 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…
The 2011 Swarthmore Lecture by Pam Lunn , reviewed by Jez Smith. Costing not less than everything: sustainability and spirituality in challenging times, the Swarthmore Lecture 2011. “The task may appear impossible We must take the first step.” Australia Yearly Meeting epistle 2011, paraphrasing Pablo Casals. When hundreds or thousands of Quakers gather for their Yearly…
The 1978 Swarthmore Lecture by John Ormerod Greenwood. Reviewed by Jay Clark. John Ormerod Greenwood, born in 1907, was an actor, playwright and producer, as well as a Quaker historian who completed a three volume series about Friends’ international work called ‘Quaker Encounters’. In this lecture, he says that being given an opportunity to talk…
The 1994 Swarthmore Lecture by Margaret Heathfield. Reviewed by Judith Roads. Being together was the Swarthmore lecture for 1994, given by Margaret Heathfield. She discussed a number of aspects to the general theme of what it means to be a Quaker in Britain Yearly Meeting. In the book of the lecture she first looks at…
The 1974 Swarthmore Lecture by Wolf Mendl. Reviewed by Owen Everett. Wolf Mendl was not a typical Quaker. He certainly wasn’t a woolly-liberal; he was a pragmatist. As Reader in War Studies at King’s College, London, he possessed a knowledge of warfare and international relations and all their complexities that most Friends lack. This comes…
Steps in a large room The 1985 Swarthmore Lecture by Christopher Holdsworth. Reviewed by Valerie Graves. It is about the Benedictine Rule. What have monks in common with Friends? Penn says a monastery can be within us. Background. Christopher Holdsworth was born into a Christian home: his mother was Anglican and his father a Quaker.…
The Swarthmore Lecture is an institution that has found its home as a significant part of Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham and Britain Yearly Meeting. The first lecture was delivered in 1908 by Rufus Jones and since then, a new lecture has been commissioned every year. We’ve now had 102 lectures. The preface to the first…
The 2009 Swarthmore Lecture, The presence in the midst: reflections on discernment, by Peter Eccles. Reviewed by Anna Sharman. Anna Sharman reviews the book of the 2009 Swarthmore Lecture, The Presence in the Midst: reflections on discernment, by Peter Eccles This is a book about discernment, how we use the experience of God as a…
Minding the Future The 2008 Swarthmore Lecture by Christine A M Davis. Reviewed by Jez Smith. The latest in a long line of a standing fixture in the British Quaker tradition, Minding the Future, the 2008 Swarthmore Lecture, by Christine A M Davis, is about how we manage our resources, or, stewardship. Minding the Future…