Issue 05-08-2011
Featured story
Welcome to Canterbury
More than a thousand Friends streamed into the large blue big top and, as the evening cooled, the earlier sweltering heat could be forgotten. All was busyness and the sound of bustle and chat when, suddenly, the atmosphere changed and the noise disappeared as if by magic. The clerks had...
Top stories
Radical Quakerism
Quakers must be not be afraid to take extreme positions and proclaim them to the world. That was the message from Simon Best, who delivered this year’s George Gorman Memorial Lecture in Canterbury on Sunday. Hundreds of Friends of varied ages displayed a range of reactions as Simon...
Meeting new Friends
‘It has been great fun and it is brilliant to be here with other Quakers. What I really like is that we are all different but we all have something in common.’ A fifteen-year-old Friend reflected on her first experience of a Yearly Meeting Gathering and, almost to reinforce...
Prophetic voices
‘We have always had prophets among us. This is how we grow. They see what the rest of us don’t see. They disturb our peace and they challenge us.’ Marion McNaughton was the first of four invited speakers to address the opening session of YMG on Sunday morning: â€...
Women prisoners and the United Nations
If everyone is equal before the law, why should women prisoners be treated differently? And if people are meant to receive the same punishment for the same offence, why should offenders with children receive different sentences from those without? Answer: because they are different, they do live in different situations...
Snapshots from YMG
Stargazing The wonders of the sky at night proved a popular option for some Quakers at Canterbury. Many Friends, after a tiring day, took the opportunity to relax and simply stargaze with big telescopes at the South East Kent Astronomical Society. Some were even laid-back about their encounters with far...
All articles
Quaker testimonies and the challenge of climate change
Global warming is one of several very critical interacting issues facing us, including the extinction of species, the loss of biodiversity, diminishing resources (both non-renewable and renewable), pollution from waste and emissions due to over population, excessive consumption and the lack of responsibility of us humans. But if the...
Letters - 05 August 2011
Large Meeting House The proposed ‘green’ refurbishment at Friends House as set out in the article by Symon Hill (22 July) is deeply disturbing. The use of scarce resources – the cost is stated to be £4.25 million – on a major makeover of the Large Meeting House is a dramatic example of how...