Issue 20-02-2015
Featured story
Thought for the Week: So many paths
So many paths and ways to God: some where you pray and some where you chant, So many rules and instructions: things you can do and things you can’t.
Top stories
Godalming anniversary
2014 was a very busy year for Godalming Meeting in Surrey. Although there were Quakers in Godalming by 1655 it was not until 1714, following the Tolera-tion Act, that they finally moved into the part of their property that became their Meeting room, having taken possession of the whole property around 1709. The first...
From the archive: Telling the story
‘Figures are poor things to represent the tale of service done in these nine short weeks by the Friends’ Ambulance Unit. But it may be of interest to record briefly the results up to January 2nd. The members of the Unit helped in the rescue work at the sinking of...
Arguing for equality
Many readers may have been struck by the incongruity of the two photographs shown on facing pages (4-5) of the Friend of 9 January: one showing Manchester and Warrington Friends holding a vigil for equality on the steps of Mount Street Meeting House; the other a vigil held outside Friends House...
Confidentiality
Early in my journey as a member of the Religious Society of Friends, when I had just commenced my first triennium as an overseer, I had an experience that affected me and prompted me to reflect carefully on a word: confidentiality. Two elders visited me to tell me that a...
Friends and Global Divestment Day
Huddersfield Quakers have decided to divest from companies with links to the coal, oil and gas sectors. The decision was taken at a Meeting held earlier this month in the Meeting house in Paddock. The Local Meeting has financial reserves of approximately £35,000. All investments and bank holdings will be reviewed...
All articles
Mary’s Joy postponed
Jeanmarie Simpson’s touring production of Mary’s Joy has been postponed. The American actress and playwright arrived at Heathrow Airport on Friday 13 February from Montreal to begin the British leg of her one-woman show but was refused entry because she did not have the appropriate documentation.
Ukraine peace efforts
Quakers in Britain have welcomed the work of German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president François Hollande in helping to broker a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine.
‘Time to Act’
Friends are being called to join the Time to Act on Climate Change march that is being held in London on 7 March. The march will bring people together on the streets of London to demand real action on climate change. The organisers intend to lobby politicians seeking election. They argue...
Molesworth ‘invasion’ remembered
Friends marked the thirtieth anniversary of the ‘invasion’ of RAF Molesworth with an all-faith service at the entrance to the Cambridgeshire base. Seven Quakers from Leicester, Stevenage and London joined with others from Peterborough, March and St Neots on 7 February.
Gloucestershire Friends back amputees through World Cup setback
Quakers in Painswick and else-where in Gloucestershire are supporting amputee footballers in Sierra Leone. Friends are helping fundraise for the Sierra Leone Single Leg Amputee Sports Association (SLASA), which works with young men who lost limbs in the civil war. The team qualified for the finals of the Amputee Football...
Wedding in Zimbabwe
It isn’t the heat that strikes us, or the torrential rain, or the wide, ex-colonial boulevards of the Harare suburbs, or the poverty-stricken settlements that line the main roads, or even the unaccustomed food. It’s the hugs. So many hugs. With everyone we meet. Huge smiles, hugs, a...
Eye - 20 February 2015
The battle for Bewley’s Buns and beverages at Bewley’s Café are more than the sum of their parts to the people of Dublin. The Café was founded in 1927 by Ernest Bewley, a Quaker. In 1972 the company was transferred into a trust company owned by employees. It was acquired...
Letters - 20 February 2015
Friends join call for new tax law It is good to read that our recording clerk ‘signed a statement in support of a new campaign calling on political parties to promise to act against tax avoidance if elected’ (6 February). The story, ‘Friends join call for new tax law’, does not...