Latest News
Quakers lobby MPs on prison sentences
Quakers in Criminal Justice (QICJ) and Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) briefed MPs ahead of a debate on indeterminate sentences last week. The debate on 27 April followed a conclusion last September from the UK parliament’s Justice Committee that Imprisonment for Public Protection Sentences (IPPs) caused profound psychological harm and mental...
Correction
Last week we said that the Woodbrooke Place residentials held at Glenthorne will be pay-as-led. This was incorrect. Woodbrooke says: ‘This year’s courses at Glenthorne follow their existing pricing structure and we’re working together to set prices in future which are affordable and sustainable for both organisations.’ We...
Yearly Meeting 2023: Session 1 - Opening session
More than 1,500 Friends had registered to attend Yearly Meeting (YM) 2023, said incoming clerk Adwoa Burnley in its Opening Session (down from almost 2,000 in 2022). It would be the fourth time YM was enabling online attendance, and more than half of those registered intended to join that way. It was unlikely that...
US Friends support Vanguard arrestees
Quakers in the US are urging Friends to support sixteen people who were arrested for taking part in climate protests against a major global company.
Yearly Meeting 2023: Session 2 - Releasing Energy and Revitalising Quaker Communities
In Session Two, on Saturday morning, Friends considered the first part of the theme: ‘How to release energy and revitalise Quaker communities’. First, in worship, a Friend spoke of how he ‘fell in love this morning’, on the way to Friends House, looking at the blossom and the ‘lack of...
Quaker presence at LGBT+ service
Paul Parker, recording clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting, said that he was ‘moved to tears’ at a memorial service last week, held to remember LGBT+ people who’ve been harmed or died as a result of the trauma induced by rejection by their Christian communities.
Lloyd’s urged to stop insuring fossil fuels
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) joined other faith groups to urge Lloyd’s of London to do more to tackle climate change.
Banbury Quakers celebrate beech tree
Banbury Friends have been celebrating the life of a beech tree which graced their garden for over 150 years, but recently had to be felled.
Woodbrooke partners with Glenthorne
Woodbrooke is developing a partnership with Glenthorne Guest House and Conference Centre, with two residential retreats already planned this year.
Yearly Meeting 2023: Session 3 - Looking at Central Committees
Session Three looked specifically at Quaker Central Committeees – the bodies appointed by Meeting for Sufferings to shape the work carried out centrally for and on behalf of Friends. Did these bodies need changing to better fit the contemporary Society of Friends? If this sounds like a simple question, it proved...