by Craig Barnett Paul Parker, the new recording clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting, has been speaking at Quaker Meetings around the country recently. I went with some local Friends to hear him at Chesterfield Meeting last week, and was encouraged by his vision for the future of Quakers in Britain, as well as his approach…
How and Why I am a Quaker by Ben Jarman I first came to Quakers because of a crisis. In 2005, a friend fell victim to a serious crime, and in the aftermath her life fell apart. Those of us around her tried to help pick up the pieces, but we were powerless and our…
by Stuart Masters Advices and Queries no.35 – Respect the laws of the state but let your first loyalty be to God’s purposes. In the authorised version of Quaker history it is received wisdom that James Nayler, although a man of deep spirituality with a significant gift for preaching and writing, was an unstable and…
The 1948 Lecture by Edmond Privat, reviewed by John Hall: The Swarthmore Lecture that wasn’t The 1948 Yearly Meeting was held for the first time in Scotland: in Edinburgh. The Swarthmore Lecture was to be given by the Swiss Quaker, Edmond Privat (1889-1962) who was an ardent pacifist, human-rights activist, writer and journalist.  He was…
This Nayler podcast features an interview with Simon Best, talking about his 2011 George Gorman Lecture. We discuss the issues that he raises in his lecture and talk about his work with young people and his new role at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre. Simon Latham, blogger at underthegreenhill is also present and joins in the…
How I became a Quaker. My parents were Quakers and I was enrolled as a “birthright Friendâ€. They sent me to a Quaker school at aged 10, principally to avoid the blitz in 1940-41. We had daily Assembly and compulsory attendance at Meeting for Worship on Sundays. I joined a small group of pupils to…
The 1950 Swarthmore Lecture by Konrad Braun, reviewed by John Hall Written by a former Berlin Supreme Court judge who escaped from the Nazis and became a subsequent convert to Quakerism and a lecturer at Woodbrooke, potentially this is an ideal read, written as it was, only five years after the end of the war…
Rachel Brett is set to deliver the annual Swarthmore Lecture as part of Quakers’ Britain Yearly Meeting assembly in 05/2012. Rachel Brett will speak about Quaker processes and ways of working and how they have been applied to the United Nations sphere. She will particularly talk about this work in the context of human rights,…
The 2000 Swarthmore Lecture by Tim Newell, reviewed by Ben Jarman. Introduction and content Tim Newell’s Swarthmore Lecture was delivered in 2000. Much has changed in prison and justice policy since then, and yet much of the confused thinking and practice, to which Newell offered an alternative, remain. If anything, the system’s contradictions are writ…
Why I am a Quaker is first of all because faith took me over. About sixteen years ago, in response to trauma and in a dark time, something was going on within me that I did not understand but felt powerless to resist. I went into churches and ran out. Not what I was looking…