Issue 30-08-2019
Featured story
Thought for the week: Daniel Clarke Flynn has a learning challenge
One of the most striking statements for me in Quaker faith & practice is in the introduction to Advices & queries: ‘Our diversity invites us, both to speak what we know to be true in our lives and to learn from others.’ Every time I read it, it says something...
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‘I have seen our traditional decision-making process being slowly eroded.’
Some recent developments in Yearly Meeting are making me wonder whether we are changing our model of decision-making. Has our old, distinctly Quaker way proved to be too cumbersome or slow? Are we failing to keep up with the modern world? Do we need to streamline our ways of working?
‘Abraham didn’t know where he was going; he simply believed that God would lead.’
‘Faith,’ say the opening words of the eleventh chapter of the New Testament’s Letter to the Hebrews, ‘is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’ The writer then illustrates what he means by referring to the lives of some of the great heroes of...
Imperial Voyages of Discovery
Imperial voyages of discovery – rich chancers manning expeditions almost always equipped with the following: (1) pith helmet (ivory coloured), (2) expensive English public-school education, (3) penis. (the third item made compulsory by the second – although this item is now seen as optional at more progressive fee-paying educational establishments).
Barack Obama ‘Hope’ artist donates work
The graphic artist Shepard Fairey who created the ‘Hope’ poster for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign has donated three signed prints to be auctioned at the 2019 Art the Arms Fair.
Cotteridge Meeting wins eco award
Cotteridge Meeting has become the first UK Quaker Meeting to be given a Gold Eco Church award. The prize from A Rocha recognises that Cotteridge Quakers have reduced the carbon footprint of their all-electric building ninety-eight per cent over fifteen years, while its CO2 emissions dropped from 26.4 tons in 2014 to 0.6...
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QHA joins call for free showers for homeless
Quaker Homeless Action (QHA) has backed a campaign calling for free public showers to be installed in London to ‘enhance the wellbeing of those who sleep rough’. The petition was started on Change.org by Sarah Lamptey, who volunteers at a shelter. Katie Calvert, from QHA told the Friend it...
Quaker bags radio slot
The Quaker writer Jennifer Kavanagh has been invited to deliver a regular slot on radio offering a Quaker perspective on news. The member of Westminster Meeting reviewed the papers for Inspirit, the early Sunday morning programme on BBC Radio London, on 11 August. She told the Friend: ‘Apparently, they’d never...
Friends explore ‘Earth’s Fragile Abundance’
The Quaker Arts Network (QAN) held workshops for creative exploration of ‘Earth’s Fragile Abundance’ last month, including outdoor sketching, creative writing, dance and textiles. The workshops, held at Swarthmoor Meeting House on 20 July, were the first of a series of events in conjunction with the Seeking Routes art exhibition...
Ada Salter commemorated
The Quaker Socialist Society (QSS) celebrated the birthday of Quaker social reformer and environmentalist Ada Salter last month, who was born in 1866.
Eye - 30 August 2019
Twists and turns in the story of the ‘Quaker Aunts’ A story of unearthing family legends and tracing the tale of a formidable trio of ‘Quaker Aunts’ caught Eye’s eye on Autostraddle.com in June. ‘On the Trail of the Quaker Aunts’ begins with a striking image: ‘A small...
Letters - 30 August 2019
Jiminy Cricketist and all There’s a light that is shining in the heart of a man, It’s the light that was shining when the world began. There’s a light that is shining in the Turk and the Jew And a light that is shining, friend, in me...