Issue 18-06-2021
Featured story
Thought for the week: Joseph Jones on a sweet sorrow
Sandra Berry’s article on Woodbrooke under Covid reminded me of the last visitor we had to the Friend offices, before the pandemic closures. This was early in March 2020; I remember we were already careful enough to greet each other by bumping feet rather than shaking hands. Our guest was...
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Quakers act in witness of G7 summit
Quakers came together last week to pay witness to the G7 (Group of Seven) summit in Cornwall. As world leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States gathered at the Carbis Bay resort, Friends walked from Falmouth to the venue, holding the leaders in their...
Household name: Rebecca Hardy looks for a forgotten woman from a famous Quaker home
One autumn evening in 1777, a year after the Declaration of Independence was signed, and with the revolutionary war raging, a British officer stopped by a grand Quaker house near Germantown (now Philadelphia), looking for deserters.
Studies tested: Sandra Berry reflects on how Woodbrooke has coped with the pandemic
The last eighteen months have been shaped by moments of shared understanding, but it has also been a very personal journey. This is my short personal reflection as director of Woodbrooke through the pandemic.
A touch of class: Maggie Allder on a societal divide
A couple of items in the Friend recently caught my attention. They were addressing changes at Britain Yearly Meeting. Both were calmly and clearly expressed, in the manner of Quakers. One was concerned that ‘Friends don’t have a worker perspective’, while the other talked of ‘reflection, discernment, and dialogue...
The Raising of Lazarus
for Graham Shaw (1944-2021) Lazarus, hope of my spring self, held in this black earth, resting beneath the hollow of a tree. And then Yeshua finds you, his tired and tender hands reach you; and, exhausted, he pulls you from the dark, he brings you to the green warmth of...
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BYM calls for G7 action on climate justice
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) joined dozens of other faith bodies in signing an open letter calling on the UK government to use its G7 presidency to drive real progress on climate justice.
Blue plaque for Sunderland Quaker women
The role played by Sunderland Quaker women in the anti-slavery movement is to be honoured with a blue plaque. The move follows a successful bid by academics at the University of Sunderland. The plaque will be unveiled in Sunderland city centre on 30 June and fixed to the façade of...
Friends in Scotland consider poverty action
Scottish Quakers are considering how they can respond to a new initiative for churches to unite to fight poverty.
US Friends push for landmine ban
Two US Quaker organisations joined thirty-four other leaders in calling on Joe Biden to adopt a new landmine policy after the administration announced that it was conducting a review. Representatives from both the American Friends Service Committee and Friends Committee on National Legislation signed a letter calling on the...
Living in the Mystery: Between head and heart, by Jan Arriens
Jan Arriens’ book is a personal account of his experiences around life and death. Jan is a Quaker by convincement: at his first Meeting, as he tells us in his introductory chapter, he found himself ‘swept up in a kind of forcefield’ and his ‘vertical sense of connection with whatever...
Letters - 18 June 2021
Presence and promptings Hilary Johnson (4 June) asks if there is anyone else who has felt the presence of God. Yes! In our Meetings for Worship I am often aware of that I am in the presence of something greater than myself – call it the Spirit, the Light, or God or...