Issue 02-01-2015
Featured story
Thought for the Week: Words in my head
As I walk in the park or drive the car alone I often find words coming into my head. Usually they have tunes attached and I sing or hum or whistle: O thou who camest from above…; My God I thank thee who hast made the world so bright…; even...
Top stories
Why bother about TTIP?
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would give corporations an exclusive form of justice, enabling them to sue governments should their profits be threatened. It could: • reduce social, environment and food-safety regulation; • open up public services such as the NHS for privatisation; • prevent government from returning them to the...
Christ with a machine gun
In 1914 Quakers were divided about whether to fight in the war against Germany. In the end about one third of those eligible did so. This may seem surprising to those who value the pacifist tradition for which Quakers are renowned but, compared to all major religious denominations, which were overwhelmingly...
Led by the Spirit
A question that keeps getting asked these days is ‘what will success look like?’ Over much of the last year I have been reflecting on this and similar questions with colleagues and with the Friends from across Britain who make up our Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) Central Committee. ...
What is your ministry?
As recording clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting, I have spent much of the last year on the move, travelling between Friends House in London and local Quaker communities all around Britain. It’s a glimpse of the life of Quakers in Britain that few of us are privileged to see....
An untapped resource
In 1920 Birmingham Friends Barrow and Geraldine Cadbury established a trust to help to combat the social ills facing their city. The Barrow and Geraldine S Cadbury Trust represented a formal extension of the couple’s considerable charitable giving to Quaker causes at the local, national and international level. What began...
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The Turning Circle
Janni first saw Alice when she was eight, but only briefly: ‘even as she looked, the girl began to look transparent, like a projected picture and then she faded away entirely’. Janni is a child of our time but Alice, who becomes her only real friend, lived in the same...
Our George Fox
‘Living history?’ came alive in our Beccles Library on the afternoon of Thursday 11 December. The title was taken from an article that I had written, with this title, published in the Friend of 2 May appealing for information. Our Friday Friends were writing a play-reading about a Beccles Quaker doctor, George...
Eye - 02 January 2015
Young Friends ponder napping needs The vital importance of hot beverages and sufficient napping provision were just some of the topics discussed at Watford Meeting’s Christmas entertainment. A short scene, acted out by four of the Meeting’s youngsters, grew from the question: ‘We have a Children’s Committee,...