Issue 22-01-2010
Featured story
Quakerism: sharing your religion
A few weeks ago I mentioned in passing my growing interest in Quakerism to my colleagues at the Guardian’s online Belief section. They thought a short piece on Quaker Quest, which I had been attending for a couple of months, would be a good idea, and asked me to...
Top stories
Be still and know
Experiment with Light is a simple but powerful meditation. It is the foundation of our Quaker way and was the means by which George Fox introduced others to the experience of the ‘inward light’. Over the eighteen months since I was introduced to it, it has transformed the way I...
Buddhist aids to stillness
I am told that the stillness sought after in Meeting for Worship is not the same as that sought for meditation. That may or may not be true; however, since both are subject to the same distractions, some Friends may find the following descriptions of the ‘Five Hindrances to Meditation’...
Eyewitness - a new train of thought
A new train of thought Is there anyone out there who thinks we need an updated version of Bradshaw’s railway guide? In 1839 George Bradshaw, a Quaker printer, produced timetables that helped Victorians through the tangle of services offered by 150 competing rail companies. Sound familiar? Bradshaw finally became synonymous...
God and Haiti
It’s the oldest and thorniest theological problem: how can God be both all-powerful and all-loving, since if he cannot prevent a natural disaster like Haiti he can’t be all-powerful, and if he can but chooses not to he can’t be all-loving. Theologians call this ‘theodicy’. Friends,...
All articles
Civil liberties in the spotlight as Muslim group banned
Civil liberties campaigners have expressed fears for religious freedom, following the government’s decision to ban Islam4UK, a small extremist group. They suggest it is the latest example of the use of anti-terrorism legislation to suppress opinions rather than violence. Announcing the ban, home secretary Alan Johnson said...
News sought on Haitian Friends
Friends around the world have been giving financial and practical support to aid efforts in the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, while awaiting news of the 2,000 Quakers in the country. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) released $50,000 shortly after the event occurred, to be used mainly for...
Becoming Friends: a guide on your Quaker journey
A course promoting new and flexible approaches to exploring Quakerism has attracted a high take-up rate within days of becoming available. ‘Becoming Friends: Living and learning with Quakers’ allows newcomers to choose different issues and styles of learning, engaging with the material either alone or in groups. Within three...
Australian Friends call on government to allow same-sex marriage
Australian Quakers are following the example of Friends in Britain by urging their government to recognise same-sex marriages. Quakers plan to practise ‘full marriage equality’ throughout the country, while calling for the law to be amended to give equal recognition to all marriages, regardless of the gender or sexuality...
Campaigners call for ‘genuine rethink about security’
Current political debates on military spending are doing little more than tinkering at the edges, according to two religious peace organisations who are encouraging Christians to call for a ‘genuine rethink about security’. Government critics have demanded greater spending on equipment for troops in Afghanistan, resulting in a government â€...
Making welfare less taxing
Some readers of the Friend will have heard the two BBC Radio 4 programmes in which Melanie Phillips recently explored the effect that the welfare state has had in what came to be called the work ethic – the idea that not to work is demoralising and even shameful. She interviewed a...
Snow ministry
Two writers in this issue (pages 10 and 11) explore the space required for a stilled mind, something that Quakers aim for in their Meetings for Worship. One looks at Buddhist meditation and the other at the Quaker ‘experiment with light’. Interestingly, both our writers chart five ways in which inner...
Letters - 22 January 2010
‘I believe God will save every person’
If The Church Were Christian by Philip Gulley, HarperOne, ISBN 978 006 169 8767. £14.98. Indiana Quaker pastor and author Philip Gulley has been shaking the foundations of midwestern US Quakerism for almost ten years. This book could produce another much needed shaking there. In the 1990s Philip Gulley published a popular series of...
Spiritual nurture
‘Quaker Life exists for no lesser purpose than to ensure that the spiritual life of every member of every Meeting… can be enriched and deepened’, explained Gerald Hewitson of Quaker Life central committee. Gerald explained that the key areas that Quaker Life works in are faith and practice, diversity and...
Same-sex marriage update
Crucial questions about Quaker marriage procedure remain open as Friends continue to work on revisions to the marriage chapter of Quaker faith and practice. The revision was triggered by last year’s decision to carry out same-sex marriage on the same basis as mixed-sex marriage. Friends will seek unity...
Communicating the messages
‘Clear and simple go a long way’, explained Rachel Rees, head of Quaker communications and fundraising of Britain Yearly Meeting, explaining the role of Meeting for Sufferings as communicator and the important part to be played by representatives. Rachel emphasised the need for representatives to listen to the mood in...
Trustees give thumbs up to contributions and donations
Yearly Meeting themes
High Leigh flush with eco-friendly developments
The importance of equality
Do you agree with Quaker Life central committee that equality is better dealt with from hearts and minds as a spiritual matter, rather than simply as a compliance matter, asked Richard Summers, general secretary of Quaker Life, as he introduced the subject of equality. Richard explained that Quakers were generally...