Epistle from the Kindler’s Conference Held at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, Birmingham, England 1110-13/10/2013 This weekend, 91 Friends have met at Woodbrooke and sought ways to kindle afresh the Kingdom of Heaven within our Meetings. Does this language resonate for you Friends? Can we at last move beyond the words and really listen to each…
Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre has announced that the 2014 Swarthmore Lecture will be given by Quaker author and academic Ben Pink Dandelion. Ben’s lecture will explore the theme of transformation, ending with a call for Quakers to return to a transforming and transformational faith. “I use the term ‘transforming’ to refer to how early Quakers…
The 1949 Swarthmore Lecture by Roger Cowan Wilson, reviewed by Jennifer Barraclough The joy of the Swarthmore Lectures is their continuing ability to illuminate, console and inform. Although Roger Cowan Wilson wrote about authority, leadership and concern in the context of Quaker relief work during and immediately after the Second World War, there is much…
By Craig Barnett Last weekend at Woodbrooke was billed as a ‘threshing event’, exploring the potential for a renewal of the Religious Society of Friends for the 21st Century. It is an initiative of Britain Yearly Meeting’ recording clerk, Paul Parker. Paul has been visiting Meetings throughout the country, gathering a sense of new confidence…
Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre has launched its augural young adult leadership programme, beginning this summer. The course is designed to develop young people’s leadership skills and authority within Quakerism and wider society. It is also a chance for Young Friends to feel confident about themselves and, especially for those who have been convinced rather than…
by Jay Clark Melvyn Freake is treasurer of the Art and Spirituality Network, a group of artists, writers and performers who run workshops that seek to explore faith and search for meaning through art. He talked to Nayler about his involvement with the network, and how he sees his Quaker spirituality influenced by creativity. What…
From 10-12 June, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre will host a Soulcraft weekend for men, led by Peter Fishpool and David Williams. Peter Fishpool has led groups and arts work in many contexts. He has written in The Friend about men’s rites of passage and on accompanying his wife, Jenny, to her death from brain tumours.…
Michael Eccles is the Young Adult Programmes Coordinator at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham. This is a new post that was created in January 2011. Michael took time out from his schedule to talk to Nayler. Tell us about your work at Woodbrooke. My responsibilities include organising a Friends Schools Gathering each summer for…
Swimming against the tide A review of the Quakers in Criminal Justice (QICJ) conference – Woodbrooke 25-27/02/2011 by Ronan Falsey As someone who had only relatively recently started attending Quaker Meetings nine months ago, and as it was my first visit to Woodbrooke, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect! (Although, I had heard the…