Issue 05-08-2016
Featured story
Thought for the Week: In the face of the other
Some years ago, I read an article about the growth of extreme nationalism in the south-west of England. This was manifested in antisemitic behaviour and actions. Yet the south-west of England is an area of low Jewish population. Recently, in an analysis of voting in the EU referendum, it was...
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Visiting Friends
My visit among British Friends from 14 June to 7 July was one of the most exciting, informative and educational experiences in my life as a Quaker. It is one thing to read and talk about history in an abstract manner, but for me it was an exuberant moment when I came...
A question of faith
I was sitting in Meeting on Sunday and felt angry. What was I doing here? What do I actually believe? What is faith and what is the point of living adventurously? I felt more and more frustrated and upset as I thought about it. Tears welled behind my eyes with...
Echo Chamber
Echo Chamber is a new artwork inspired by the stories of world war one conscientious objectors. At its core are their voices, speaking directly to us. Their stories may shock our modern ear (sharing prison with men about to be executed), are often sad (a family rift never healed), and...
Inside the Echo Chamber
The first gift you can offer, in an artwork or a conversation, is space. In a generous space we feel received but free to have our own reactions, to stay or to go. We have a choice. Choice is at the heart of Echo Chamber: the historic choice whether to...
Living together
Sometimes it seems as if many of us are working in different areas, on what seem like different subjects, as if we were on a huge global plain, dry and dusty, and are trying to fertilise our bit by bringing small cans of water from wherever we can find a...
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New appointment for Quaker MEP
Molly Scott Cato, member of the European parliament (MEP) for the South West of England, has been appointed Green Party spokesperson for UK-EU relations.
Insights into United Nations
Twenty-five young people visited Geneva in July for the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) Summer School.
Coventry Friends reap rewards
The front garden of Coventry Meeting House is seeing the benefits of an ambitious overhaul as a ‘forest planting’ scheme reaches maturity.
US mayor celebrates campaigning Friend
An American Friend who campaigned for women’s suffrage and was active in the anti-slavery movement has been recognised for her witness.
QAAD members meet at Woodbrooke
Spirituality was an important element in this year’s Quaker Action on Alcohol and Drugs (QAAD) conference held at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham between 29 and 31 July.
Earth Overshoot Day
The annual Earth Overshoot Day will take place on 8 August.
Academic group launched by Q&B
The Quakers and Business (Q&B) Group has created an academic research group.
Reduced service in Friends House café in August
From 8 to 15 August, Friends House café will offer a reduced service in the Quaker Centre and from the coffee cart in the garden. This is connected to the refurbishment of the first floor. The restaurant will be open as usual.
Building links
‘Do you work gladly with other religious groups in the pursuit of common goals? While remaining faithful to Quaker insights, try to enter imaginatively into the life and witness of other communities of faith, creating the bonds of friendship.’ Advice 6. The recent EU referendum result has prompted a spike in...
Some seeds of peace
I am very fond of the phrase ‘taking away the causes of all wars’. I also welcome the efforts of various groups to reduce violence between individuals and small groups and the ideas that are being acted upon to divert young people from the long-established principle that ‘might is right’.
Quaker rewnewal: Worship
If the Quaker way has something unique to offer the world, perhaps it is the experience of a gathered Meeting for Worship. This is what Gerald Hewitson has described as: a Meeting where the silence is as soft as velvet, as deep as a still pool; a silence where words...
Eye - 5 August 2016
A fine vintage ‘What were you wearing in 1971?’ This unusual query came from Volker Heine, of Cambridge Jesus Lane Meeting, just before he struck a pose for a picture of exactly what he wore himself… a pair of eye-popping suede leather hot-pants!
Letters - 5 August 2016
Quaker faith & practice Present-day members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain have all joined knowing that Quaker faith & practice (sub-titled the Book of Christian Discipline) or its predecessors, entitled Christian Faith and Practice in the Experience of the Religious Society of Friends, were the recognised...