Issue 24-07-2020
Featured story
‘It wasn’t danger that was at the front of my mind.’
Working in situations of conflict is never easy. But I have always been particularly impressed by those Friends who have refused to travel under armed protection when it was offered, or even insisted on. They thought it was crucial to maintain our witness against all ‘carnal’ weapons, as stated in...
Top stories
QSA closes Homestore
Quaker Social Action (QSA) has permanently closed its east London furniture reuse project Homestore due in part to the difficulties of Covid-19.
‘Meeting houses are a technology too’
Covid-19 has given us an opportunity to see many things in a new light, including how we worship. We now know that Meeting remotely is entirely possible. It has become clear – why did we ever think otherwise? – that the sacred can inhabit the world behind the screen as fully as...
‘We can feel hopeless but if we can find “absolute hope”, it’s the Kingdom of God’
Hello Tom. Thanks for meeting this way. The title of the 2020 Swarthmore Lecture is Openings to the Infinite Ocean: A Friendly Offering of Hope. which is based on the George Fox quote. Was this your idea? Yes, it’s from me. I was asked to talk about hope. Obviously I...
‘There have been far fewer attempts to portray utopias than dystopias.’
There is much that seems wrong with the world, and a very great number of these woes seem to take their origin not in bad luck, or fate, but in what’s wrong with us – with people.
Churches speak up for Hannah Brock Womack
The Methodist Church has joined the United Reform Church in expressing support for Quaker Hannah Brock Womack, who was blocked from fully being the representative of the Fourth Presidency Group of Churches Together in England (CTE) because she is married to a woman.
All articles
Huddersfield Quakers support torture victims
Huddersfield Friends have said they are ‘horrified’ that the death sentences of two Bahraini activists was upheld by Bahrain’s highest court despite international concern that they were tortured.
Lancaster Uni opens ‘Margaret Fell’ hall despite promoting military
Lancaster University has named one of its lecture theatres after Quaker Margaret Fell despite recently signing an Armed Forces Covenant, raising questions about its commitment to its Quaker connections.
Glenthorne hosts virtual welcome for refugees
Glenthorne Quaker Centre in Grasmere hosted a virtual Welcome Project in conjunction with Bradford Children’s Society and the Wordsworth Trust during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Eye - 24 July 2020
An intercepted letter A Friend from a long line of Quakers made an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live programme on 11 July. Speaking with Viv Groskop forty-three minutes into the show, Antony Barlow was responding to a call for stories ‘about the things we hide from our parents’ and...
Letters - 24 July 2020
An advance decision Over the past month there have been letters around end-of-life (EOL) issues. In some cases, a doctor asking the life and death question will give the patient the confidence that it’s OK to explain how they feel, rather than feeling coerced to do what society may...