Issue 30-06-2017
Featured story
Thought for the Week: Martha and Mary
If our beloved Society was ever divided into two parts, a charitable trust (to look after Quaker buildings and administer Quaker charitable funds) and a second non-charitable entity (which would be religious, hold Meetings for Worship and be involved with social action, including action that might be political), which would...
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Time in the tomb
It was with curiosity, anticipation and some trepidation that I mounted the steps to the main entrance of St Beuno’s in North Wales. I am a Quaker and I was going on an eight-day silent retreat, in a Catholic (Jesuit) retreat house, to follow some of the spiritual practices...
The challenge of diversity
Scottish Quakers, at our quarterly General Meeting held in Glasgow on 10 June, spent the morning responding to a minute from North East Thames Area Meeting about gender identity and inclusiveness.
Dare to be Jesus: wilderness
‘Now I am thirty and I know I must begin my mission. I went to my cousin John to be baptised and heard my Father, God’s voice, telling me I was his beloved son. It was utterly affirming and wonderful. I need a wilderness experience to think this over...
Squeezing out the Spirit?
Before the recent general election Friends House produced a leaflet to help Quakers in Britain with their discernment. It asserted that ‘our support for Quakers engaging with the election focuses on: climate change; nuclear weapons; forced migration; and economic inequality’.
From the archive: Absent Friends
In the weeks leading up to Yearly Meeting the Friend published articles to help Friends come with ‘hearts and minds prepared’. These extracts are from a piece written by W Blair Neatby, published on 11 May: The Christian Church was born in a prayer-meeting. The meeting was gathered by Christ’s...
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Quaker statement urges listening and tolerance
Britain Yearly Meeting has responded to the recent attacks in Manchester and London with a statement urging listening and tolerance.
Vigil in Bury St Edmunds
Friends in Bury St Edmunds held a half-hour silent vigil at the Memorial Peace Garden in Abbey Gardens on Armed Forces Day.
New face leading Ramallah Friends School
Friends United Meeting has appointed Adrian Moody as of head of Ramallah Friends School. He will take up his post in August, succeeding Joyce Ajlouny. She has served for thirteen years and is leaving to become general secretary of the American Friends Service Committee.
Rowing for mental health
Girls from The Mount senior school for eleven to eighteen-year-olds will be rowing the length of York’s River Ouse on Monday 3 July. Funds raised will be donated to the George Toplis Foundation, which supports young people with autism and mental illness, providing long-term funding for their engagement in sport.
Still time to book for YMG
Spaces are still available for adults wishing to attend Britain Yearly Meeting Gathering at the University of Warwick from 29 July to 5 August, it has been announced by Friends House. Friends need to book now and there are no places left for under-eighteens.
Disability charity marks anniversary
Christian overseas disability charity CBM UK is marking its twenty-first anniversary with the launch of a new booklet, 21 Stories, introduced by former home secretary David Blunkett, who was Britain’s first blind cabinet minister.
Climate recommitment
Christian Aid has welcomed the government’s recommitment to the Paris climate accord in the queen’s speech, which was delivered on 21 June.
Inside foodbank Britain
Why do people use foodbanks? In 2013 doctor Kayleigh Garthwaite began a five-year postgraduate project researching health inequalities in Stockton-on-Tees, about forty miles south of Newcastle and one of the most deprived areas in the UK. Her book, Hunger Pains: Life inside foodbank Britain, is based on this experience.
Eye - 30 June 2017
A sculpture created by Quaker artist Peter Peri for the Festival of Britain has been rediscovered and is being restored to its former glory. In 1951 the Festival of Britain aimed to promote the feeling of recovery amongst the country’s post-war population. It was held over a twenty-seven acre site...
Letters - 30 June 2017
Building links with students Dundee has two universities, yet our Meeting has not been successful in building links with the student community. We would like this situation to change. As our elders and overseers sat pondering this question it dawned on us that there are many towns and cities in...