Issue 11-03-2016
Featured story
Thought for the Week: A silent prayer for peace
The invitation was issued by Mo: to join in a silent prayer for peace, in Lancaster market square, on the museum steps, from eleven o’clock to noon on Saturday 20 February. Her invitation bore the words: We stand in solidarity with all those worldwide living in fear and fleeing from...
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Passing the problem by
At Yearly Meeting in London on 1 to 4 May 2015 five plenary sessions were given over wholly or partly to a main theme ‘Living out our faith in the world’, framed in terms of what we could do to reduce inequality and injustice in society. About seven to nine hours were devoted...
Housing and inequality
A deep concern for the future of social housing in Britain was one of the main themes to emerge from a one-day conference organised by London Quakers that was held on 20 February at Friends House. The event, called ‘Housing and Inequality – What canst Thou do?’, was open to all Friends...
Moving beyond difference
At the World Plenary Meeting I had the distinct feeling that we, as Friends, are evolving. Someone described our time together in Pisac, Peru, as ‘soft’, as an experience of Friends being very open to one another, marked as much by the absence of consternation as by an active longing...
Pisac and equality
We met together for nine days (19-27 January 2016) in a beautiful valley 10,000 feet up in Pisac, Peru. The Inca culture, ancient terraces and the remains of cities from the precolonial period that still dominate the area surrounded us.
‘Fierce Feathers’, ambulance trains and surrealism
Oxhey Grange, near Watford, was the home of James Doyle Penrose, the artist of two familiar Quaker paintings: The Presence in the Midst and None Shall Make them Afraid (perhaps better known as ‘Fierce Feathers’). His wife Elizabeth Josephine was the daughter of a wealthy Quaker banker, Alexander Peckover of...
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Conscientious objectors to be honoured in Hitchin
A new peace garden in the grounds of Hitchin Meeting House will honour conscientious objectors, among others. Friends have been planning the garden for more than a year. They intend to create a path around the Meeting house grounds, that joins a number of ‘points of interest’. The first of...
Lunchbreak flashmob
Huddersfield Friends attending a recent Northern Friends Peace Board (NFPB) meeting spent their lunchbreak taking part in a flashmob action.
Quaker Service names new operations manager
David Morton will join Belfast-based Quaker Service as operations manager in March.
Let’s go fly a kite
The annual ‘Fly Kites Not Drones’ weekend will take place between 19 and 21 March to coincide with the Afghan New Year.
Friends debate money in Bangor
Sue Holden of Wensleydale Meeting and Tony Weekes of South Belfast Meeting spoke at a public meeting at Bangor University in Wales on Thursday 3 March.
Opposition to the Housing Bill
Friends will be participating in a national demonstration against the Housing and Planning Bill in London on Sunday 13 March.
American Friends move to end mass incarceration
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has announced the launch of a new initiative, the Quaker Network to End Mass Incarceration (QNEMI).
Cuba comes to Cambridge
The Women’s World Day of Prayer on 4 March was marked in a decidedly Cuban way at Jesus Lane Meeting in Cambridge. The service was written by the Cuban World Day of Prayer (WDP) national committee and others in Cuba, Jane Wheatley of Jesus Lane told the Friend. This yearâ€...
Friends House garden to open in April
Decorative paving stones charting Quaker history are presently being installed in the garden at Friends House.
Water of Life
God is reality
I am a materialist. I do not believe in Spirit as some sort of miasma, or ether, or non-baryonic thing, which in some way interacts with the physical world in which I have my being. Why would I want to worship with Quakers, even call myself Christian? Because I believe...
Austerity
Mark Blyth has written a clever, well-argued book that we should all read. Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea analyses the economic theory that wages and prices should be reduced, as part of budget cuts, in order to return an economy to a successful competitive state.
Eye - 11 March 2016
A place of peace A temporary labyrinth created by Quakers in Welwyn Garden City is standing the test of time. Local Friend Margaret Baker told Eye that, in 2014: ‘Much thought was given to whether we should do something to mark the beginning of the first world war or not.’ In...
Letters - 11 March 2016
Meeting for Worship I am unable to get to Meeting very often but I managed it one Sunday recently, needing and hoping to absorb some of the healing silence, which is one of the most beautiful things about Quaker worship. I came away, however, feeling quite discomfited after the ministry,...