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Meeting for Sufferings: Israel and Palestine
In the afternoon of Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) on 1 June, Friends spent time holding Israel and Palestine in the light. Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) is frequently asked to make, or agree to, statements on the conflict, so this was an opportunity to reflect prayerfully on the situation. Stephanie Hunt, from...
Meeting for Sufferings: Area Meeting (AM) compliance and safeguarding
The day ended with a report on the annual returns from Area Meetings (AM) on compliance. To the question of why Quakers need compliance, Friends were reminded of Beth Allen’s answer in Quaker faith & practice (8.25): ‘We need to be an ordinary well-run organisation, with good structures and sensible...
Friends talk restorative justice at UN
Friends highlighted the issue of restorative justice at this year’s United Nations (UN) Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
Quakers reject plans for national service
Peace campaigners have accused the Conservative Party of trying to introduce ‘conscription by stealth’.
Friend in Baltic ‘walk for peace’
A Cornwall Friend is walking 700 miles from Tallinn to Warsaw in the name of peace.
Hammersmith Friends awarded civic honours
Two Hammersmith Quakers received civic honours this month for their work with refugees.
Meeting for Sufferings: Opening
Robert Card, clerk to Meeting for Sufferings (MfS), started the morning session on 1 June by reminding Friends that it was the last Meeting of the triennium. ‘We’ve done a lot of work,’ he said, mentioning updates to church governance, climate work and – most importantly, perhaps – the experimentation Quakers have...
Meeting for Sufferings: Quaker Concern Over Population (QCOP)
After some routine business accepted on draft minute, the room turned to its first main item of the day: whether or not to renew Quaker Concern Over Population (QCOP) as a Quaker Recognised Body (QRB). Discernment on this had been postponed from the last Meeting. Also for discernment was the...
Meeting for Sufferings: Election preparation session
Timely Meeting More than fifty-five Friends gathered online on 22 May for a Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) preparation advocacy session about the upcoming general election. The session was clerked by Elizabeth Allen, assistant clerk for MfS, who started the Meeting by saying how ‘amazing’ and ‘timely’ it was that the Meeting...
Friends protest weapons at US base
Quakers took part in protests this month to prevent the return of US nuclear weapons to USAF Lakenheath.