Issue 09-08-2013
Featured story
Thought for the Week: It’s up to all of us
‘Thou shalt not kill’ (Exodus 20:13) This is not a rule to be followed when it suits us. It is an absolute. We have not got the freedom to choose as and when and with whom we apply it.
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Gatesbield
The conversation flowed as we enjoyed a tasty lunch. We were looking through the leaded bay window onto the garden. A nuthatch joined us at the bird feeder. One of my companions told me about the pheasants on her doorstep and, less enthusiastically, another of the deer nibbling her plants....
Ireland Yearly Meeting 2013
The announcement that Cork would host Ireland Yearly Meeting 2013 was met with excitement and not a little sense of adventure! In the 350 years of Quakers in Ireland, Yearly Meeting had never taken place in Cork, Ireland’s city on the south coast where, it is reputed, William Penn became convinced....
Ireland Yearly Meeting epistle
Dear Friends We send greetings from Ireland Yearly Meeting held for the first time in Cork from 24th – 28th July 2013. Cork is a city rich in heritage located on the southern coast of Ireland. Part of this heritage has been the presence of Quakers from as early as the 1650s....
Travelling in ministry: Being a Quaker
A question that frequently emerged in various Meetings I visited, when travelling in the ministry around Britain, was ‘How do I explain Quakerism?’ This seemed, itself, to prompt three questions. One: ‘How do I explain Quakerism to attenders?’ Two: ‘How do I explain Quakerism to non-Quakers?’ And these two...
Disappointment at Bradley Manning verdict
The decision that whistle-blower Bradley Manning could face up to 136 years in prison, after being convicted of espionage and theft on 30 July, has been met with concern by many Quakers. The US army private leaked thousands of classified documents to website Wikileaks to spark a debate on US foreign...
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Mountmellick hosts Quaker Tapestry
The Quaker Tapestry has returned to Ireland for the first time in more than twenty years. The Mountmellick Museum in County Laois is hosting a display of twenty panels from the Tapestry from 27 July to 10 August. The Tapestry will be exhibited alongside the world renowned ‘white-on-white’ Mountmellick embroidery on...
Hiroshima Day
Quakers throughout Britain took part in a wide range of events on Tuesday to commemorate Hiroshima Day. Taunton Friends hosted a vigil in the town’s market square at noon to remember all those who lost their lives when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Maldon...
Healing ministry
The subject of healing in Quakerism was raised in a recent article in the Friend (21 June). It is, unfortunately, a fact that many Quakers regard healing as a ‘flakey’ occupation and that the idea of healing has been conflated with new age weirdness rather than simply being what we do....
The Truth and truthfulness
Why is the universe made the way it is? Why does the human being exist? The answer to these mind-boggling questions is ‘The Truth’. But the answer is beyond the ability of the human brain to comprehend: we are merely children of the solar system. The sensory system of our...
The history of silence
Sometimes, as Quakers, we may be inclined to think that we have a corner in silence, that this marks our special place within the broad range of Christian practice. But that is hardly so and this remarkable book puts us in our place. It is the latest work by Diarmaid...
Eye - 09 August 2013
For the record Could a chart topper be on the horizon for the recording clerk? Augene Nanning, of Finchley Meeting, has been tickled by recent messages on her LinkedIn account, a social networking site for professionals. She writes: ‘I keep getting messages… asking for endorsements for those I’m linked...
Letters - 09 August 2013
Revision of Quaker faith & practice It has come to my attention that the most recent edition of Quaker faith & practice (1995) may require revision. I understand that suggestions relate to: 1) returning the publication to two books, one on church governance and the other on the faith and religious practice...