Issue 04-10-2019

Featured story

‘We laughed and talked easily. The service would be beautiful in its simplicity.’

FREE 3 Oct 2019 | by A Friend

‘And the end of words is to bring men to the knowledge of things beyond what words can utter.’ - Isaac Penington The answerphone was blinking: three missed calls, all saying ‘Please ring me as soon as possible’, each with a greater sense of urgency. They were from a cheerful,...

Read more

Top stories

‘What needs to change is the cost of a funeral, and the financial support for those who need it.’

3 Oct 2019 | by Claire Brandon

't Down to Earth, whenever we discuss funerals in the media, someone will say how they avoided the funeral industry altogether and did it themselves.' | Photo: Noah Silliman / Unsplash.

Last month, Royal London released some research on funerals in the UK, showing average costs at an all-time high of £3,785, and an average debt of £1,990 taken on by those who have to borrow. This is incredibly worrying, but is there an alternative?

Read more

‘I saw that silence is not something for the spiritually exceptional.’

3 Oct 2019 | by Mark Vernon

'The experience of being human enjoyed by our distant ancestors is very different from our own.' | Photo: Hillie Chan / Unsplash.

I was on holiday with friends in a sunny corner of Cornwall when one of them confessed she was engaged in a personal enquiry. She had decided to ask each of us about our image of God. It was a good idea. As a group we occupied many positions along...

Read more

‘Faith, said Maeve, can be used to help avoid things, but Quaker faith helps her to engage.’

3 Oct 2019 | by Phil Lucas

General Meeting for Scotland clerks. | Photo: Michael Hutchison.

Extra seating needed to be brought in for the sixty who gathered last month, which included the church relations officer of the Scottish Episcopal Church. The principal theme was the climate emergency and our first substantive business involved brief but moving talks about how Friends had responded.

Read more

‘Once, Quakers felt the arts were a distraction from the life of the Spirit… times have changed.’

3 Oct 2019 | by Evelyn Shire

'Border Meeting... is always held in areas of western Europe where several countries meet.' | Photo: Ian / Unsplash.

Border Meeting has been held annually by European Friends for over seventy years, as a symbol of reconciliation. It is always held in areas of western Europe where several countries meet. Nowadays it celebrates the nonexistence of borders and the need never to forget about peacebuilding. This year we (Dutch,...

Read more

‘Can I Tell You About…?’ Four books by Liz Gulliford

3 Oct 2019 | by Hazel Nelson

Close up of 'Can I Tell You About... Forgiveness?' | Photo: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

This groundbreaking set of books is a welcome addition to the literature on how to overcome negative aspects of children’s behaviour. It focuses specifically on developing children’s psychological strengths and I cannot recommend it too highly for parents, grandparents, teachers and anyone else involved with children developing positive...

Read more

All articles

‘Pamphlet 39: The Language of Spirituality’ by Alan York

3 Oct 2019 | by Kitty Parsons

In The Language of Spirituality, Alan York sets out to examine the various ways in which we perceive the world, and the limits upon the language that is available to us to use.

Read more

Ninety-one-year-old Quaker in XR arrest

FREE 3 Oct 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

Friends are upholding a ninety-one-year-old Quaker who was arrested and charged during the Extinction Rebellion (XR) blockade at Dover Docks last month.

Read more

QSA ‘Step by Step’ raises £10,000

FREE 3 Oct 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

Quaker Social Action (QSA) has completed its ‘Step by Step’ seventy-eight-mile Capital Ring walk around London, raising over £10,000 for its work on poverty. Forty QSA staff members and supporters took part in the walk which started one year ago and was spilt into ten four- to six-hour routes, each covering...

Read more

Friends produce LVT leaflet

3 Oct 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

The Quaker Land Value Tax (LVT) Group has designed an information sheet to go out to all local Meetings in November as part of the clerks’ mailing.

Read more

BYM on International Day of Peace

3 Oct 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) marked the International Day of Peace last month by joining with other peacebuilding organisations around the world to call on governments to move from commitment to action on peace.

Read more

Bentham Friends host Heritage Open Day exhibition

3 Oct 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

More than 100 people attended an exhibition at Bentham Meeting House last month to learn more about an influential nineteenth century Quaker family who founded a local mill. The display on 14 September was part of an open afternoon to celebrate Heritage Open Days and included photographs of the family members and...

Read more

Norwich Quaker writes book on homelessness

3 Oct 2019 | by Rebecca Hardy

A Norwich Friend has spent three months interviewing homeless people and charity workers for a book exploring the causes of homelessness.

Read more

Letters - 4 October 2019

3 Oct 2019 | by The Friend

Human story Jacqui Poole (13 September) suggests we have been taken over by the ‘emissary’ of our analytical left brains to the extent that when we consider the nature of reality we ‘mistake the model for the real thing’. The picture she presents of the way we function is itself a...

Read more