By Andrew Williams In June 1660 Margaret Fell delivered to Charles II a paper directed to the king and both houses of parliament, making clear the corporate testimony of Friends ‘against all strife and wars.’ Introduction to 19.46, Quaker Faith and Practice Earlier this year Meeting for Sufferings received an invitation from Buckingham Palace to…
Quakers in Britain, Unitarians and Liberal Jews are urging the prime minister to stand firm on his commitment to change marriage laws to enable same-sex couples to marry. British Quakers are being encouraged to respond to the government consultation on equal marriage when they gather in London this weekend for their Yearly Meeting to discern…
by Jez Smith Day #5 (40acts): Buy Fairtrade. Suitably, for the start of ‘Fairtrade fortnight’ (27/02 to 11/03) the challenge today is to buy Fairtrade. Working for Britain Yearly Meeting and being based at Friends House this is a relatively easy challenge as fairtrade products are a standard part of the operations and retail. In…
by Jez Smith Six months update My partner and I set ourselves a goal as the increase in energy prices become apparent last summer. At first, we decided to try and reduce our gas and electricity bills by 10% but after the price hikes were announced, we decided to try and keep our bills the…
The Quakers, the Unitarians and Liberal Jews will be free to host civil partnership ceremonies on their religious premises from 2012 after an attempt to annul the law in the House of Lords was defeated. Liberal Democrat and Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said: “A number of faiths have made it very clear to me and others that…
Although the legislation allowing civil partnerships to take place on religious premises is due to come into force on Monday 5/12/2011, the law is not yet entirely safe from being annulled. The change in the law allowing civil partnerships to take place on religious partnerships is part of the Equality Act 2010 but it is…
The progression of allowing civil partnerships in religious premises could be abruptly stopped by Conservative peer Detta O’Cathain after she lodged a prayer to annul in opposition of the legislation. According to peer Elaine Murphy, “this weird wording means a debate raised to protest against a negative statutory instrument (SI). Under the standard negative procedure,…
by Jez Smith The following statement has been published by an alliance of Christian groups in support of the Occupy London movement, which includes some Quakers and has been supported in worship by Quakers on the steps of saint Paul’s cathedral. The Occupy London movement reveals a little shimmer of light shining to say that…
In this video 5 Quakers talk about how they make peace a way of life.
 The 1981 Swarthmore Lecture 1981 by Adam Curle, reviewed by John Hall. The Swarthmore Lectureship was “founded with a two-fold purpose: firstly, to interpret to the members of the Society of Friends their Message and Mission; and secondly, to bring before the public the spirit, the aims and the fundamental principles of the Friends.†Any…