Issue 14-06-2019
Featured story
Thought for the week: Jenny Tipping on an empire state
It is 8 o’clock in the morning before the Sunday session at Britain Yearly Meeting. We are examining privilege. As I walk through Regent’s Park and view the avenues and gardens, so reminiscent of New Delhi, I think of empire. As I see the Somali woman picking up litter...
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‘I had long ago desired to know the truth about you.’
In 1999, when I was working for Friends House Moscow (FHM), we decided to rekindle the historic Quaker connection with the city of Buzuluk, where Quaker aid missions worked during the first world war, the Russian civil war and during the terrible famine in the 1920s. I got involved in setting...
Yearly Meeting 2019
Attendance from those under eighteen was at a record high at this Yearly Meeting. Here is their record of events. New Shoots (0- to one-year-olds) We formed a warm, caring worshipping group as part of a community which loved and looked after us. This community included our daily helpers who...
‘A more vegan lifestyle has the potential to be an exciting, joyful opening.’
Unprecedented, growing environmental crises now endanger our existence. Whatever approaches we take to deal with this need to be positive, open, reasonable, pragmatic and rooted in our core values of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and sustainability. Looked at this way, might a plant-based or vegan way of living be...
‘Annihilation’ directed by Alex Garland
This sci-fi thriller provokes serious spiritual questions about the interdependent nature of human life and the ecosystem. The story in a nutshell: an object from space smashes into a remote part of the US coastline, triggering an ecological event in which an area of swampland is colonised by a mysterious...
‘William Penn: A life’ by Andrew R Murphy
William Penn’s reputation is that of a Quaker saint. His words are often quoted by Friends, as is the anecdote of George Fox telling Penn to wear his sword as long as he could. He is renowned for his ‘Holy Experiment’ seeking to establish in Pennsylvania a political environment...
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Quakers join march against Trump visit
Quakers were among the tens of thousands of demonstrators who flocked to London last week to march against president Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK. In an action organised by the Quaker Socialist Society (QSS) on day two of the visit, Friends joined voices from a wide range...
Bath Quaker becomes local councillor
A Bath Friend has been elected as a local Liberal Democrat councillor after returning to politics three years ago to help stop the rise of the Conservative Party in Bath.
Penn Club prepares for centenary
The Quaker-associated Penn Club is gearing up for its centenary celebrations next year with commissioned artwork and plans to reach out to Friends for stories of their visits to the club.
Peace Pledge Union conference
Friends took part in the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) annual conference this month to explore what solidarity means in practice and how to adapt national or international campaigns to local contexts.
Hereford Friend researches Quakers
A Hereford Friend is asking for Quakers to take part in a research project exploring ‘what it means to be or become Quaker’.
QSA backs campaign to stop threatening debt letters
Quaker Social Action (QSA) has backed a campaign to stop threatening debt collection letters that was debated in the UK parliament Commons Treasury committee last month.
Letters - 14 June 2019
Doing God Where are Quakers going? The report on Yearly Meeting (31 May) tells of good works, but neither God nor Christ is mentioned anywhere except in the George Fox quote on the first page which uses ‘God’ sixteen times (clearly, in a different context). It appears nowhere else in the...