Issue 23-10-2020
Featured story
‘Our roots nourish us and hold us steady, but we are not our roots.’
The Religious Society of Friends is rooted in Christianity and has always found inspiration in the life and teachings of Jesus. How do you interpret your faith in the light of this heritage? How does Jesus speak to you today? Are you following Jesus’ example of love in action? Are...
Top stories
Quaker composer receives OBE
The Quaker composer and patron of The Leaveners Sally Beamish has been awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to music.
‘Has being faced with our vulnerability made us recognise the importance of our families?’
During these strange and surreal times, as we all try to adjust to a world in which life as we knew it has been turned upside down, I have been observing families closely. Through my work as a psychotherapist I know something about the considerable strain and desperation experienced by...
‘By not washing his hands, Jesus was ritually defiling this man’s home.’
I like nice people. I like people who make me feel welcome, heard, respected. I like people who are polite. People who show courtesy. They might even be nice enough to laugh at my jokes. That would be nice.
‘I remain of the view that Quakers are at their most eloquent when they are silent.’
I’ve been a faithful attender for twelve years but I’ve yet to read Quaker faith & practice. I bought a copy of our famous red book a long time ago, but I can’t remember dipping into it. Despite this I don’t feel ignorant about Quakerism, itâ€...
‘Family separations were long and hard but accepted as part of normal life.’
Over 200 years ago, a young girl called Christine Majolier met British Quakers here at Congénies. She wrote about how her siblings would play at holding ‘Meetings’; her sister Lydie would ‘try to preach like Elizabeth Coggeshall dressed up in a mob cap’.
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Exeter Quakers in Quaker Week radio
Seven Exeter Quakers provided the early morning ‘Pause for Thought’ session for the local BBC radio station to mark Quaker Week.
Friends talk sanctuary and migration
Quakers gathered online this month to hear a talk about Quaker work on sanctuary and migration. Andrew Lane, the director of Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) in Brussels, spoke about the work Quakers do to engage European governments and institutions on questions of migration justice. The event, called ‘Sanctuary...
Quakers alerted to ‘doubtful appeals’
Friends have been urged to be wary of ‘doubtful appeals’ from organisations purporting to be Quaker which may not be. The warnings come after many members and individuals have said that they had been contacted by someone on behalf of an institute called the Friends Orphanage School.
Cambridge Friends boost virtual outreach
Cambridge Friends have been increasing their virtual outreach this year with a series of online events open to the public. Starting with a series of Zoom gatherings called ‘Quaker Tasters’, Jesus Lane Meeting also hosted an online event about ending slavery on 20 October, shortly following Quaker Week. Peter Griffin from...
Quaker-linked scientist wins Nobel Prize
Roger Penrose, a descendant from the famous Quaker Penrose family, is one of three scientists to have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for work to understand black holes.
FWCC joins call for safe environment
FWCC signed a letter along with 858 signatures to appeal to the Human Rights Council to recognise, without delay, the right to a ‘safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment’ for all.
‘His desire was to enable ordinary people to achieve financial security.’
Jack Bogle was a well-known friend of Friends in the USA. He died last year. Having known financial hardship in his youth, his desire was to enable ordinary people to achieve financial security by careful money management and simple investments.
Letters - 23 October 2020
George Cadbury Paul Vallely’s article (2 October) reflects on George Cadbury’s acts of benevolence and his views on such. He quotes George Cadbury as saying that his ‘children entirely understood his determination to give away their heritage, and will be all the better for being deprived of it’. Well,...