Issue 25-08-2017
Featured story
Thought for the Week: A Quaker alphabet
A. Agreement B. Beautiful, belonging C. Companionship, caring D. Do-able E. Exciting, energy F. Fun, friendship, fellowship G. Goodwill H. Hugs I. Interesting, inventive J. Joy
Top stories
Letter to Josie
Josie, our granddaughter, is in her second year at Manchester University, really enjoying her course in Biology with an option in Philosophy. In her first year I sent an email to her about the nature of incessant change in life and the huge whirl of energies influencing us. I asked: ...
Reflections on the ‘Red Book’: Conducting our Quaker business
The right conduct of our meetings for church affairs depends upon all coming to them in an active, seeking spirit, not with minds already made up on a particular course of action… But open minds are not empty minds, nor uncritically receptive: the service of the meeting calls for knowledge...
From the archive: Letters to the editor
Some of the matters on the minds of Friends in the summer of 1917 were revealed through letters to the Friend. The following selection was published on 3 August. One Friend was particularly concerned about the Friends Provident Institution and the War Loan: I was shocked and grieved to learn in the...
A fond goodbye
Since 10 May, when governors announced the proposed closure of Walden School in Saffron Walden, Essex, staff, parents, pupils and governors have all endured much stress and upheaval, and on the last day of the summer term the school’s future was still not clear.
Quakers and Charlottesville
Friends in the USA have reacted strongly to the events in Charlottesville, Virginia on 11 and 12 August, when white supremacist groups staged rallies which resulted in the death of one person, Heather Heyer, and many injuries. Friends also condemned president Donald Trump’s comments in the following days. Before and during...
All articles
Hunger crisis in East Africa
Christian Aid is issuing a renewed plea for urgent, comprehensive global action to help the twenty million people affected by food shortages caused by severe drought and conflict in East Africa.
Hertford Friends host concert on testimonies
Hertford meeting house will be hosting a concert in early October entitled ‘Walk Cheerfully over the World: Quaker testimonies in music and song’.
‘This Evil Thing’ on tour
A play about conscientious objectors in world war one written by a London Friend is on tour this autumn. The play is entitled This Evil Thing and was written by Michael Mears of Wandsworth Meeting.
Quaker schools celebrate exam success
A-Level students at The Mount School in York achieved a 100 per cent pass rate, with seventy-nine achieving A*-B grades.
Seeds of peace
Watching the news in April, with North Korea test-firing missiles and Donald Trump sending ‘an armada’ towards the Korean peninsula, it was not a great way to prepare for my trip to Seoul in May. I was travelling to see friends, having visited South Korea several times since a year-long...
Naming the animals
Even if you couldn’t read it, in previous centuries the Bible was thought important. It had a kind of magic power. It might even be useful: being able to quote a verse of Psalm 51 might save you from the gallows. Nowadays the Bible, for many people, would be handier...
Letters - 25 August 2017
Christian beginnings I understand Noël Staples’ (14 July) hope that Christian churches should become more Quakerly, and I am heartened by reading the words of Richard Rohr, a committed Roman Catholic and Franciscan. He says: ‘Religion usually focuses on imputing and then forgiving guilt. This is more about “sin management”...