Issue 25-11-2016
Featured story
Thought for the Week: Hope
I was lucky. Born, towards the end of the war, into a working-class family in a working-class railway town, I was not only exposed to strong political and social values from my parents (Labour Party, Scouting, Methodism) but, despite failing the 11+ and working at sixteen as a shorthand typist, I...
Top stories
Disability, handicap, difference, gift
My sister, Linda, has Down’s Syndrome. She used to be described as handicapped; now the politically correct term is disabled. She is not disabled. She is an extremely able person. She is able to walk, talk, laugh, cry, dance, sing and love. She enjoys life and the living of...
The Lucas Plan
With the parliamentary approval of Trident renewal, our witness for nuclear disarmament must find a new way forward. Along with my fellow Young Quakers within Young Friends General Meeting I did my best through our Trident concern to oppose all nuclear weapons alongside other Quaker and non-Quaker organisations. Yet if...
From the archive: Around the world
During 1916 the Friends Foreign Mission Association of the Religious Society of Friends celebrated its jubilee. The Association was set up in 1866 in the wake of the religious revival of 1859 and the celebrations included a major conference, followed by a public meeting, at Devonshire House, the headquarters of the Society in...
Welsh connections
Ystyriwch, Gyfeillion annwyl, gymhellion cariad a gwirionedd yn eich calonnau. Take heed, dear Friends, to the promptings of love and truth in your hearts. Friends in Wales hold three Meetings annually and Quakers are welcomed from across the country to come together at a national level and keep abreast of...
American Friends speak out over ‘Muslim registry’
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has expressed its concern about suggestions that president-elect Donald Trump is to create a ‘Muslim registry’. The AFSC said in a statement that the proposal ‘is an attack on our country’s founding values – that all are created equal and constitutionally guaranteed freedom of...
All articles
Backhouse Nurseries project suffers setback
Plans to create a heritage centre in York dedicated to Quaker botanist and philanthropist James Backhouse are in jeopardy following an arson attack. Local resident Jane Cullen is leading a campaign to transform a disused park-keeper’s lodge in West Bank Park into a café and heritage centre, as reported...
Molly Scott Cato backs green employment
Quaker MEP Molly Scott Cato has published a report on the potential for replacing Trident missile manufacturing jobs with positions in the green sector.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne hosts business events
Two business events are to be held over the next three months that will explore the Quaker business method.
Friends in Wales hear about mental health
Friends in Wales gathered at Llanwrtyd in October and enjoyed a full day of business.
Governments urged to act on climate change
Representatives of faith groups across the world have urged governments to act on climate change.
Animals lost in war remembered
Friends were among those who recently commemorated the loss of thousands of animals in human wars.
Activist gathering in York
Quaker Peace & Social Witness is holding its third annual activist gathering at the Friargate Meeting House in York on 3 December.
‘And they shall live secure…’
Church and Peace, the European ecumenical network which grew out of dialogue between the peace churches following the second world war, has had a fairly low profile in its Britain and Ireland region recently. This is now set to change after a meeting in Birmingham at the end of October,...
Rethinking human security
About sixty people gathered around tables in Hebden Bridge Town Hall on Sunday 9 October to discuss what human security meant for them – as individuals, in our community, country and globally. The discussions were introduced by Paul Rogers, professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford and Celia McKeon, who...
Letters - 25 November 2016
That’s how the light gets in ‘There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in.’ These words from Leonard Cohen’s song ‘Anthem’ were quoted in ministry in Exeter this morning. So, it set me thinking whether there were any cracks of light in the...