stage Three report
Discernment of the Stage Three report was noticeably shorter, due to many of the recommendations having been dealt with as part of the Review of Meetings for Sufferings portion of the session.
Eye - 08 March 2024
Never too old Friends might remember a story that appeared in the sunshine pages on 26 January, ‘Never too old’. Bristol-based Roger Sturge, an eighty-five-year-old Friend, appeared on the BBC News website, sharing how he hasn’t let age stop him from pursuing a PhD examining the work of Quakers in...
Letters - 08 March 2024
Quakers listening I really appreciated Kate Graham’s article (16 February) on mini clearness committees. I’d love to know how/where she found them. It always heartens me when I hear of Quaker processes being used and valued in the world outside Quakers. I was part of an action learning...