Issue 07-10-2016
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Thought for the Week: The joyous gift of love
There was much of love in a recent issue of the Friend. It reminded me of the following ministry given by a young Friend some weeks ago.
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Answering that of God
Like many people, I felt physically ill when I heard the news on the morning of 24 June. I had to lie down for half an hour. Part of the shock was just how much it affected me. But perhaps we should be grateful for the Brexit vote as a lightning...
Simplicity: Simplicity, time and technology
What are the barriers to leading a simple life? I asked this question to participants during research for my 2016 Eva Koch Scholarship and was surprised to find that social media and technology took a distinct back seat. Far and away the biggest concern was trying to practice simplicity with a...
Quaker renewal: The gift of leadership
It is often claimed that Quakers don’t have leaders, but this is not quite true. In a Quaker Meeting leadership is shared among Friends holding many roles – including clerks, elders, overseers, nominations, children’s and outreach committees, among others, and it is also practised more informally by those who...
Meeting for Sufferings: Focus on Vibrancy at Sufferings
The new Vibrancy in Meetings initiative was one of the main agenda items at Meeting for Sufferings held in the George Fox Room at Friends House in London on Saturday 1 October.
Meeting for Sufferings: Clerks reflect on American trip
Recording clerk Paul Parker and Yearly Meeting clerk Deborah Rowlands gave an informative report on their recent trip to visit Quaker communities in the USA (see the Friend, 2 September 2016).
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Meeting for Sufferings: QPSW journey continues
Charlotte Seymour-Smith, clerk of Quaker Peace & Social Witness Central Committee (QPSWCC), spoke to its annual report to Meeting for Sufferings. QPSW is already looking towards next year’s Yearly Meeting Gathering. Charlotte described it as ‘an opportunity to excite and enthuse Friends’ and ‘an important step in building communications...
Meeting for Sufferings: Britain Yearly Meeting trustees
Ingrid Greenhow, clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) trustees, spoke to the minutes of the trustees’ meeting, held on 9-10 September at Friends House, London.
Meeting for Sufferings: Exploring priorities and balances
Meeting for Sufferings returned to questions relating to the Yearly Meeting 2015 minute ‘Living out our faith (call for equality)’ that it had not had time to consider in April. Four questions had been posed following the encouragement from Yearly Meeting for Sufferings to explore how it prioritises and balances different...
Meeting for Sufferings: Area Meeting concerns heard
Minutes from four Area Meetings (AMs) were brought to Sufferings for consideration. Brighouse West Yorkshire AM raised the Ammerdown Invitation and Friends’ responses to it. The Invitation was written by a group of UK peacebuilding professionals and seeks to prompt a conversation about alternatives to the current approach to national...
Diversity marks ninth Quaker Week
Quaker Meetings throughout Britain have been involved in a wide range of diverse events for the ninth British Quaker Week.
First woman member of FAU dies
The last surviving female member of the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) has died at the age of ninety-five.
TTT website goes live
The new website for Turning the Tide is now live. The bright, user-friendly website contains information and resources on the work of Turning the Tide. Some tools are available free to download.
Quakers address state of banking system
A one day conference on the state of the banking system was held at Friends House, London, on Saturday 1 October.
The dead weight
It would be difficult to better Craig Barnett’s succinct analysis of membership (9 September). Craig quotes the three fundamental elements of being a Quaker from Quaker faith & practice 11.01, the third of which is the ‘ordering of the Meeting’s business’.
Letters - 07 October 2016
Title changes I am concerned about the change in titles at Friends House, as part of the changes to Management Meeting, and the lack of consultation which accompanied this change. I am surprised that the terms ‘Head of Worship and Witness’, ‘Head of Operations’ and ‘Head of Finance and Resources’...