Issue 25-07-2014
Featured story
Thought for the Week: Waiting on the Light
Just sitting. Just waiting. Trusting the Light. This is not an easy thing to do, especially when I find myself in limbo with nothing much going on. When thoughts stray into this space, which inevitably they do, they are often of the variety that tells me I am not on...
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Necessary uncomfortableness
Quakers have a rich heritage of both extraordinary and ordinary actions that have, in some cases, been transformative. We talk of examples like the abolition of slavery, good business practices, prison reform work and the anti-war movement. When we talk of these outward expressions of our faith we talk of...
There are no words
What is God? How do we put the inexpressible into words? Do our words divide us? Forty-one Friends from Southern Marches Area Meeting have met today [14 June] to discuss ‘God language’. Looking at God language is timely, as we face a revision of Quaker faith & practice, when this fundamental...
Trident and Scotland
In a heated televised debate Nicola Sturgeon, of the Scottish National Party (SNP), let slip a profound truth that had a human, and a seemingly personal, significance often lost in the Scottish Yes-No referendum debate. For those, like myself, who have had, or have now, a Quaker or peace-church focused...
Refugees work with Yorkshire Quakers and archaeologists
Settle Quakers hosted five political refugees from 2 to 6 June, while they worked on a dig run by Ingleborough Archaeology Group, near Horton-in-Ribblesdale. The five each hail from a different African country – Cameroon, Eritrea, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal – and are now living in the Blackburn area.
Quaker witness at Farnborough Air Show
On Sunday 20 July twenty-six Friends took part, for the first time, in a Meeting for Worship outside Farnborough Air Show. Members of the local Sussex and Surrey Regional Meeting were joined by Friends from London, Bristol and Southampton.
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Young activist killed in Gaza
Quakers around the world are mourning the death of a young activist killed in Gaza on 20 July. Abdullah Mansour Abu Amara was a member of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)’s ‘Palestinian Youth: Together for Change’ group in Gaza. He was among the sixty-six Palestinians killed during fierce attacks...
George Osborne visits Wilmslow
Local MP George Osborne met representatives of Churches Together on 18 July in Wilmslow Meeting House to discuss the impact of welfare reform on his Tatton constituency. Wilmslow Meeting clerk Celia Davies was among the participants.
Quakers worship in Chichester Cathedral: no arrests ensued!
Three hundred and fifty-six years after a Quaker was arrested in Chichester Cathedral for arguing with a priest and then imprisoned, Friends were invited back to the building to worship. The silent Meeting for Worship was held on Saturday 19 July. It was the first of its kind at the cathedral,...
Teenage Friends gather
Over the weekend of 4-6 July, thirty-six teenagers from fourteen Area Meetings (AMs) gathered in Manchester for Teenage General Meeting (TGM), which covers the old Lancashire and Cheshire General Meeting. The teenagers, among them London Link Group, met at Mount Street Meeting House.
Naming the mystery
Have you heard a Friend talk about ‘God, or the Light, or the Spirit, or Allah, or whatever you want to call it’? Have you heard someone ask what kind of God Quakers believe in, or what it is we worship in Meeting for Worship, and heard an experienced Friend...
Supporting integrity within the police
In 2012 the Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) Crime, Community and Justice Sub-Committee (CCJS) happened to meet following the publication of the Independent Report on the Hillsborough disaster. We were deeply concerned to hear that over 160 police statements had been amended, and that for twenty-five years not one spoke out ...
Eye - 25 July 2014
Norwich re-enactment The past was brought to life recently in Norwich Meeting when local Friends re-enacted some archive minutes that had been written during the first world war. Local Friend Fran Warns described the event: ‘We had already made a banner for Conscientious Objectors Day which said “It’s not...
Letters - 25 July 2014
Assisted dying Among many contributions to the media debate on assisted suicide, the four letters in the Friend (18 July) seem to favour the view that compassion leads us to support legislation to allow this. But compassion also requires us to protect the vulnerable. No doubt the individuals who face the...