Issue 16-06-2017
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Thought for the Week: Love your neighbour
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in… (Matthew 25:35) Matthew 25 suggests that Christians should see everyone as ‘Christ’ in the flesh. Indeed, scholars argue that in the New...
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A place of sanctuary
Building on a heritage of welcoming newcomers to Britain, and a conviction there is that of God in every person, Quakers across Britain are working to welcome people seeking sanctuary. This includes hosting people at home, providing legal support, volunteering in Calais and Dunkirk, local campaigning, providing English lessons, visiting...
The visitor
Recently my partner Ruth and I had the opportunity to open our home to a special visitor. Like many others, our home became a place of welcome for a refugee from a war-torn country. In this case the country was Syria and, more pointedly, the city of Aleppo. At one...
Making precious what is precarious
The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that’s wrong with the world Paul Farmer At the heart of the Quaker tradition in which I stand lies the conviction that every life is equally precious. As Advices & queries 22 puts it: ‘Remember that each one...
To a refugee
Tell me your story, How you came all alone To this country.
People like us
The United Nations International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture is on 26 June. What is known is that there is a significant relationship between being a refugee and the likelihood of having been tortured. A high proportion of refugees and asylum seekers have been tortured and are left...
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Quakers welcome new MPs
Several Quakers were involved as candidates in the general election held on Thursday 8 June.
Building a culture of sanctuary
Quakers in Britain have announced a packed programme of events to mark Refugee Week on 19-25 June. A highlight will be the visit of internationally acclaimed authors to Friends House to take part in a series of ‘in conversation’ interviews in the Quaker Bookshop.
QSA marks 150 years
Quaker Social Action (QSA) staff gathered to celebrate the charity’s one hundred and fifth birthday with, what else, a cake.
Meeting for Sufferings: More that unites than divides
The remit of the Quaker Committee for Christian and Interfaith Relations (QCCIR) was described as ‘absolutely huge’ by Stephanie Grant, a member of the body, at Meeting for Sufferings held in Friends House on 3 June.
Meeting for Sufferings: Funding position is ‘comfortable’
Funding for the Religious Society of Friends remains in a ‘relatively comfortable position’, Meeting for Sufferings heard.
Meeting for Sufferings: Publicising the activities of Young Friends
Tim Rouse, trustee and management officer of Young Friends General Meeting (YFGM), presented a report on the activities of young adult Friends in the past year. YFGM’s main activity is running residential weekends three times a year in Meeting houses around the country. The weekends usually involve between sixty...
Meeting for Sufferings: British Friends visit to Dublin
Meeting for Sufferings, on 3 June, heard of a visit held on 6 May by representatives of Britain Yearly Meeting to Quaker House in Dublin where they met with representatives of Ireland Yearly Meeting. Among those present were the clerk and assistant clerk of Ireland Yearly Meeting, Heather Bewley and Bairbre Nic...
Letters - 16 June 2017
Equality and education It is now exactly twenty years ago that I, as clerk of the school committee, was involved in the closure of Great Ayton Friends’ School. I am deeply distressed and concerned to see a repetition of the comments that were made then (9 June), at the precise moment...