Issue 30-10-2020
Featured story
‘Are there universal truths and, if so, what is their basis?’
After twelve weeks of shielding, protecting myself and the NHS from the consequences of this pandemic, I welcomed the gradual easing of restrictions. But the messages from the government have become increasingly confusing and at times contradictory. I have been led to reflect on the extent to which my confidence...
Top stories
8,000th issue for The Inquirer
The Inquirer, the Unitarian fortnightly magazine that started a year before the Friend, is getting ready to publish its 8,000th issue in November.
‘We are radical, we are in love with this planet and we are acting in fierce love for our future.’
In the autumn of 2018 I read Elisabeth Hering’s book about early Friends, their determination and suffering that led after a decades-long struggle to the achievement of the Act of Toleration. Those same weeks I was also deeply moved upon reading the obituary of a US Friend and Quaker from...
‘Support for Georgian Quakers became pressing after the Russian invasion.’
For over a decade, Jesus Lane Meeting in Cambridge, along with Meetings in Bristol and elsewhere in the UK and Ireland, have been supporting Quakers in Georgia. Georgia is located in the Caucuses region of Eurasia, at the crossroads of Western Asia and Europe. It is bounded to the west...
‘Climate change affects everyone. So what is getting in the way of doing the right thing?’
A few Quakers took part in Extinction Rebellion’s actions on climate change in Cambridge. Many Friends (and others) are critical of this behaviour. Disrupting traffic is dangerous and can interfere with people who need to get to hospital. It affects the jobs and income of vulnerable people. It causes...
‘The people are poor while the land is rich in minerals. We have to ask why.’
The history of Congo is one of suffering, from the horrors of colonialism to the rule of Joseph Kabila. Now there is a new president, Félix Tshisekedi, but those who defend the status quo are still very powerful and progress is agonisingly slow.
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Breakthrough for nuclear weapons ban
The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) has been ratified by the fiftieth state, meaning that it will enter into international legal force ninety days later, on 22 January 2021.
31 Friends House staff redundant
Thirty-one members of Friends House staff have opted to take voluntary redundancy after a consultation period to consider how Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) can meet the financial challenges of the pandemic and the shift towards more local working.
Yearly Meeting registration opens
Up to one thousand Friends are expected to gather online next month for Quakers’ first online Yearly Meeting Gathering.
London Quakers want to ‘build back better’
London Quakers gathered last week for a Build Back Better event featuring author and Quaker descendant Mark Thomas, founder of the The 99% Campaign. The event explored the questions: ‘After this upheaval of our lives, what changes do we foresee – and which we want to encourage? What work is in progress...
Surrey Friend on race
A Quaker from Godalming Meeting gave a talk on racism this month based on her experiences of growing up in the UK with parents from the Windrush generation.
Hitchin abolitionists remembered
Hitchin Quakers have been noted for their historic work in the abolition movement as part of commemorations for Anti-Slavery Day. ‘Hitchin was one of the first towns in Hertfordshire to set up its own Anti-Slavery Society. Quakers in Hitchin had been involved in the Abolition movement since the late 18th...
‘In a socially distanced world, the character of encounter changes.’
Quaker Voluntary Action (QVA) provides practical opportunities to put faith into action, on working retreats. The retreats form a shared experience that combine work, rest and reflection, usually over three to five days.
What lies ahead
Mashed into the last summer sunshine cold wind, a paper-cut barb Hints at winter ahead. Though told that warmth would banish this virus it hovers still, a vulture that threatens our fresh horizons Corralls us back into our cups Of joys, miseries and memories.
Letters - 30 October 2020
Prisons Week What thoughts come up when you turn your mind to prison and prisoners? Maybe you joined with Prisons Week prayers recently, which include victims of crime. As someone with a long connection with prisons (from tutor in 1980s, then spells working with the prison service, to attending a...