Issue 25-11-2011
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Thought for the Week: Spiritual truth
The people involved in the Occupy London protest at St Paul’s have made a powerful statement to British society. The sight of their camp in front of St Paul’s Cathedral is now a familiar one on our television screens. They may be moved on – but this image...
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The Angel of Newgate
It is nine o’clock on a Sunday morning. I find myself standing before the Rajah Quilt in the National Museum of Australia. This treasured piece of history, at eleven feet across, is much larger than I had imagined and I feel humbled as I view its rich shades of...
Experiment with Light: Movement of the Spirit
The practice of opening oneself to the searching Light of the Spirit can bring many benefits. Among these are a deepening of consciousness and a strengthening of our Quaker faith: ‘… it wasn’t just my faith that had grown strong, it was Quaker faith. That is, I had come...
Voice of the morning
Thank you, Lord, for preventing me from bursting in on the day, like a bull in a china shop: instead, to have me sitting quietly, in the silence marking its beginning;
Olympic Truce
The Olympics made a surprising appearance on the Meeting for Sufferings agenda, in response to a concern raised by Luton and Leighton Area Meeting. Friends in the area have expressed support for the ‘Olympic Truce’, a proposal that involves the cessation of military hostilities during the games. Supporters of...
The Hexham Debates
On a Saturday morning in January 2007, some Quakers arranged a public meeting to be addressed by Bruce Kent. Parliament was about to debate the renewal of Britain’s nuclear-armed submarines, so the topic was ‘What Price Trident?’ The setting was a church hall in a small market town near...
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Quaker statement on Occupy movement
British Quakers have formally expressed their support for the ‘Occupy’ movement as controversy continues over the protest camp outside St Paul’s Cathedral. The decision follows strong support for the movement from individual Friends, and several calls for Quakers to give their backing at a national level. A statement...
Quaker school best in Northern Ireland
Friends School, Lisburn, has been named the top secondary school in Northern Ireland in the prestigious Sunday Times Schools’ Guide. It was founded in 1774 and has grown from a boarding school for thirty Quaker children to a thriving state grammar school with 980 students in the senior school and a preparatory...
Census boycotters in court
Prosecutions have begun against people who boycotted this year’s census in protest against the arms industry. Boycotters in England and Wales are angry that the census contract was awarded to multinational arms company Lockheed Martin. In Scotland and Northern Ireland there was opposition over the role of arms firm...
Baptist Times set to close
One of Britain’s most prominent religious publications is set to close down after more than 150 years. The Baptist Times will cease publication in December. The paper’s directors attributed the decision to ‘falling circulation and difficulties of selling advertising space’. Due to financial problems, the paper has relied...
Work begins on Stockport Hydro site
Construction work has begun at Otterspool Weir, Marple, site of Stockport’s first community-owned hydro electricity plant. The plant is supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (see ‘Water power rising’, 1 April). The plant will generate enough electricity for around fifty homes for the next forty years or more.
Letters - 25 November 2011
Applicant outreach A current advertisement for staff at Friends House states that unsuccessful candidates will not be contacted. The reason given is ‘the high volume of applications’. I suggest that this procedure misses two opportunities: * Firstly, a carefully worded ‘rejection’ letter could help the applicant retain confidence and self-esteem at...
Eye - 25 November 2011
Bankers on the Beeb Is the most sued man in British history a secret supporter of Quakers? Ian Hislop, the editor of Private Eye, presented a programme this week that cast a very favourable light on the Religious Society of Friends. Ian Hislop: When Bankers Were Good was broadcast on...