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Meeting for Sufferings: QPSW
Mike Coote, co-clerk of QPSWCC, described its work supporting Quaker action at COP26 and ongoing efforts for the Make Polluters Pay campaign, as well as the Insure Our Future campaign, which is asking the insurance industry to immediately stop insuring new and expanding coal, oil and gas projects. Staff plan...
Meeting for Sufferings: QLCC
Klaus Huber, clerk of QLCC, then updated Friends on the group’s work encouraging reflection on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), which is sometimes run in collaboration with Woodbrooke Research and Learning. In particular, the group has been facilitating decolonisation within the centrally-managed work, he said, and supporting work with...
Meeting for Sufferings: Changes to the Book of Discipline
Friends then heard recommendations from Church Government Advisory Group (CGAG) on changes to Quaker faith & practice.
Meeting for Sufferings: Friends hear from Quaker chaplains
The day ended with Friends hearing from three Quaker chaplains. Robin Fishwick, a Quaker chaplain at the University of Leeds, said he is often asked how many Friends are at the university (‘a few’), but ‘this is not particularly relevant’. Aside from a few ‘Quaker-specific things’ – for example, a weekly...
Woodbrooke building closes after 120 years
After 120 years of providing Quaker fellowship and ministry, Woodbrooke Centre is to close to the public this autumn.
Quakers criticise Prevent review
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) has criticised the findings of the long-awaited review of Prevent, the government’s counter-terrorism programme. The report calls for its focus to shift more towards Islamist terrorism instead of rightwing terrorism. This was because there had been a significant growth in the latter type of referrals,...
Call for churches to reflect diversity of UK
Churches are often seen as ‘white, middle-class spaces’, a new report has shown, underlining that to reach more people, they need to reflect ‘the diversity of the UK’. This includes appealing to more working-class people, communities facing racial injustice, people with disabilities, LBGT+ communities, and more.
US Friends host concert of spirituals
US Friends marked the historical ties between Quakers and black freedom seekers last week with a concert of spirituals.
Meeting for Sufferings: Quakers hear proposal to form communications group
The morning session of 4 March opened with a proposal for a new Meeting for Sufferings (MfS) Communications Group, following December’s request for the Arrangements Group to consider action on the matter. The proposal follows a report from the group appointed to review Yearly Meeting (YM) and MfS, which highlighted...
Meeting for Sufferings: Book of Discipline Revision Committee
The next main item on the agenda was an update from the Book of Discipline Revision Committee (BDRC) on the feedback it had received regarding some draft material on nominations and marriage.