Issue 17-06-2022
Featured story
Action stations: Angela Greenwood’s Thought for the Week
A few weeks ago at my Meeting, in response to ministry from a Friend with a Catholic background, someone ministered: ‘I think my stations of the cross are “Acceptance”, “Courage” and “Compassion”’. There was no elaboration, just that.
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In on the act: Rajan Naidu, recently released from prison, on the value of protest
‘What do love and justice require of us?’ That simple, open-ended question at the end of the Yearly Meeting epistle presents us with a life-changing challenge. Our lives can be significantly enhanced, I believe, if we respond to it in every area of our lives. There can never be a...
Conversation piece: Simon Machin on a lockdown interview project
The well-worn adage attributed to the Christian anarchist, Elbert Hubbard, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’, tartly suggests that even adversity can be turned to something productive. Recently, an experiment in recording the life histories of Christians in the public square, and making them freely available online, has proved...
Should it stay or should it go? Abigail Maxwell on language
How do you tell Quakers what to do? You persuade us. Better still, you win us over with the clear spirit-led beauty of your words.
Comfort food: Sergei Nikitin meets Ukrainian neighbours
They had to flee. They had to leave the ancient city of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, because of Russian military aggression – because of the shelling and sirens calling people to hide themselves underground.
A ragged doll
(A recreation from an incident in Sergei Nikitin’s How Quakers saved Russia.) They came from a far away country. I don’t know how. They did not speak our language. A few words perhaps. Kwakera or something. I remember that now. Foreigners are rare these days. Strange faces but...
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Quaker wins Luxembourg Peace Prize
A Quaker peace expert has been awarded the Luxembourg Peace Prize for his lifelong commitment to peace.
Quakers pay tribute to Bruce Kent
Quakers have paid tribute to the veteran peace campaigner Bruce Kent who died last week. Paul Parker tweeted: ‘Here @BritishQuakers we are sorry to learn of the death of Bruce Kent. He stood firm in his opposition to nuclear weapons throughout his long life. His contribution to the UK peace...
Friends reflect on global food crisis
The ‘structural drivers’ of global food insecurity need to be addressed, in addition to providing humanitarian aid.
Friends House library reopens
The Library of the Society of Friends re-opened this week after more than a year of major refurbishment.
BYM’s diversity report reveals guidance for change
An external audit of how Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) performs on equity, diversity and inclusion has revealed that there is room for improvement.
‘Lift as you climb’ says new Quaker dame
Quaker Ann Limb, from Milton Keynes Meeting, has been awarded a damehood in the jubilee birthday honours’ list.
Comfort food: Sergei Nikitin meets Ukrainian neighbours
They had to flee. They had to leave the ancient city of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, because of Russian military aggression – because of the shelling and sirens calling people to hide themselves underground.
System, go: Piers Maddox wants an end to empire
War in Ukraine has been many years in the making. Its origin isn’t hard to find, if you’re prepared to look. There’s only one system in the world that seeks global domination and endless war.
Quaker Shaped Christianity: How the Jesus story and the Quaker way fit together, by Mark Russ
The Woodbrooke tutor Mark Russ is known for encouraging Quakers to engage with radical theology. In Quaker Shaped Christianity we learn something more of his journey: first rethinking the Christianity he encountered as a child, then discovering more inclusive spaces like Greenbelt and the Society of Friends.
Letters - 17 June 2022
Meaningful reparations Having read the Britain Yearly Meeting epistle, I am unsure of what is meant by the term ‘meaningful reparations’ in the context of British society’s culpability in the slave trade. I hope that any initiative from Quakers would lie in the field of education. This could mean...