Quakers in Britain have celebrated the completion through parliament of the bill that will allow same-sex couples to marry in Quaker meetings. Paul Parker, recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, said “It’s wonderful to see same-sex marriage achieve legal recognition. Quakers have been celebrating same-sex relationships as marriages within our faith community since 2009 and…
Quakers have joined churches from across Britain and Ireland to send a joint letter to David Cameron, the UK’s prime minister, asking for an apology to poor people for misrepresenting them. The letter, signed among others by Paul Parker, recording clerk of Quakers in Britain, states that the government has been giving out misleading and…
Around a thousand Quakers will be converging on London this weekend to take part in Britain Yearly Meeting – the annual meeting of Quakers in Britain. The event is used to discern the way forward for Quakers in Britain. One of the key developments of this year’s yearly meeting is a continuing to make the involvement…
Quakers in Britain have announced a deal with Bad Boys Bakery, the social enterprise formed from a ‘reality’ television series in prison, to stock the bakery’s produce in their award-winning restaurant. The Quakers’ restaurant at their Friends House venue in central London is serving Bad Boys Bakery desserts on Fridays. The restaurant was recently a…
The number of British Quakers is falling, according to new figures released by Quakers in Britain. Although the number of members has been in decline for many years, the fall in the number of attenders is a change after a few years of growth. The figures have been revealed in the 2012 tabular statement, an…
“We are seeing a new generation, a generation that are not sitting quietly any more, a generation who are coming together to resist injustice. We are also seeing a generation that want to make informed decisions.†– Benard L Agona, field co-ordinator of Turning the Tide Programme in Kenya As Kenyans prepare to go to…
‘Trust’ and ‘what it means to be a Quaker today’ will be central themes in Britain Yearly Meeting this year it has been revealed. The timetable for BYM, from 24 to 27/05/2013 reveals that the issues of Trust in the Spirit and Trust in Trusteeship will be considered at sessions of the annual meeting of…
By Jez Smith The Quaker Socialist Society has announced that Ed Mayo, the general secretary of Co-operatives UK, will deliver the annual Salter Lecture at Friends House just before Britain Yearly Meeting on Friday 24/05/2013 at 4pm. Ed Mayo will deliver a lecture titled “Raise the Sails as the Wind is Changing – how radical…
Australian Quakers are calling on the leaders of all their political parties to take the impact of climate change into the upcoming Australian federal election as a key plank of their party’s platform for action. Australian Quakers used their yearly meeting this month to affirm that lasting peace can no longer be contemplated in isolation…
by Jez Smith Gerald Hewitson, a Quaker based in Wales, is set to deliver the 2013 Swarthmore Lecture, A Journey to the Heart of the Quaker Experience. The lecture will be given during Britain Yearly Meeting at Friends House on 25/05/2013. Although the lecture will be delivered then, the Swarthmore Lecture is in the care…