Issue 30-10-2009

Featured story

Cathedrals and caves: homecoming

FREE 30 Oct 2009 | by Dave Dight

Each summer I take a long motorcycle trip. Having built and fettled a thirty-year-old BMW, I was ready to head south, for the sun. As usual, with no fixed route and only a vague destination, there was an air of expectancy. Travelling alone by motorcycle frees the mind and being...

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Top stories

Two worlds

30 Oct 2009 | by Emily Ranken

Wanstead Friends Meeting House. | Photo: Photo: John Dash.

Epping Forest, on the outskirts of London, covers a substantial area of land, but much of it has been destroyed since the city was built over a thousand years ago. It is the last standing part of the ancient forest that once covered the whole of the London area, the...

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Living simply, preserving the invaluable

30 Oct 2009 | by John Lewis

‘Our most precious asset’, said our trustee, ‘is time’. Time the irreplaceable, that costs us nothing. Time that waits for no man, of which our ration is so short.  The Society’s ability to use time is a function of our human resources. The trustee could have added human...

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Quakers reap the benefits of evening worship

30 Oct 2009 | by Friend web

Last week, Beverley Meeting became the latest Quakers to introduce an evening Meeting for Worship – and of the eight people worshipping, two had never attended a Quaker Meeting before. Brian Fellowes of Beverley Meeting told the Friend: ‘they both said they’d been interested in Quakers for some time, had...

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‘Respect, equality, goodwill to all’ – Welsh Quakers make stand against extremists

30 Oct 2009 | by Alan Thomas

Swansea Friends preparing banners and placards for their silent vigil. | Photo: Alan Thomas

Hearing that the so-called ‘Welsh Defence League’ (WDL) was going to hold an anti-Muslim protest on Saturday 17 October, Swansea Quakers got together with Swansea City of Sanctuary steering group and called for a silent vigil on the theme of ‘Respect, Equality, Goodwill to All’. We wanted to show that Swansea...

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Space to discover what Quakerism means to me

30 Oct 2009 | by James Fox

Are there any young Quakers? If so, what do they do? If you have been to Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) you may have seen some of the younger members sporting the socks and sandals combination. Among the other groups of Quakers, the Young Quakers (YQs) have a tight-knit community of...

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All articles

German Friends seek end to military

FREE 30 Oct 2009 | by Friend web

Germany Yearly Meeting (GYM) last week sent a letter to the politicians attempting to form the country’s new coalition government, asking for a fundamental demilitarisation of the country. GYM, which met from 15 to 18 October, called for a complete end to conscription (Wehrpflicht), which still requires that all male citizens...

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Friends launch ‘media hustings’ campaign

FREE 30 Oct 2009 | by Friend web

The ‘Stand Up’ activities reported in the Friend last week were by no means the beginning and end of Quakers’ attempts to push climate change onto individual candidates’ agendas in the run up to the general election. Inspired by climate change workshops at Yearly Meeting, Friends in Cambridge are now...

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Stephen Fry holds Quakers in the limelight

30 Oct 2009 | by Joe Mugford

In a recent debate hosted by the Intelligence Squared organisation the confirmed atheist and humanist Stephen Fry surprised few with his impassioned attack on the Catholic church. Speaking alongside Christopher Hitchens he took opposing speakers Anne Widdecombe and archbishop Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, to task on many topics, particularly Catholic...

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Meeting shares grief following murder of Young Friend

30 Oct 2009 | by Jez Smith

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Rekindling an old friendship

30 Oct 2009 | by David Holdsworth

I recently returned to my local Meeting in Inverness where I also attended a talk about the ills of using depleted uranium weapons by a Quaker peace worker. It was hosted by the Meeting and was insightful.

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Thoughts about legacies

30 Oct 2009 | by Nancy Irving, Friends World Committee for Consultation

Seeing the notice of the death of Christine Rose prompted me to think about how we touch each other’s lives in so many ways we may never be aware of. I dearly remember Christine’s friendliness to me when she arranged home stays before the 1997 Friends World Committee for...

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Letters - 30 October 2009

30 Oct 2009 | by Friend web

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Gathering - an exhibition of painting and poetry in Lewes

30 Oct 2009 | by Geoffrey Johnson

The Hop Gallery in the East Sussex town of Lewes is an ideally light and airy exhibition space for ‘Gathering’, a collaborative venture where the work of three creative Quakers can be seen from 6 to 21 November. The exhibition has been staged by Ann Johnson and developed around twenty-five of her...

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Quaker Theatre Company: ‘Now We Are Sixty’

30 Oct 2009 | by Roger Iredale

The Quaker Theatre Company arrived about an hour before the performance as we waited anxiously on a Friday evening at Long Sutton Village Hall in darkest Somerset. Alan, Judy and Katy, held back by traffic en route from their previous performance at Peterborough, soon had the set laid out and...

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Q-eye

30 Oct 2009 | by Friend web

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