Issue 26-10-2018

Featured story

Thought for the Week: Humility

FREE 25 Oct 2018 | by Stephen Feltham

An article extoling the virtues of humility appeared in the Friend on 27 June 2014. It was written as the 100th anniversary of the start of the first world war approached. Now the anniversary of the armistice on 11 November 1918 approaches. In the years since, wars have continued and new wars have begun....

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Top stories

Work, worship and play

25 Oct 2018 | by Alison Smedley

Friends at the QVA retreat. | Photo: Hannah Brock.

Through studying online with Woodbrooke – ‘a Friendly Introduction to Membership’ – some intentions came to mind before pursuing my application to join the Religious Society of Friends. First, I would attend Meetings other than my local one in Dolgellau. Second, I would become more involved in practical activism.

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‘Remember your humanity’

25 Oct 2018 | by David Maxwell

David Maxwell describes UN peace principles that resonate with Friends. | Photo: Martin Swart / Wikimedia Commons.

United Nations Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. UN Day has been celebrated on 24 October every year since 1948. The preamble to the Charter identifies a primary purpose: ‘To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.’

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Wordless Knowing

25 Oct 2018 | by Joyce Gee

'As a small child I loved wandering / In fields of wild flowers, insects and bees ...' | Photo: Lum3n.com via pexels.com.

I am eighty-eight years old And much has changed In my inner and outer life But what has not changed Is that from a very early age I sensed a wordless knowing That I am a small evolving part Of the Creative whole Of Inner and outer existence An existence...

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Waiting for the last bus

25 Oct 2018 | by Nick Wilde

In Richard Holloway’s book A Little History of Religion, in a chapter called ‘Friends’, he calls George Fox ‘one of the most attractive figures in the history of religion’ and concludes by saying that: ‘The Society of Friends may be one of the smallest denominations in the world but...

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From the archive: Letters and papers from prison

25 Oct 2018 | by Janet Scott

During the autumn of 1918 several subjects were on the minds of Friends and filled the correspondence columns of the Friend. There was the question of the League of Nations, with disagreement about whether it should have armed forces to act as police; there was the revision of the Book of...

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All articles

Quaker Brownie leader quits over British Army partnership

25 Oct 2018 | by Rebecca Hardy

A Quaker Woodbrooke tutor has decided to resign from her post as a Brownie leader, after Girlguiding refused to reconsider its controversial partnership with the British Army.

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Child detention report update

FREE 25 Oct 2018 | by Rebecca Hardy

The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) has updated its damning report on child immigration and detention to include some of Europe’s most up-to-date statistics.

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Friends fight against fracking

FREE 25 Oct 2018 | by Rebecca Hardy

Quakers stepped up their fight against fracking this week, after an attempt to temporarily block the firm Cuadrilla failed at the High Court on 12 October.

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Friends share concern over global population growth

25 Oct 2018 | by Rebecca Hardy

West Midlands Friends and members of Quaker Concern Over Population (QCOP) met at Bull Street Meeting in Birmingham on 29 September to discuss ‘global population’.

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Breaking down barriers – literally

25 Oct 2018 | by Rebecca Hardy

Breaking down barriers was on the agenda at Bournville Meeting recently – literally – when a car crashed through the gates and front doors of the Meeting house.

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Student sets up university Quaker society

25 Oct 2018 | by Rebecca Hardy

A Quaker Phd student from Exeter University who spoke on local radio about ‘the day’s papers from a Quaker perspective’ has launched a new Quaker society at Exeter University.

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Film highlights ‘hearts and minds’ battle

25 Oct 2018 | by Rebecca Hardy

Friends House in London has screened a documentary film to ‘challenge the British government’s attempt to entice children into support for war’.

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Return of the Young Quaker Podcast

25 Oct 2018 | by Rebecca Hardy

The Young Quaker Podcast has launched its second season with an episode exploring the future of Quakerism.

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‘Palestinian Supper’ is shared in Stocksfield

25 Oct 2018 | by Rebecca Hardy

Around thirty-five Friends from Stocksfield, Hexham, Durham, Monkseaton, Newcastle and Sunderland came together to share ‘A Palestinian Supper’ on 5 October.

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Letters - 26 October 2018

25 Oct 2018 | by The Friend

Inclusivity I was delighted to read the letter from Elizabeth Redfern and Alistair Heslop (5 October), in which they described seeing an ‘inclusive church’ on a walk in Ledbury. I am the first non-Anglican national coordinator of the ecumenical charity Inclusive Church and that church is in our network. All churches...

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