Issue 29-05-2015
Featured story
Thought for the Week: The uncomfortable Light
Early Friends were not united by a creed, but they were united by a desire to know the Spirit and teaching of Jesus Christ and by a commitment to live what they understood that to be. They saw very clearly that the Spirit of Christ, by which they were guided,...
Top stories
Slavery today
When parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act on 25 March 1807 many Quakers said ‘job done’ and focused their attention on other issues. Yet slavery has never gone away. Today, there are an estimated thirty-five million modern slaves across the world. This was just one startling fact presented to...
Ireland Yearly Meeting: Knowing God’s creation
For the second time in three years Ireland Yearly Meeting (IYM) was held in a new venue. This year we met in Dromantine Retreat and Conference Centre, near Newry in County Down, Northern Ireland (see photo above). We welcomed Friends from Britain, Germany and France, as well as eleven...
From the archive: Day by Day
Some extracts taken from the column are followed by other news items showing the impact of the first world war on Friends. This, at the time, was the news that people were allowed to know! April 20. It was announced that the proposed British delegation to the Women’s Congress at...
Hopes and fears for Scotland
So, what is going on in Scotland? Encounters with English Friends at Yearly Meeting, just before the general election, revealed that few understood the predicted surge of support for the Scottish National Party (SNP). Many in England don’t understand the Scottish political climate, which has been frequently misrepresented in...
Tidal energy
Last year at Yearly Meeting Gathering in Bath Friends were informed that Britain Yearly Meeting has ‘divested from fossil fuels’. The response of Yearly Meeting when hearing of this was delight. There was a great sense of solidarity around this decision to say ‘No’ to fossil fuels. This year at...
All articles
Quakers help ‘at risk’ groups in Nepal
Rice and relief packages for pregnant women have been organised by Friends and distributed to victims of the recent earthquakes in Nepal. Quaker South Asia Interest Group (QSAIG) correspondent Subhash Kattel and friends travelled by motorbike to Koshidekha village in the Kavre district, two and a half hours from Kathmandu....
Quakers lead the way with the Lobbying Act
The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) is the first charity to declare donations under the terms of the new Lobbying Act. The Society was one of twelve charities to register for the Act, known formally as The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014. The Act requires...
Friends in Burundi face unrest
David Bucura of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) has called on Quakers worldwide to remember those dealing with the ongoing political upheaval in Burundi. The city of Bujumbura has been at the centre of a failed military coup. Its inhabitants continue to face significant disruption, and a number...
New Meeting house for Stockport Friends
Stockport QUAKERs celebrated the opening of their sixth Meeting house on Sunday 17 May with an all-age Meeting for Worship. Around sixty Friends gathered at the event. Many of them were from other Meetings in East Cheshire.
Welwyn Garden City Meeting House reopens
WElwyn Garden City Friends were joined by family and neighbours on 16 May for the official reopening of the Meeting house on Handside Lane, following a major refurbishment. Over a hundred people toured the new facilities. They heard about the history of the building, which is ninety years old this year,...
Friends House wins architectural award
The refurbished Large Meeting House at Friends House was among the winners of the Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA)’s London Award 2015. RIBA described the refurbishment as ‘incisive in its approach’ and highlighted a number of key features. Among them are the roof light, which evokes the work of...
Investment on the agenda
The investment policy of animal charities was highlighted recently at Quaker Concern for Animals (QCA)’s annual general meeting. A dozen members of the group met at Friends House to discuss a number of topics. Among them was the services the group provides. Participants were asked which services are most...
Woodbrooke welcomes a new face
The Wookbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham has appointed Mark Russ as nurturing Friends and Meetings tutor.
Eye - 29 May 2015
‘Trident’ in Ilkley An unusual Quaker craft project was unveiled on 10 May. A Trident submarine, made by Friends from Leeds and Ilkley Meetings, ‘set sail’ on Ilkley Moor boating lake as part of an ongoing peace protest against the renewal of Trident nuclear weapons. As it was too big for...
Letters - 29 May 2015
Vocal ministry Am I the only one to feel slightly uncomfortable when Friends thank me for my ministry after I have been led to vocally minister during Meeting for Worship? When I feel moved to minister, I always struggle to be sure that what I feel moved to share is...