Issue 27-06-2014
Featured story
Thought for the Week: Being a Quaker today
At the time of the second Summer Gathering I was invited to cater for the Planning Committee so they could both stay and eat together throughout the event. I then went on to cater for small, low budget, residential meetings and gatherings. It was great fun. Food was always vegetarian,...
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Chequered lives
John Barton Hack was my great-great-grandfather. He was known as Barton. I live in Melbourne, Australia and recently visited Chichester to give a talk in the Friends Meeting house about my Quaker ancestors, particularly about John Barton Hack. Just around the corner from the Meeting house is an...
War and humility
2013 witnessed a growing amount of attention being given to the one hundredth anniversary of the beginning of world war one. There has been much said already, and even more to come, on that terrible event. It is a troubling thought that opportunities for peace will be missed by the current...
The worst enemy of the Jews?
Both my parents are Jewish. My dad was an Arab Jew; and yes, they did exist: large Arab Jewish communities lived in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria… as full citizens, participating in all sections of society until 1948, the date of the creation of the state of Israel. In...
Marriage and equality
As a lesbian of the British Empire, Friends might be surprised to find that I have a surprising level of agreement with Frank McManus (18 April). It certainly surprised the evangelical American preacher on the six-hour bus journey between the Serbian capital of Belgrade and Budapest in Hungary. As I had...
Blue plaque unveiled
A blue plaque was unveiled in Birmingham on 17 June in recognition of the life and work of John Henry Barlow, one of the outstanding Quakers of his generation.
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Quakers return to Crewe after 90 years
Regular worship among Friends in the Crewe and Nantwich area has moved back to Crewe for the first time since 1922. Meetings for Worship take place at the Coppenhall Methodist Centre, Bradfield Road at 3pm on the second and fourth Sundays of each month.
Film launch at Friends House
A new film that highlights a growing concern among young people about the promotion of military activities in schools is to be launched at Friends House on the evening of 26 June. Engage: the military and young people explores the opinions of British teenagers on the military’s ‘youth engagement’...
YMG 2014 is full
Yearly Meeting Gathering (YMG) 2014 is oversubscribed. There are 2,018 people booked for the event at Bath, including day visitors. This compares with 1,662 at Canterbury, in 2011, including day visitors. At York in 2009, 1,648 people attended, not including day visitors. So, there will be a twenty per cent increase in attendance at Bath. This...
Green light for garden
Work will begin soon on the re-design and landscaping of the garden in front of Friends House in London. Friends House has just received planning permission and listed building consent for the work to the garden.
Quaker hills and history
Between 24 and 30 May, inspired by a great idea by Stephen Lee, Sawley Quaker Meeting hosted the first ‘Quaker Hills and History’ cycling week. Friends came from Maidstone, Welwyn Garden City, Coventry, Holyhead, and Arnside and joined local enthusiasts, camping outside and in. Breakfast and dinner were at the Meeting house,...
Oblation
Wrapped in the silent Quaker hour I see behind closed eyes the lattice of a purple honeycomb. I watch the undulating butterfly draw nectar from the open flower whose shy sense shapes the gift of hidden power.
Eye - 27 June 2014
Rapping for unions The dangers of payday loans have been highlighted in a new rap song. The rap, called ‘We Need a Union on the Streets’, is the brainchild of Charles Bailey, a music producer and community activist. Charles approached the Church of England after being inspired by Justin Welby: â€...
Letters - 27 June 2014
The core beliefs of Quakerism As a new attender I was attracted to the Religious Society of Friends by what I had long thought to be the core beliefs of what I call the religion of ‘the authority of no authority’. It was with dismay that I discovered a general...