Issue 27-03-2020
Featured story
Dealing in shares: Joseph Jones on the Friend in the pandemic
What a week. As I write, it was seven days ago that we were contacted by staff at Friends House asking about our contingency plans in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The following day they shut the building. By then, most of our team at the Friend were already at...
Top stories
‘It’s more about a mindset than knowledge – it’s a willingness to experiment.’
For three years I worked for Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) doing all manner of things – but it could mostly be boiled down to one concept: making Quakers more digital. I worked with others to improve our online presence, including creating podcasts and training Quakers on social media. I was part...
‘It is not the same as coming to a Meeting house, but it doesn’t need to feel the same.’
Usually a Sunday morning is not very quiet. When my children leave Meeting for Worship for Children’s Meeting, I follow them, as they are not ready to do this by themselves. I have longed for stillness. But I still found myself rather cynical about participating in online worship. Brexit...
‘The nature of a gathered Meeting will not be limited by walls.’
We took the decision on Friday. In common with many other Meetings, we have a large proportion of elderly members, some with frail partners more vulnerable than themselves, all at risk. Some had already decided to self-isolate, and were feeling guilty about what they saw as being selfish or letting...
‘Many of us are stepping back, taking a look at how we are living.’
The unprecedented virus without borders, COVID-19, is causing worldwide damage, leaving consequences for years to come for us and for our descendants. But from the ashes of this global catastrophe are already arising some positive changes.
Anxiety
I asked anxiety to dig one hole. It went to work, until the green sward of my garden was upturned: a mole field runnelled with mud, gorged and pitted.
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Quaker work continues amid coronavirus
The Quaker headquarters in London, Friends House, closed last week, as Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) updated its advice and recommended Quakers ‘not to gather in person while the current social distancing guidance is in force’. Swarthmoor Hall closed, as did Woodbrooke, which has suspended its courses until June. Quaker Barbara...
Friend with COVID-19
A Huddersfield Meeting attender has passed away after suffering in intensive care with COVID-19.
Quaker book on conciliation work
A new book was launched at Friends House this month, shining light on the experiences of international conciliators to inspire a new generation of peacemakers.
Nonagenarian Friend talks on lifetime of activism
Ninety-two-year-old Friend and multiple arrestee John Lynes spoke in The Guardian this month about his lifetime of protest.
University vice-chancellor hits back against protesters
The vice-chancellor of the University of Huddersfield has hit back at protesters saying that ‘criticising from the sidelines’ is less likely to bring the positive reform that Bahrain and the international community needs.
‘This was a valuable opportunity to find out more, and discern whether I feel called to this task.’
Thirty Quaker prison chaplains (and me – a prospective chaplain) gathered at Woodbrooke last October for the annual Quaker prison chaplains (QPC) conference. The theme was ‘Drugs in prison – supporting recovery and resilience’. I have worked for a long time in criminal justice but am new to chaplaincy, so this was...
Letters - 27 March 2020
Work together In these challenging and extraordinary times we are tempted to look back to the horrors of the past, and a Friend (20 March) reminded us of the many plague victims buried in Bunhill Fields. However, our son, who worked for over twenty years at the wonderful Wellcome Collection medical...