Issue 12-10-2012
Featured story
Thought for the Week: After Quaker Week
Quaker Week is over. Phew. This has been the sixth. Quakers all over the country have been thinking creatively, putting up posters, throwing open their Meeting houses, hosting talks, proffering cups of tea and speaking at Quaker Quests. Seven years ago, when the idea of an annual ten-day outreach spree...
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Building a peaceful society
The Quaker Peace Centre (QPC) in Cape Town was set up by Cape Western Monthly Meeting in 1988 during some of the worst conflicts of the apartheid years in South Africa. It was a time when thousands of black and coloured inner city residents were forcibly relocated to distant townships to...
Quaker wins award
Joe Coffin from Birmingham has been named Deafblind Person of the Year in the 2012 Sense awards. Joe, a member of Cotteridge Meeting in Central England Area Meeting, was presented with the award at a ceremony in London on Thursday 4 October.
Meeting for Sufferings: Registration of Meeting houses for civil partnerships
Arrangements for registering Meeting houses for civil partnerships gave rise to two current buzzwords: ‘unsustainable’ and ‘omnishambles’, according to one Friend at Meeting for Sufferings (MfS).
Meeting for Sufferings: Promoting peace
2014 to 2018 will see a series of events throughout Britain and Europe dedicated to commemorating the centenary of world war one. Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) were reminded that the Religious Society of Friends was ‘an historic peace church with a strong history of activism’ and that the commemoration would provide â€...
Meeting for Sufferings: When the Spirit moved
First, the breaking news: Sufferings may be smaller than it was, but it’s not quite as small as they thought. Opening worship was characterised by the last dozen to arrive having to stand at the back, so what would have been a seamless transition to the business of the...
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Meeting for Sufferings: The roles of registering officers
It has been suggested by Northamptonshire Area Meeting (AM) that the number of registering officers be reduced as the training is expensive.
Meeting for Sufferings: Disposal of high level nuclear waste in Cumbria
Robert Straughton spoke to this. The minute states: ‘How to appropriately dispose of radioactive waste has been researched and discussed for over half a century. There are implications locally, nationally, internationally and globally. The danger of contamination to the planet and all life on it will continue for thousands of...
Meeting for Sufferings: A Framework for Action (AFFA)
Trustees have looked at the responses to AFFA received from Area Meetings. The trustees have recommended that AFFA not be replaced when it finishes in 2014, although they ‘do see the need for a clear statement of vision for the work of Quakers in Britain’ and also suggest ‘that Meeting for...
Meeting for Sufferings: News in brief
Meeting for Sufferings Arrangements Group The terms of reference for the Meeting for Sufferings Arrangements Group were presented as they needed to be updated. The assistant recording clerk is now called the ‘deputy recording clerk’ and a change in the way members were appointed was explained. The changes were approved.
Census protest in Liverpool
A poster outside Dale Street Magistrates Court in Liverpool this week.
Kimberly Rivera detained
North American Friends have reacted with disappointment and concern over the recent arrest of a leading American conscientious objector. Kimberly Rivera, who fled to Canada five years ago to avoid serving in Iraq, was arrested in the United States of America after losing her deportation case. A mother of...
Quaker Service Exhibition available for loan
Quakers in Britain have been encouraged to make use of a highly successful exhibition that celebrates the peace witness of Friends. The Quaker Service Exhibition was one of most visited presentations of the 2012 Yearly Meeting at Friends House in London.
Sorry, George!
One Sunday morning in 1651, George Fox visited Warmsworth Church. According to his autobiography:
April
Our Meeting today (7 October) prayed for April Jones, her family, friends and community. We also prayed for the person who abducted her, remembering that he, too, is a child of God.
Eye - 12 October 2012
Unfortunate reversals We are not alone! After Eye shared the Friend’s red cheeks (5 October) David Hitchin was moved to share some other examples to tickle our readers: ‘Some while ago our local paper (which I am sure would prefer to remain anonymous) within one week managed to render RSPB...
Letters - 12 October 2012
Friends House In contrast to the tone of some recent letters, we do not remotely regard staff at Friends House as either tyrannical or parasitic. In over half a century of Quaker membership, I remember with deep gratitude instances of loving, self-giving care and support from Friends House staff, most...