Issue 27-03-2015
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Thought for the Week: Expediency
As a part of my growing up I was made to memorise Psalm 34 of the Old Testament. Verse 14 reads: ‘Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it’ (the italics are mine). I would ask myself: How do you pursue peace? The operative word being ‘pursue’. I read...
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From the archive: Education in wartime
No aspect of life was left undisturbed by the war. Even though education was recognised to be important school buildings were requisitioned, then given back when they were not needed. The headmaster of Friends’ School Saffron Walden, John Edward Walker, reported: ‘The School was dispersed at very short notice on...
Beliefs and religious language
In the first article in this series, I described some findings from the British Quaker Survey carried out among people attending Meeting on a particular Sunday in 2013. Six-hundred-and-forty-nine people completed questionnaires covering spiritual experience, religious belief and other topics. A few follow-up interviews were also carried out by Giselle Vincett...
Friends in Wales
On a bitterly cold winter’s day, over fifty Friends met on 21 February for a Meeting of Friends in Wales at the little village hall in Brithdir, a tiny community in the heart of Snowdonia. The unusually large attendance and sense of anticipation was occasioned by the main event, an...
Letter from Africa
In February Oliver was invited to Burkina Faso to make a one-hour presentation on how churches in Kenya had responded to the 2007 post-election violence. The meeting was arranged, in preparation for Burkina Faso’s approaching elections, by the local office of Diakonia (a Swedish Christian development organisation). Oliver wrote a...
Party membership: a Quaker challenge?
Britain’s imperfect voting system has accustomed us to tactical voting. In the referendum four years ago we were restricted to only two options: one the status quo and the other the transferable vote, which was presented as complex and problematical. As a consequence, many of us still have to...
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Sticks and stones
As a youngster, my sister possessed an autograph book. I tended to think of it as a ‘girl’ thing and of no interest to us lads. Nonetheless, I do recall that those who wrote in the book would add little ditties, maxims or ‘wise’ thoughts that were considered worth passing...
Friends fly kites
Sixteen members of Bournemouth Coastal Area Meeting took to Swanage beach for kite flying on 21 March, as part of the Fly Kites Not Drones campaign. Friends decided to take part when they realised that the Area Meeting coincided with the worldwide call to draw attention to the use of armed...
Red plaque day for QSA
Quaker Social Action (QSA)’s Made of Money project has received a ‘Red Plaque’ from Comic Relief. The plaque recognised QSA’s work in financial education. Made of Money encourages people to talk through their experiences with money. Activities include workshops that help parents to tackle consumerism, spending habits and...
‘The Light’ shortlisted for architectural award
The refurbished Large Meeting House in Friends House, which was rebranded for public bookings as ‘The Light’, has been shortlisted for a RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) London 2015 award. John McAslan + Partners were the project architects for the £5 million renovation. Their work involved retaining key heritage features and adding...
Quaker composer new Leaveners’ patron
Sally Beamish has joined Judi Dench, Ben Kingsley, Sheila Hancock and John Whitney as a patron of the Leaveners, the Quaker arts organisation. Sally is a composer and viola player. Among her works is Equal Voices, a joint commission with poet Andrew Motion, created to mark the centenary of the...
Peace and justice campaigner charged
Keighley Friend Sylvia Boyes was imprisoned on 18 March for refusing to pay fines. The fines related to a protest against the DSEI (Defence and Security Equipment) arms fair in 2013 when Sylvia was charged with obstructing the highway. She will spend fourteen days in New Hall Prison in Wakefield.
Lecture series remembers Friend
A Yorkshire field society has named a new lecture series after a member of the Religious Society of Friends who died in 2013 at the age of ninety-three. Upper Wharfedale Field Society will commemorate Friend Richard Harland with biennial lectures on vernacular architecture. The first lecture was delivered on 22 March by...
Friends plan for Eurosatory 2016
Quakers in France and Belgium have appealed to British Friends to join their vigil at Europe’s biggest arms fair next summer. Eurosatory will take place in Paris from 13 to 17 June 2016. More than a thousand exhibitors are expected to take part.
A Precariat Charter
Do not be content to accept things as they are, but keep an alert and questioning mind. Seek to discover the causes of social unrest, injustice and fear; try to discern the new growing-points in social and economic life. This brief extract from Quaker faith & practice (23.01) offers us a...
Letters - 27 March 2015
Being Quaker As we struggle to define, for ourselves and others, just who and what we are, I would like to pass on a comment from an old friend. We were brought up together as Anglicans in the 1930s. ‘Quaker?’ she said. ‘In their quiet way they just get on...