Issue 08-02-2019
Featured story
Thought for the week: A duty of care
It was a privilege to attend my first Meeting for Sufferings last week, as an observer for the Friend. Representatives on executive bodies for many faith groups are expected – for example in the case of the Church of England’s General Synod – to ‘legislate’ or ‘regulate’ their organisations. That is...
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How the green blade rises
Good Friday is coming. Its quaint lunar rhythm draws nigh, late this year, on 19 April. As we look towards it in the diary, I’m also looking backwards to Midwinter’s Solstice last year – 21 December had been an exacting day.
‘The cost of this war is too much. There must be a better way.’
Mind-altering substances have been used by humans for thousands of years. They meet a variety of needs: reducing physical, mental or social pain; relaxation; stimulation; and inspiration. Some are legal, some are not. And some are taken because of addiction.
Springsteen on Broadway
‘What canst thou say… what thou speakest is it inwardly from God?’ If George Fox put this question to Bruce Springsteen, he would say ‘I took my fun very seriously, it is my service, it is my long and noisy prayer’. In this stage show he tells this story, interspersed...
Caroline, or Change
The first thing to reach you is Sharon D Clarke’s voice. In a slow moving first number her rich, emotion-laced singing keeps you watching. She plays Caroline, a domestic worker in 1963 Louisiana, the year John F Kennedy is shot. Working in a hot, stuffy basement for a liberal white...
‘The Sacred Art of Joking’, by James Cary
At the Greenbelt Festival last year, I wrote and performed ‘Spot the Quaker’. Billed as ‘a cross between stand-up comedy and a history lecture’, I was commissioned to make people laugh while informing them about who Quakers really are. The thinking was that a Quaker doing stand-up is a good...
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Meeting for Sufferings: Wide age range appointed to Book of Discipline Revision Committee
Two teenagers have been appointed to the Book of Discipline Revision Committee, it was announced at Meeting for Sufferings on 2 February.
Meeting for Sufferings: What can Friends offer in a ‘post-truth’ world?
Meeting for Sufferings returned to consideration of the ‘post-truth world’ on Saturday. In April 2018 Sufferings received a concern from Southern Marches Area Meeting (SMAM) about ‘restoring truth and integrity in the public sphere’ and how ‘the lack of honesty in public affairs is impacting on all our testimonies’.
Meeting for Sufferings: Friends reject plans to change AM representation
Friends ministered passionately against proposals to change the system for nominating representatives to attend Meeting for Sufferings.
QSA to address ‘confusing’ fund
Quaker Social Action (QSA) has launched a new training workshop aimed at easing the ‘confusing’ application process for people seeking financial help for funeral costs. The Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment training, organised by QSA’s Down to Earth project, enables funeral directors to help clients successfully apply for help...
Friends meet to explore universalism
Over forty people gathered at Friends House recently for a two-hour meeting to consider: ‘Why be a Quaker universalist?’ Tony Philpott, clerk of the Quaker Universalist Group (QUG), introduced the afternoon on 12 January, which was organised by QUG and London Quakers.
Woodbrooke in The Daily Telegraph
The Quaker study centre and retreat Woodbrooke appeared in The Daily Telegraph on 20 January as part of an article on silent retreat by journalist Tom Ough.
Birmingham’s ‘24 Hours of Prayer’
Central England Quakers took part in a multifaith day of prayer last month in a bid to share prayers from different spiritual traditions.
Letters - 8 February 2019
Abiding hope When challenged by the question ‘What is your hope?’ Friends naturally incline to answer in terms of bringing hope to others – by working to create a fairer, more peaceful world, and comforting and caring for people in need and distress. This is, of course, our testimony. Our lives...