Issue 19-04-2024
Featured story
Action plan: Anne M Jones’s Thought for the Week
For most of my life, I have felt repulsed by street-corner preachers screaming ‘Jesus died for you’. And, as a former child protection officer, I could never quite fathom how a father would sacrifice his son. I still cannot square these notions, but I have to accept the mystery of...
Top stories
Regime change: Chris Holt on how one prisoner found his inner light
Dennis was in his prison cell when a letter arrived from his daughter. ‘Dear Dad, I love you,’ she wrote. ‘Why don’t you give up this life of crime and drugs?’
Alison Lapper: Lost in Parys
There was depressing news recently for the creative arts in the UK, as the government cut funding for performing and creative arts courses at English universities. All the more reason, then, to celebrate a new initiative to encourage young people’s engagement with the arts, focusing on how art can...
Epistle of a discussion group hosted by London Young Adult Quakers
‘To all Friends everywhere, ‘On Sunday 31st March 2024, twelve Friends gathered at Westminster Meeting House for a discussion group, hosted by London Young Adult Quakers (LYAQ) to explore the topic of “Can healthcare be illegal: Discussing the issues with decriminalising abortion as opposed to legalising it”.
Female leads: Richard Stewart investigates the women who knew Jesus
I once felt moved in Meeting for Worship to give ministry that included a reading of the first nine verses of John’s Gospel. After an appropriate time for reflection I was surprised when a fellow member stood up and said the problem with the Bible was its masculine domination....
Confession
I come to a place of light in an ocean of darkness. They said: Stand still in the light, submit to its power. When temptation came and troubles appeared I was to sink to the bright seed. Troubles would be hushed and darkness fly away.
All articles
Zurich insurers rule out new oil and gas
Quakers welcomed an announcement from Zurich Insurance Group that it would not cover any new oil and gas extraction, or new metallurgical coal projects.
Second 2024 storm named after Quaker
The extreme weather that hit parts of the UK earlier this month was named after a Quaker female scientist.
Scottish Friends consider single charity
One hundred and eight Friends in Scotland gathered this month to take forward proposals to form a single Quaker organisation for the country. This would replace the current arrangement of six separate trustee bodies. The proposal mirrors similar changes being undertaken in Wales and the Marches, London, and Yorkshire, as...
Wakefield Friends win City of Sanctuary award
Wakefield Meeting House has been awarded a ‘Faith Stream of Sanctuary’ award in recognition of its City of Sanctuary work.
AFSC expands aid work in Gaza
The US Quaker organisation American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is expanding its aid programme in Gaza.
Action plan: Anne M Jones’s Thought for the Week
For most of my life, I have felt repulsed by street-corner preachers screaming ‘Jesus died for you’. And, as a former child protection officer, I could never quite fathom how a father would sacrifice his son. I still cannot square these notions, but I have to accept the mystery of...
Eye - 19 April 2024
Glimmers A touching moment of generosity moved Noël Staples, of Peterborough & Wisbech Meeting, to reach out. Originally published in the Stamford Mercury, in hopes of being read by the woman he encountered, Noël writes: ‘I got to Stamford Waitrose checkout today with four cartons of soup and...
Letters - 19 April 2024
Our Quaker testimony I have been a subscriber of the Friend for many years and have been on many occasions deeply grateful for the reach and inclusion of your diverse editorial decisions. In the current edition (5 April) there is an article by Paul Hodgkin ‘Economy drive’. In it I believe...