31 january 2014 £1.70 the friendthe friend, 31 january 2014 3 thought for the week t he church we...

discover the contemporary quaker waythe Friend

31 January 2014 £1.70

Searching for peace in Syria

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the Friend independent quaker Journalism since 1843

Cover image: Conehead and architectural elements, Palmyra, Syria. The Palmyrenes constructed a series of large-scale monuments containing funerary art such as limestone slabs with human busts representing the deceased.Photo: james_gordon_losangeles / flickr CC. See pages 12-13.

Contents VoL 172 no 5

3 Thought for the Week: The church we see Matt Grant

4 News

5 Vegetarian living Dave Milner

6 The elephant cull John Moor

7 The bedroom tax Marlêne Cantan-Taylor

8-9 Letters

10-11 Continuing revelation Jean Wardrop

12-13 The Syrian crisis Douglas Butterfield

14-15 Friendship remembered Antony Barlow

16 q-eye: a look at the Quaker world

17 Friends & Meetings

the Friend, 31 January 2014

EditorialEditor:

Ian Kirk-Smith

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The problem of homelessness

We need to see the problem of homelessness as only one end of a spectrum of evil that has the massive subsidies to owners at the other. It is a problem that will be as difficult and painful to solve as slavery…

…To change our attitudes to housing will be no less of a challenge to us than slavery was for the reformers, not only because institutional evil is hard to recognise but also because so many of us benefit personally from the present situation…

This is a challenge that the Society, and indeed other churches, must face. If we fail to address the roots of an issue in which most of us are unwittingly part of the problem, we will need to look very carefully at the claims we make about our contribution in the world.

Richard Hilken, 1992; 1993Quaker faith & practice 23.23

Poverty and Homelessness Action Week 25 January to 2 February.

(see stories on pages 4, 7 and 16.)

the Friend, 31 January 2014 3

Thought for the Week

The church we see is not a church of bricks and wood and glass. The church we see is not a church of doctrine, hierarchy and ritual.

The church we see is simply a gathering of people, from a variety of backgrounds, finding unity and common purpose in the Spirit.

The church we see is a church centred through practice – a church which learns together, confesses together, rejoices together, sings together, weeps together, heals together, prays together, breaks bread together.

A church whose God is too big to place into the words of a creed, yet not too far to grasp.

The church we see is a church built on our hopes and dreams and on those who came before us: a church which encourages our individual strengths to spring forth whilst providing support for our weaknesses; a church that provides a space for each one of us to step back for a moment before we step further forth; a church that recognises the unique spark at work within each human being yet invites us into something greater than myself, yourself, herself, himself.

The church we see is a church contributing to the local community, serving wider society, reaching out to the world beyond.

A church following the example of Jesus of Nazareth, loving its neighbour as it loves itself.

A church set on fire with the call to help bring about a new era of justice and peace. A church drawing people from seemingly impossible situations into a life of faith and freedom. A church raising up new generations of disciples, shaped to act as both leaders and servants – and as friends.

One day, this church we see could be our church.

The church we see

Matt GrantCheadle Hulme Meeting

4 the Friend, 31 January 2014

The TrIAL of five peace activists who were arrested at the London Defence Security and equipment International (DSei) 2013 exhibition last September takes place on Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 February at Stratford Magistrates Court in London.

Symon hill, an attender at Westminster Meeting, and Quaker peace activist Chris Wood were part of a small group who created a blockade at the entrance to the fair.

They were arrested under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 and charged with disrupting a lawful business activity and failing to move when requested. All pleaded not guilty at the preliminary hearing in September.

There will be a peaceful vigil outside the court at 9.00am each day. At 10.00am there will be a moment of silence to remember victims of the arms trade.

rowan Williams pledged support for peace activists who protested non-violently against the DSei exhibition. Green MP Caroline Lucas strongly condemned the DSei exhibition for promoting illegal arms, such as handheld electric shock weapons, and raised the issue in the house of Commons.

[email protected] reported by Ian Kirk-Smith

A NeW SPANISh translation of Thomas Kelly’s A Testament of Devotion has been welcomed by robin Mohr, executive secretary of the Section of the Americas

of Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC).

The translation has been produced by Raíces cuáqueras: heredad de textos (Quaker roots:

heritage texts).robin described the book as

being ‘as thrilling in Spanish as it is in english’ and said ‘it requires time for reflection and response’.

A Testament of Devotion

FrIeNDS were well represented at the Geffrye Museum in east London on Saturday 25 January at an event to launch a new, improved version of the Journey Home board game.

The event also celebrated an agreement between the producers of Journey Home and The Big Issue Foundation that gives fifty per cent of all profits to the charity.

Quaker author Jennifer Kavanagh is a co-creator of the game, which is based on one of her books, and, on Sunday, she spoke about it on BBC London’s Inspirit programme to presenter Jumoke Fashola to highlight 2014 Poverty and homelessness Action Week (25 January to 2 February).

She said: ‘Our great mistake is to think that people without homes are somehow “other” – somehow

different from us. When I came to Quakers about fifteen years ago the first thing I was asked to do was to coordinate the soup runs they did and I was nervous. I had never been on one. I had preconceptions. Then I went on one. I offered someone a cup of tea and instead of stumbling over a bundle in a doorway and feeling embarrassed and not knowing how to respond – it was the beginning of a human relationship and it was a real epiphany for me. I felt this could be me.’

During the event at the Geffrye Museum four tables, with people playing the game at each one, were in constant use. Over thirty people supported the event. One participant said: ‘The

game was great fun to play. It’s also thought provoking. It takes you on a journey and makes you think about what home means.’

Journey Home at the Geffrye Museum

Playing the game.

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ChrISTIAN AID chairman rowan Williams has called on the government to make changes to the Lobbying Bill. Civil society groups, including the religious Society of Friends, have argued that the proposed Bill threatens to curtail the freedom of charities across the country.

Despite making a number of amendments to the Bill, the government last week rejected two vital amendments – on the regulation of staff costs and constituency spending limits. These were passed in the house of Lords by healthy majorities.

Many voluntary groups and charities feel the proposed Lobbying Bill threatens the health of civil society. rowan Williams said that a ‘Bill designed to increase transparency in our democracy, and to curtail unaccountable and potentially corrupt influence, could have the unintended effect of burdening and weakening these civil society agencies in a way that is seriously bad news for democracy’.

Lobbying Bill: call for changes Peace activists on trial


Woodbrooke is a lovely place with great facilities and a welcoming, friendly atmosphere. I have attended several

weekend events over the last two years and enjoyed the food immensely. Most people who go there are Quakers. They also comment on the quality and variety.

Interestingly, despite the good vegetarian and vegan options on the menus, most guests are meat eaters. Only three per cent of the population are vegetarians, with another five per cent regularly choosing meat-free meals, and Britain has a cultural history of meat and meat products. Why should Quakers be any different?

In 2011 Quakers formalised an already existing concern into the commitment to become a low-carbon sustainable community. Since then many Meetings and individuals have considered the way they obtain and use energy, and initiated many schemes to reduce energy use and obtain energy from more sustainable and renewable sources. Before 2012 many Meetings and Quakers were already acting in this manner as part of their witness, testimony and understanding of Quaker life. Since then many Quakers have searched for ways to continue the progression to a low-energy-footprint lifestyle. Lets think about food as something integral to life and the way we live.

One third of the earth’s population live on a meat-based diet, two thirds on a plant-based diet. These two diets have very different implications for energy and water use. As incomes rise the demand for a meat-based diet also rises. The energy input for animal protein is eleven times more than that for equivalent vegetable products and requires 100 times more water. One unit of land can feed between three and six times more people on a vegetarian rather than a meat-based diet. eighty per cent of the deforestation in the Amazon is down to cattle and pig ranching and the growing of soya. eighty-five per cent of the soya produced is ground into meal and used for animal food, sixty per cent of this in China, with the UK being another large destination. The increasing demand for meat by humans is the biggest single driver for the

removal of the ‘lungs of the earth’. rainforests in South east Asia are being destroyed for palm oil. This finds its way into more and more processed foods, cosmetics and cleaning materials.

What about fish? Farmed fish are often fed processed fishmeal, taking five times the amount of wild fish to produce each farmed unit. There is also the cost of the antibiotics and other treatments to be added in to the cost of farmed animals and fishes. Continuing to eat meat products perpetuates this system. It is a selfish endorsement of the disregard for the harm being done to other less well-off humans.

There are other arguments for decreasing the amount of meat in a diet. A meat-free diet removes many causes of illness: lowering cholesterol and fat levels and raising fibre intake. It challenges notions of male superiority over females and the red-blooded link between meat and violence. It treats other sentient species we share the planet with in a more respectful way. It gives a daily framework for reminding us that there is more to life than filling our bellies and that there are others who have less than we do. It is a prompt to action and a positive way to change the world. If we love to eat meat so much that we cannot give it up, what does that make it?

What difference would a change in our diet make? Maybe a similar one to fitting low energy light bulbs, cycling a little more, buying from local craft people or all the rest of the seemingly little things that a lifestyle change achieves. If we choose not to give up meat, we could move to locally produced organic products, eat smaller portions and choose only ethically farmed meat or Marine Stewardship Council fish.

The power of consumer choice is recognised in campaigns like boycotting Israeli settlement goods or deciding what we do with our money. We could investigate the wealth of delicious vegetarian and vegan recipes and talk about these with friends.

So, next time I go to Woodbrooke will I see a run on the veggie options?

Dave is an attender at Dorchester Meeting.

Talking point

Vegetarian living

Dave Milner argues for a meat-free diet – the sustainable choice


Opinion

People go to southern Africa to visit game parks, where elephants often take pride of place. To watch a herd playing at a watering hole, and to

see them squirting water over each other and their babies, is a lasting joy.

These huge herbivores eat a vast amount of vegetable material. They graze grass and browse the leaves of trees. In many parks a low tree, the Mopane, is dominant. They wrap their trunk round a branch where it meets the tree trunk and pull outwards – stripping every leaf off that branch. Many trees die and this creates a tendency to convert forests to grassland. elephants can survive but buffalo and tree nesting birds dwindle in number.

In their natural environment, where food and water are plentiful, elephants bear one calf every four years. Unlike most species, they have no predators. Infant mortality is low and they live up to seventy years. Thus, there is a likelihood for their numbers to increase. Around 1900 the conservation movement began making game parks with strong fences to prevent their animals destroying crops grown by men.

Now elephants flourish and increase in numbers by up to five per cent annually in some parks. For the sake of other species, and for their own good, park authorities wanted to control their numbers by culling. When the public heard this there was an immediate outcry. ‘how can you kill the animals we pay you to protect?’ was the message. Other methods of control were investigated. Contraception was possible. This is achieved by shooting a dart, loaded with a suitable hormone, into a cow elephant. This increases the gap between pregnancies to six years. This technique is expensive and it proved difficult to ensure that the correct beast was targeted. They also tried transportation to another park. This is an extremely costly operation and is often resented by other elephants already in the park! The choice is culling, contraception or transportation.

humans are now the dominant creatures on earth. Like elephants in a game park, our space is finite and we now exploit all the ground that will grow crops.

Biologists believe that the massive increase in the human population (3.8 billion in 1970 to 6.8 billion in 2008) is the root cause of the extinction of many species. The Living Planet Index records the numbers of nearly 7,000 populations of over 2,300 species across the world. It shows an overall decline of thirty per cent in those thirty-eight years.

how do humans cause this disaster? First, by the deliberate killing of some great beasts for their trophy value: the elephant for its tusks and the rhinoceros for its horn (Chinese medicine). This cruel trade may bring these great creatures to extinction. It certainly means no culling of elephants will be needed in the parks where poaching occurs.

Second, and more important, is the day-to-day human activity that man undertakes in order to live in the modern world. More people leads to more emissions of CO2, which are causing climate change and are expected to cause great disruptions to our way of life. In addition, higher levels of CO2 bring about acidification of the oceans. This hinders crabs and shellfish in making their protective shells. More people need more houses, hospitals, schools, factories and roads. The resulting building activity covers the ground with concrete and deprives wildlife of habitat for feeding and for raising their young. More people means that more food has to be grown. Insecticides are sprayed on the fields to increase the yields. Birds and small mammals are then deprived of these creatures, which form their diet. More humans require more fresh water for farming and for industrial purposes. This is leading to over-extraction of water from rivers. riparian wildlife suffers.

humans make the decision for the elephants but we must decide our own fate. how can we maintain the beauty and variety of life on our planet, given us by our Creator? In an ideal world each human couple should be free to choose their family size, bearing in mind the needs of mankind and of all other creatures that share this world with us. If we do not opt for small families we shall destroy wildlife and risk famines for ourselves.

John is a member of Population Matters.

The elephant cull

John Moor considers an allegory for the twenty-first century


The subject is so ghastly that I have little inclination to dwell upon it, but it must be addressed. It stands as a damning indictment

of government policy towards the most vulnerable in society.

I am talking, of course, about the case of Stephanie Bottrill, who was driven by financial stress, exacerbated by the bedroom tax, to commit suicide by stepping in front of a lorry on the M6 one morning in May 2013. She left a note to her family saying: ‘Don’t blame yourself for me ending my life. The only people to blame are the two party government’.

The bedroom tax legislation was so clumsily drafted and administered that she wasn’t even liable to pay it, yet the money was taken from her anyway, leaving her in desperate poverty and suffering terrible stress.

The people in similar situations, who barely survive such extra costs but pay their ‘bedroom tax’, suffer impoverishment. Some are left close to starvation.

In March 2013 the Labour leadership were complicit in allowing Iain Duncan Smith to rush through an absurd piece of retroactive legislation that served

the purpose of keeping some £130 million for other government usage.

Labour permitted a policy that allows the state to herd people like cattle to work for little or nothing, under threat of absolute impoverishment, in highly profitable corporations.

The bedroom tax drives people to seek smaller accommodation in the virtually unregulated free for all of the private rental market. They lose their security of tenure and adequate housing standards – that is, if they are lucky enough to get housing in the private sector at all these days.

It leaves us with a dilemma. Who do we vote for at the next election, with all three political parties complicit?

I believe in democracy. We should all vote, but none of the above gives me confidence as to a future government. This bedroom tax leaves me deeply concerned for the future.

Marlêne is a member of Newport Meeting on the Isle of Wight.

The bedroom tax

‘It stands as a damning indictment ofgovernment policy towards the most

vulnerable in society’

Marlêne Cantan-Taylor shares her concern about some disturbing consequences of the bedroom tax

Opinion

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Letters All views expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Friend

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity For many of us one of the most helpful practices encouraged by the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity [18 to 25 January] has been the experience of worship with Christians in other denominations, but for some Quaker Meetings this poses difficulties. We do not have the same pattern of ministry, and so cannot easily exchange pulpits. Many of our Meetings are quite small, so that if we are dispersed around different local churches on one particular Sunday, there might be very few Friends left to welcome visitors to our Meetings.

One solution might be for us as a religious society to deliberately worship with other Christians on some of those festivals that are not part of our tradition, and when we would not usually have a Quaker Meeting. Being lost among the crowd at Christmas might rebuke our vanity. Ash Wednesday might bring home to us other aspects of the puritan and ascetic inheritance we share. Ascension Day, Corpus Christi and the Feast of the Assumption might open our hearts to aspects of Christianity we do not sufficiently consider.

Graham ShawRichmond Meeting, London

Zero Carbon BritainI welcome Anne Adam’s reflections on Zero Carbon Britain (17 January).

I hope that Friends can become active in pioneering the dietary changes recommended in the report.

On my last visit to Woodbrooke, in September 2013, I was disturbed by the fact that, although courses on Green Spirituality and Sustainability were being publicised, what was actually on offer in the dining room remained very traditional. In fact, it was this visit that prompted me to write my article about the meat industry and its effects, ‘Wear it as long as thou canst’ (25 October 2013). The considerable correspondence that followed showed that many Friends were thinking in the same way.

Surely, we should be practising what we preach? What an opportunity we have to show Friends and the wider world how plant-based food can be appetising and nutritious.

Angela HowardBardfield Meeting, Essex

HeritageI was saddened to read the 17 January issue of the Friend on a number of counts. On the letters page we had exchanges on the use of ‘Afterwords’, which in my view indicates some uncertainty about the nature of Meeting for Worship and its sacramental nature. I understand ‘Afterword’ is, also, now a standard part of the Woodbrooke course for enquirers.

On another page we had an announcement about

the changes to the chapter in Quaker faith & practice relating to the definition of marriage, which breaks one of God’s ‘holy ordinances’ as understood by earlier generations of Quakers. It is now likely that the books of discipline contain content, which, for the first time, I wholeheartedly disagree with.

Thirdly, the Friend has been carrying announcements that senior employees of the Society will be attending a conference for nontheist Friends [see page 19 this week].

All these come together in one issue and leave me asking myself what is happening to modern Quakerism? Perhaps it is time to reflect on the drift of modern Quakerism and get back to the basics of our Christian heritage.

Roger HillDerbyshire & Nottinghamshire Area Meeting

AfterwordsI think the Meeting that Simon Western visited (3 January) has misunderstood the purpose of ‘Afterwords’. In my experience, they serve as a space in which to speak after Meeting for Worship (MfW) on a matter that seemed inappropriate during MfW.

Sometimes one comes to Meeting concerned about some matter and keen to talk to Friends about it, but during Meeting, as one tries to see how to express it, it becomes clear that it is too temporal (perhaps a comment on an incident in the news) to be appropriate for MfW. At other times one is moved to talk about some spiritual concern but the ministry, perhaps a connected sequence of ministries, goes in another direction and it feels inappropriate to drag the gathered Meeting away to one’s own concerns.

For Friends to be ‘invited to comment on ministry’ seems to me to be inappropriate at any time and not at all what Afterwords are meant to be.

Laurie Moye Southern Marches Area Meeting

It seems that Simon Western had an unpleasant experience of Afterwords at the Quaker Meeting he visited. hopefully in most Meetings on most Sundays it is much more positive and enriching for the whole experience of attending the Meeting. My Local Meeting (roundhay, Leeds) does invite those present at the shaking of hands to share anything they did not feel right or called on to offer in the more formal part of Meeting for Worship. each Sunday is different. Sometimes we have nothing to say but on other occasions things are shared that provide fascinating insights and allow us to get to know each other more fully. I wish Simon a better experience next time he is at a Meeting that uses the practice of Afterwords.

Martin Schweiger12 Montagu Place, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS8 2RG

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[email protected]


The Friend welcomes your views. Please keep letters short (about 250 words) and include your full postal address, even when sending emails. Please specify whether you wish for your postal or email address or Meeting name to be used with your name, otherwise we will print your post address or email address. Letters are published at the editor’s discretion and may be edited. Write to: the Friend, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ or email [email protected] if you are online that you can also comment on all articles at www.thefriend.org

In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty,

in all things charity.

I read the article Afterwords with interest and sadness because Afterwords is a peaceful and valuable occasion in our Meeting.

A few weeks ago a visiting Friend thanked me for quoting from the Bible during ministry. he found it supportive because he had been admonished in his Meeting for doing so.

This reminded me of my experience a few years ago, before the time of Afterwords, when I was criticised in the ministry following mine for mentioning a spiritual experience I had in another church. After such public admonishment I did not return.

I wonder if these examples of publicly aired intolerance are isolated incidents from people who feel threatened, or if this is a reflection of a wider intolerance elsewhere?

Curt Gardner Durham Meeting, County Durham

IsraelI want to thank you for this week’s issue (24 January). As an American Quaker with many Jewish friends and nieces and nephews, I have been unable to express coherently to anyone why the Quaker position vis-à-vis Israel has bothered me so much. I do understand the reasons for boycotting settlement goods. But I sometimes feel in discussions with Quakers, perhaps unjustly, that many are tempted to blame and boycott all Israelis without looking to respond to that of God in everyone. harvey Gillman’s article was a real antidote.

David HickokFriends House Meeting, London

PopulationFor an alternative view about population growth to the view being expressed by roger Plenty, I strongly urge looking at an excellent programme, Don’t Panic – The Truth About Population, recently broadcast by the BBC. It can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/DontPanicFilm

here are some facts from this programme, presented by world-famous statistician hans rosling:1. Across the world, even in countries like Bangladesh,

families of just two children are now the norm – meaning that within a few generations the population explosion will be over.

2. The fastest population growth rates today are in the poorest and most war-torn countries with the highest child mortality, like Afghanistan and the Democratic republic of the Congo. When the mortality rate goes down, the demand for family planning goes up.

3. A smaller proportion of people now live in extreme poverty than ever before in human history and the UN has set a target of eradicating it altogether within a few decades. It’s all thanks to a powerful

combination of female education, access to contra-ceptives and abortion, and increased child survival.Tina LeonardOxford Meeting, Oxfordshire

Trust?I watched the video clips (http://bit.ly/YMG2014) about Bath Yearly Meeting Gathering and what a wonderful site the university will be and I thought, ‘Why are the presenters so old?’

Come on, it’s a university, a place where young people come. Surely, there is someone young who could welcome us. Is it because we are so old? Oh dear, what an image to give!

Don’t we trust our young ones? They must be there somewhere, hiding in the woodwork, if they are going to come to Junior Yearly Meeting. how can we enable and encourage them to become more visible? Do we really want them to?

Jill AllumBeccles Meeting, Suffolk

The LightLet’s not beat about the bush here; renaming the Large Meeting house ‘The Light’ is a very silly idea; and it should be dropped immediately.

Jamie WrenchSouthern Marches Area Meeting

Being a QuakerFor me it comes down to this. It helps me to be the kind of person I think I was meant to be. And it brings me close together with others who share my values and priorities.

Alan RussellEast Cheshire Area Meeting


how many times have you heard or read the phrase ‘What canst thou say’? It is a well-loved phrase amongst Quakers, but how many of

us have read the sentences quoted before and after this phrase in Margaret Fell’s account of George Fox’s stirring words that moved her so much?

The Scriptures were the prophets’ words and Christ’s and the apostles’ words, and what as they spoke they enjoyed and possessed and had it from the Lord… Then what had any to do with the Scriptures, but as they came to the Spirit that gave them forth. You will say, Christ saith this, and the apostles say this; but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of Light and hast walked in the Light, and what thou speakest is it inwardly from God?

As elfrida Vipont explains, George Fox, at his famous Firbank Fell gathering:

bade the people take heed of the spirit of God in their hearts and obey its guidance in their daily lives; he told them that the spirit that inspired the Scriptures was living and working still in the hearts of men and women, ready to reveal fresh truths.

Continuing revelation

Later in the seventeenth century George Keith challenged this premise, as elfrida Vipont points out: ‘he held that by stressing the importance of the Light Within they

were neglecting the historic Christ; moreover, he denied the possibility of salvation for any, however enlightened, to whom Jesus Christ had not been made known’.

elfrida Vipont also notes that ‘Some of his suggestions… involved the adoption of a creed which, however exemplary, can never be acceptable to those who believe in a continuing revelation’. George Keith was disowned by Pennsylvanian Friends and ‘set up an opposition group called the Christian Quakers’. After coming to england to express his views, he was also disowned by London Yearly Meeting of 1695!

George Fox’s contemporary William Dewsbury echoed the original teaching in 1655. William Dewsbury, as quoted by rex Ambler, stated that ‘he [the Lord] will no longer be worshipped in words, forms and observations, but in spirit and in truth, and in sincerity in the inward parts; therefore everyone be faithful in taking heed to the light in your consciences’.

Ben Pink Dandelion explains that modern Quakers during Meeting for Worship ‘sit in a tradition of revolutionary discovery’. he further points out that ‘The Book of Discipline, reviewed in each generation, is testimony to the Quaker search for truth, the experience of continuing revelation’.

Ben Pink Dandelion is quoted by Alex Wildwood as describing that the ‘three tenets of “liberal Quakerism” – that faith must be rooted in experience, that it must be “relevant” to the age, and that it should be “open to new light” – together combine to create a theology where revelation is seen as both continuous and progressive. An expectation was created that the tradition will change’.

Continuing revelation

Jean Wardrop writes about the bedrock of Quakerism: continuing revelation

Spirituality


A faith community

Alex Wildwood also speaks of our ‘continuing evolution as a faith community’. Many Friends would agree with Jack h Wallis when he quotes the Christian Faith & Practice 1925 revision Committee that ‘The ideas of God and man which have been held in the past must be re-expressed in the light of our own experience and further knowledge’. I, personally, found this quote from 1925 amazing, thinking that these ideas were modern.

I was interested to find that the 2011 Kindlers publication by Frank Parkinson, although castigating ‘so-called Quaker atheism’ as ‘an oxymoron that threatens to drain the life out of the Society and destroy its value to the human family’, admits ‘our God evolves as our perceptions develop’ and ‘there is a valid argument that we are in charge of the evolution of God too’! Perhaps Frank Parkinson should have discussed these ideas with members of the Nontheist Friends Network (NFN), whose annual conference was held in Woodbrooke in March 2012. We, in the NFN, would probably agree with his latter statements and would try to dispel his fears concerning the first, explaining that we are not trying to ‘dismiss religion as a primitive and childish truth system because its truths are mythical’ but embrace a mythical, metaphorical meaning of religion, which is one of the reasons we remain Quakers!

A new kind of theology

The modern interpretation of atheism as being against all religion is why Friends have called their network

nontheist. This indicates that they have re-interpreted ‘God’ in a non-supernatural way. I suspect many other Quakers may also have a less than traditional description of ‘God’ but do not consider themselves to be nontheist, mistakenly believing that that expression means nonbeliever, rather than re-interpreter of ‘God’.

Nontheists are Friends who have responded to their personal ‘continuing revelation’ and may even agree with Frank Parkinson that:

We have been awaiting the appearance of a new kind of theology which can integrate the Quaker conviction of “God within” or the “Inner Light” with the contemporary thought-world and with the similar insights of non-Christian religions. Such a theology is now emerging in what has been called the “new epiphany” of science, where the creation story is being retold in terms of the evolution of the universe, of our planet and of the human species. The new creation story enables the Quaker experience to be enriched with an awareness of God as cosmic consciousness.

Dear Friends, let us share our experiences, the ‘promptings of love and truth in our hearts’, in a non-judgemental way. Let us try to understand ‘where we are all coming from’ and acknowledge that we are all sincere in our inward journeys, even if we are taken to different places.

Jean is a member of Chelmsford Meeting.

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George Fox’s pulpit on Firbank Fell.


In early September, when it looked as if parliament was going to sanction strikes against the Syrian regime, a few Beaconsfield Friends from Jordans

Meeting felt we should write to the Beaconsfield MP to urge a peace-seeking role for Britain.

Quakers in Britain had made a statement urging parliament not to use force against Syria. Almost immediately, as Friends will recall, the vote went against the government, but we still felt the need to write to our MP. Our aim was to at least engage him at a local level with these concerns and to reinforce the need to adopt a role of negotiating for peace and humanitarian relief. As it happens, our MP is Dominic Grieve, the attorney general, so we are speaking to a senior member of the government.

We are well aware that Syria and the Middle east are highly complex issues, fraught with all sorts of tensions, compounded by the desperate plight of those caught up in the conflict or fleeing from it. We hope that local MPs will listen to their constituents if enough people contact them. We wrote to Dominic Grieve and received a very comprehensive letter back. In it he apologised for sending a composite reply, which he had written to the many people from whom he had received letters. Our feeling at this point was that we had joined a groundswell of opinion that had been brought to the government’s attention.

A political settlement

We were offered a meeting with our MP. This took place in early January. We wrote again with information about the Quaker United Naations Office (QUNO) at the UN and quoted the main thrust of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) letter to representatives in the US Congress in which they urge all parties to end the violence by:

• Calling for a continuing embargo on the supplyof arms and other facilitating equipment, such as communications technology, to any side, leading to a cessation of all military action.

• Including IranandSaudiArabia in the search forapolitical settlement.

• Seeking a transition that builds on existinginstitutions, without alienating those who have served the government and in the army.

• Ensuring that humanitarian relief is delivered aspromised.

Whilst realising that a discussion can take unexpected turns, we intended at our meeting to cover three main areas of discussion:

• The role of Quakers at the UN in providing an

The Syrian crisis

Douglas Butterfield writes on behalf of Beaconsfield Friends about Friends’ action on Syria

Witness


informal setting where various parties to disputes can meet and discuss issues off the record with the help of facilitators.

• The Geneva II conference planned for late Januaryand the role and aims of our government with an emphasis from Britain on a ceasefire and relief for the many refugees.

• Whatbringsgovernmenttobeginthinkingintermsof military strikes? Should that energy go into more peaceful means of resolving conflicts?

Meeting at Jordans

At the meeting on 4 January, held at Jordans Meeting house, we were impressed by Dominic Grieve’s comprehensive knowledge of the political and religious affinities of the people of Syria and the surrounding countries. his first remarks were that the government is now seeking a political settlement and, meanwhile, concentrating on humanitarian relief. Britain has allocated £500m in aid to various UN agencies and international charities, which strengthens their capacity to provide personnel and supplies to those in need. This is more than most other countries have given, apart from the USA and the european Commission.

Our government’s view is that there had been a window of opportunity to weaken Assad by striking at the infrastructure supporting the chemical weapons

plants, but that moment has gone. We now have a cruel situation where a secular protest, which was responded to with deadly force by the Syrian government, has become a civil war, now infiltrated and supplied by external interests. With the escalating violence attitudes have become intractable and there is little hope that the Geneva II conference will be able to achieve much towards peace in the area. however, Dominic Grieve said that the first priority must be to get agreement on a ceasefire.

Syrian refugees

We were able to tell Dominic Grieve about the work of QUNO and the AFSC and give him some literature about their work. he said there is a very gloomy prognosis at present. We were left with a feeling of helplessness and pity for the millions of vulnerable people affected by this war. There are 9.3 million in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria, and 2.2 million Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries, according to the UN. The UN is now calling for the eU to take in Syrian refugees.

We feel that support to those involved in humanitarian relief is a priority for Quakers at this time. Though it may take a long time to get to a political settlement continued lobbying of local MPs may help to keep this higher up the parliamentary agenda.

Douglas is a member of Jordans Meeting.

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Winter 2013 at the Zaatari refugee camp.


In the course of cataloguing some books I came across one that my maternal grandmother had given to my mother and that she, in turn, had given

to me. It was published in the years leading up to the second world war and recounted the life of Antony Bulwer-Lytton, viscount Knebworth, who had died in 1933, tragically, in a flying accident at the age of only twenty-nine.

he was, by all accounts, a remarkable person, endowed with all the graces of looks, intelligence, charm and ability. The historian Arthur Bryant wrote at the time that ‘had he lived, he would surely have given to the country gifts of leadership and imagination together with selfless service, which none who knew him could doubt for a moment’. The book was written by his father, Victor Bulwer-Lytton, the earl of Lytton, who used Antony’s letters written home from school and university along with the memories of his many friends.

Neverland

The book has a forward by JM Barrie, who himself knew something of the vagaries of fame and early death, having become the guardian of the Llewellyn Davies boys, when their parents both died young. The children, especially Peter Davies, became, of course, the inspiration for the characters of Peter Pan and the other boys of Neverland and for the rest of their lives the children were associated in the public’s mind with their fictional characters.

By chance, at about the same time that I rediscovered this book I also went to see a play in the West end called

Peter and Alice by John Logan. The play chronicled a meeting in middle age between Peter Llewellyn Davies and Alice Lidell, who was the inspiration for another writer Charles Dodgson, better known to us as Lewis Carroll, the author of the Alice books. Alice was played by the redoubtable Judi Dench and Peter by the brilliant young actor Ben Whishaw. The play told of the burdens of fame. Dogged all their life by their alter egos, such that their real personae were never allowed to exist, each event in their lives was ruthlessly and insensitively documented by the press as ‘Peter Pan opens a book shop’, ‘Peter Pan gets married’ or ‘Alice in Wonderland has a son’. eventually, Peter Llewellyn Davies found the pressure and intrusion too much to bear and took his own life by throwing himself under a train at Sloane Square station.

Antony

In the same box that I found my mother’s book about Antony Bulwer-Lytton there was another book about the poet WB Yeats. It was given to me by my childhood friend and namesake on my twenty-first birthday.

In the fall of 1940 and the beginning of 1941 two boys were born in close proximity to each other in Selly Oak in south west Birmingham. One was the son of neighbours of my parents, who became perhaps their closest friends. The other was myself.

The book, mentioned earlier, called simply Antony,

inspired many people who read it with its story of a life of great promise cut short before its time. Unbeknownst to either family, both our parents decided to call their

Friendship remembered

Antony Barlow reflects on the past, friendship and some links in a chain

History


boys after the eponymous hero of that book, Antony, spelled without an ‘h’!

My namesake and I grew up together, played together, went to The Downs Quaker school together and went on holiday together, often to his family’s beloved Scotland, where we learnt to fish for trout and salmon, taught by their remarkable grandfather, known to all as Pops. Pops showed us how to tie a fly, how to land a line on the evening water of the loch as light as gossamer and how we should appease the mountain spirits by leaving a sweet buried under a cairn, so that we might all descend home safely, untrammelled by the impenetrable, late-evening mists.

The aching gap left by such a terrible loss

never goes away

To differentiate us, our families used the initials of our respective surnames, so that he became Antony P or just AP and I, AB. We went to university and AP became a doctor like his father, got married and had children. I became a theatre administrator and settled down with my partner. One day, about forty years ago, out of the blue, I had a call from my mother to say that AP had killed himself. It was a tragedy as brutal as it was unpredictable and his family and ours, and all who had known him mourned the loss of a brilliant friend and human being.

Some years ago his children asked me to tell them about the Antony I had known and remembered. As best I could, I told them of our shared childhood and early years; of the fun we had had, of the discussions, the arguments and of our shared hopes for our lives ahead. The aching gap left by such a terrible loss never goes away and I have often wondered whether, maybe, I missed some signs or perhaps could have prevented it or helped my friend when he most had need – thoughts which haunt me to this day.

The book called Antony was signed by my mother and dedicated to me ‘her dear son’ in the hope that, maybe, I might one day emulate the eponymous title bearer, a burden I fear I have not lived up to.

So, from the memory of one who died young, memorialised by his loving father, through the tragedy of an author’s muse for whom fame was too heavy a burden, to the memory of my dear friend from half a life time ago, with whom I shared a name, still mourned, we are reminded, as Shakespeare says in a sonnet, ‘To love that well, which one must leave ere long’.

Finally, back to the book on Yeats given to me by AP, and the memory of a poem by that great Irish poet that we both loved; the poem which we used to read together, ‘When You Are Old’, which, of course, he never was, but the line ‘how many loved your moments of glad grace’ reminds me always of him.

Antony is a member of Sutton Meeting.

… went on holiday together, often to his family’s beloved Scotland

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[email protected]


a look at the Quaker world

So Christmas time has been and goneand did it pass us Quakers by?Did we have trees and candles brightand carolling by candlelightand sandwiches for our delightfilled up with turkey dry?

Or did our homes remain the samewith Quakerly simplicityand quietly eating beans on toastor home-baked bread and lentil roastand trying hard to save the mostof electricity?

But whether Christmas is a treator just a day like all the rest.In ancient Palestine we knowa child was born whose name would grow,into our hearts his teachings flowto put us to the test.

So if we keep a special timeor keep it as a normal day,that Christmas message still stays sound,goodness in people can be foundBut don’t forget – the year turns roundand easter’s on its way!

Jane RobinsonDerby Meeting

TINA LeONArD, of Oxford Meeting, got in touch with Eye to share a snippet of a recent talk: ‘have just returned from hearing rowan Williams give a lecture here in Oxford in which he suggested that it was the believer’s task to “get out of the way of God”, for which we need to make ourselves less evident, and that he wants “to be a Quaker when I grow up”.’

A POeTIC DeSCrIPTION of the village of Milverton, in Somerset, caught Cambridge Friend Lyn Wilson’s eye whilst perusing the Guardian’s ‘Country Diary’ on 20 January.

John Vallins took readers on a journey past grey mill buildings at Tonedale, then ‘wound through narrow valleys between patches of tall, wintry trees’, reaching Milverton just as the church bells rang out then he ambled down North Street.

he writes: ‘The streets dip away from the church, curving

down… A little archway, not far from the parish church, leads across cobbles to a secluded space and the Quaker house. Outside the village, we passed signs to a lane with the name Fry, notable in the Society of Friends, and another pointing across a lawn to “The Quaking house”. higher up, we paused to admire a sunlit view spread out eastwards, then noticed, by the shadowy yews at the edge of woodland, another sign, saying “Friends burial ground 1862”.’

Out of the way

Towards a Quaker View of Christmas

The Quaking House

FrIeNDS MOVeD from rags to riches and riches to rags at the Geffrye Museum in east London on Saturday.

The popular museum hosted the launch of a new version of the board game Journey Home, co-created by Quaker author Jennifer Kavanagh, and visitors enjoyed playing the game during the afternoon. In the game players go on a journey as they move their counter around the board through different stages of life. Their fate is decided by the roll of a dice. In the process they explore family, shelter, community, the world around them and their inner peace.

The unpredictability of a dice tumbling on a table, and the excellence of the game, produced some intriguing personal journeys. One player, who confessed to being born within a ‘stone’s throw’ of Buckingham Palace, started out, appropriately, by throwing her dice and being ‘born in a manor’. An Irish Friend at the same table started out being ‘born in a cottage’.

The first friend moved from her manor house, through drug addiction and a squat, to living rough in a London park and ended up with ‘a social conscience’. The Irish Friend had clearly kissed the Blarney stone. he ended up getting a scholarship to a boarding school. Was it, he wondered, a Quaker one?

There is fun to be had playing a game invented by a Quaker.

From riches to rags

‘tall, wintry trees’ in old Milverton fields.

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Friends&Meetings

Deaths

Diary

Births

Put your events in the Diary!

POST YUGOSLAV PEACE LINKAGM A listed special interest groupwithin BYM. Meet at 11am Saturday1 February at 7 Wellesbourne Close,Abingdon OX14 3UR. RSVP toJudith Baker: [email protected] or01235 554266. NB: We were pleasedto meet many people at BYM inMay. Please get back in-touch, asunfortunately we have mislaid someof your names. Please contact Judithor email with your details for a copyof our Annual Report.

Marjorie JELFS 22 January,suddenly. Wife of Ted and motherof Martin. Member of WorcesterMeeting. Aged 91. Funeral atWorcester Crematorium 2pmWednesday 5 February. Donations:WaterAid. Enquires Martin 07973504121, [email protected]

REVELATION AND REVOLUTIONA radical quaker interpretationConference hosted by ConservativeQuakers. Bunhill Fields FMH,London Saturday 22 March, 10.30am.No charge, donations requested.Bring and share lunch. Enquiries:Simon Watson 020 8469 2901. EmailMalcolm Winch: [email protected]

SPIRITUAL INSPIRATION INTHE POETRY OF R S THOMASGathering of Friends at Aberdaron,21-24 March. Experience the envi-rons where Thomas lived and sharepersonal responses to his poetry.Ten places remaining. EnquiriesTim James: [email protected] 336085.

Kenneth H EVANS 11 January.Peacefully and gently at home.Husband of Lois, father of Martin,Gareth and Justin. Grandfather toJessica, Rebecca, Joseph, Grace andJoyce. Member of Liverpool Meeting.Aged 88. Funeral held 27 January.

Meeting up

ACTIVE AND ENGAGED womanfriend, 65, WLTM compatible malecompanion in Midlands area.Particularly interested in projects con-cerned with social and racial justice.Also takes pleasure in walking, gar-dening, singing, classical and worldmusic. Replies please Box 965 c/oThe Friend Ad Dept, 54a Main Street,Cononley, Keighley BD20 8LL.

Memorial meetings

Grigor McCLELLAND A memorialday will be held on Saturday12 April in Newcastle upon Tyne.Prepared contributions in themorning with Meeting for Worshipto give thanks for the grace of Godin Grigor's life after noon. Furtherdetails later.

Jemimah Isabella COSS23 December. A sister for Rebekahand daughter for Eleanor andOliver. A third grandchild for Judithand Tony Coss and second grand-daughter for Freda and the lateRoger Colyer.

Clara Elizabeth CatherineNORMINTON 26 December toGregory and Emma Norminton, ofthe Quaker Community, Bamford.

Robert (Rob) LLOYD 18 January.Husband of Meg and the late Margaret.Attender at Welwyn Garden CityMeeting. Aged 88. Humanist funeralat Harwood Park Crematorium,12.30pm Saturday 1 February, after-wards refreshments at WGC FMH,followed by a celebration of Rob’slife at 3pm. If coming please contactMeg: 01707 336427.

ACKWORTH SCHOOLAckworth, Pontefract, West Yorkshire WF7 7LT

Tel: 01977 611401 E-mail: [email protected]

GENERAL MEETINGwill be held at the School on

Saturday 10 May 2014• The Meeting is an opportunity for all members of Britain Yearly Meeting

to see the School and we hope that as many as possible will attend.• All Area Meetings are asked to appoint a Representative.• Members wishing to attend on a personal basis may do so, but are

asked to make their intention known to the School.10.30am Coffee11.00am Meeting for Worship followed by the Business sessions12.15pm Lunch

Special Topic: The School Estate3.45pm Tea and dispersal

John WattisClerk of Ackworth General Meeting

CHARNEY SPRING WEEKENDSMarch 7-9 Quaker images of child-hood with Margaret Crompton;April 11-13 Quaker Saints andSinners with Gil Skidmore. Cost£176 (deposit £76) Charney ManorOX12 0EJ. Tel. 01235 868206; [email protected]

For details of placing a notice onthis page please call 01535 630230

Ad pages 31 Jan 28/1/14 11:55 Page 3

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FEMALE CARER REQUIRED, for matureEast Finchley, London N2 resident:10 hours per week (extending to 14 hoursper week in future) at £9 (net) per hour.Long term arrangement preferable.Willingness to learn British Sign Languageimportant. Help needed with shopping,domestic duties, phoning, escorting toappointments, etc. No heavy work or lift-ing. Flexible hours. Employer is a personwho enjoys walking, yoga and music.CRB checks and references required. Forfurther information email: [email protected]

Classified ads Standard linage 54p a word, semi-display 82p a word. Rates incl. vat.Min. 12 words. Series discounts: 5%on 5 insertions, 10% on 10 or more.Cheques payable to The Friend.

Advertisement Dept, 54a Main StCononley, Keighley BD20 8LLTel. 01535 630230Email: [email protected]

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SWALEDALE, YORKSHIRE. Superbselection of gorgeous cottages amidstunning scenery. Details, photos, virtualtours. www.catholecottages.com01748 886366.

LOS OLIVOS. An inclusive Christian eco-retreat in the heart of the Spanish SierraNevada. See our retreats/courses online atwww.haciendalosolivos.org

START 2014 IN VIENNA!Culture, cafés, outdoor delights.Comfortable garden apartment. Sleeps 4.Short breaks or longer. 01904 416840.anne.reynolds@uwclub.netwww.holidayapartmentinvienna.co.uk

TUSCANY, APARTMENT WITH PATIOS.Hill village south of Pisa near coast.Beaches, culture, walks. £350 p.w. 01643818176. [email protected]

CAUTLEY, SEDBERGH, 1652 COUNTRYCross Keys Temperance Inn (formerlyhome of early Quaker Gervase Benson).Quality en-suite B&B £42.50pppn.Evening meals available. Friendly Quakerhosts. 015396 20284. [email protected]

HELPFUL EMPLOYMENT ADVICEfor Quaker employers (and employees) isavailable at www.quaker.org.uk/employersor by phoning Richard Summers, QuakerLife general secretary, on 020 7663 1096.

THE HIGHBURY CENTRE, LONDON.Comfortable accommodation in pleasant,quiet area. Good value B&B withdiscounts for full-time Christian workers.See www.thehighburycentre.org or call020 7226 2663.

jobs wantedMATURE AND EXPERIENCED live-in carerof African origin is looking for a job.Please contact [email protected] / 07930 832686.

54a Main St, Cononley Keighley BD20 8LL. T&F: 01535 630230. E: [email protected]

the FriendsQuarterly

Issue One 2014 out now.Kit WelchmanPractical peacemaking

Howard CooperThe story of the Jews

John LynesProphets or reconcilers?Beyond boycotts

Jim PlattsAchievement motivationnot utilitarianism

EndpiecePoverty data from the JosephRowntree Foundation

Please send me a copy of FriendsQuarterly Issue One 2014,price £5 + 50p postage

Please send me a subscription toFriends Quarterly, starting withIssue One 2014. First issue free fornew subscribers.

UK £20 pa

Rest of World £22 pa

Cheques payable to ‘The Friend’

Name..................................................

Address..............................................

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Postcode............................................

Return to: Penny Dunn,The Friend, 173 Euston Road,

London NW1 2BJ

Ad pages 31 Jan 28/1/14 11:55 Page 4


STUDY TOURS

FIND YOUR HOLIDAY in the Friend!

QUAKER BOLIVIA SERVICE AND STUDYTrip/FWCC option, March-April, 2014.Visit QBL.org development projects,historic sites, Lake Titicaca. Volunteerteaching English to BQEF.org students.Could include FWCC regional meetingin La Paz. Optional Machu Picchu.www.TreasuresoftheAndes.com00 1 707 823 6034 (California).

miscellaneous

courses & events

NONTHEIST FRIENDS NETWORKconference and AGM, March 21-23 atWoodbrooke, open to all. Theme:'Nontheism in Quakerism and Beyond'.Speakers Brian Mountford on 'ChristianAtheism', David Boulton on the widernontheist network. Guest presenters PaulParker and Helen Rowlands on theWhoosh! epistle. Talks, discussion,worship-sharing, experience-sharing. Fulldetails at www.nontheist-quakers.org.ukor from Jean Wardrop, 105 HumberRoad, Chelmsford CM1 7PG.

ACCOUNTING SERVICESCharity Accounts prepared.

Independent Examinations carried out.Bookkeeping Services.

Contact David Stephens FCCAon 07843 766685.

Email: [email protected]

ALL YOUR PIANO REQUIREMENTSRestoration/removals/sales/part-exchange.www.cambridgepianolacompany.co.ukTom Poole 01223 [email protected]

QUAKER MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES,Partnerships, commitments, notices andother calligraphy. Liz Barrow 01223 369776.

WRITING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY?Books typeset for your family’s pleasure.Photos and other graphics can be included.Contact Trish on 01223 [email protected] printed material also prepared.

AFFORDABLE COURSES AND WEEKENDbreaks. Yoga Weekends, Breaks forWomen, Family Activity Breaks, CircusSkills, Cooking, Bread Baking, WillowBaskets, Mosaic, Spoon carving, WildFlowers, Mushrooms and more. Friendlyatmosphere, home-grown, local andorganic good food, wood-fired sauna,simple living. Lower Shaw Farm: 01793771080. [email protected]

THE PRIORY ROOMS

Meeting and conference facilitiesin central Birmingham.

Comfortable, flexible accommodationwith a full range of support facilitiesand optional hospitality packages.

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FRIENDS FELLOWSHIP OF HEALINGFollowing in the footsteps of George Fox,the FFH seeks to restore the Quakertradition of healing. 01223 243452.www.quaker-healing.org.uk

AFRICAN QUAKER WORKCAMPS 2014The African Great Lakes Initiative ofFriends Peace Teams is sponsoring inter-generational workcamps in Burundi andKenya, 28 June – 2 August. Workcamperswill build a peace center/communitycenter - no skills needed. All ageswelcome - including families. [email protected]

ETHICAL ENTREPRENEUR WANTED.Several potentially lucrative ideas to giveaway. Email [email protected]

Quaker LifeSupport OfficerFull-time, permanent. Salary: £24,639Location: Friends House, Euston Road, London

Quaker Life works to nurture the worshipping community ofQuakers in Britain. This is an exciting opportunity for anexperienced and capable administrator to participate in thedevelopment of Quaker Life’s work by maintaining goodoffice systems and providing general administrative supportprimarily for the work of the Children and Young People’sstaff team.

The post holder will also provide similar support for otherwork in Quaker Life. The successful applicant will be able toprioritise and manage diverse tasks and they will need goodpeople, IT and database skills.

An application pack is available fromwww.quaker.org.uk/jobs

Closing date for applications is 12pm, Thursday 20 February2014 and interviews will be held on 4 March 2014.

Registered charity, no. 1127633.

Ad pages 31 Jan 28/1/14 11:55 Page 5

EDITORIAL173 Euston RoadLondon NW1 2BJT 020 7663 1010F 020 7663 11-82E [email protected]

Vol 1

72

No 5

ADVERTISEMENT DEPT54a Main Street

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Charity number: 292499

DirectorAn exciting opportunity to lead a community artsorganisation that seeks to raise the creative spiritamongst Quakers and others.

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For more information please visit:www.leaveners.org/jobs-director and download thedetails and application form.

Closing date: Friday 7 February 2014 (12 noon)Interviews: Thursday 20 February 2014 in Birmingham

Closing dateextended to

7 February.

GlenthorneQuaker Centre2014 SPECIALINTEREST HOLIDAYS

Deepening the Life of the SpiritFriday 28 - Sunday 30 March.Led by Ginny Wall. Course starts8.30pm after evening meal Friday.Finishes 12.45pm Sunday. £185

Painting and Sketching inthe LakesFriday 9 - Monday 12 May.Led by Sue Ford. Course starts4pm Friday. Finishes after break-fast Monday. £ 280.

Getting close to plantsFriday 23 - Sunday 25 May.Led by Roy Vickery. Course starts8.30pm after dinner Friday.Finishes Sunday afternoon. £160

Glenthorne ConferenceFriday 21 - Sunday 23 November.Led by Jocelyn Bell Burnell. “Whatdo Quakers in Britain understandby ‘Testimonies’?” Course starts8.30 pm after dinner Friday,finishes 12.45 pm Sunday. £160

Extend your visit and stay with usthe Sunday before or after thecourse: B&B £30pp; Dinner, B&B£45pp.

Budget breaks available duringFebruary and March. For pricesand further details please contactus. We welcome your enquiries.

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Registered charity number 232575

Spring events?Copies of ourexcellent Outreachissue are still avail-able at just £1each for 5 ormore copies incl.UK postage.Please makecheques payableto The Friend and send to:The Friend, 173 Euston Road,London NW1 2BJ.

Monthly Saturday workshopsLaboratory of the Spirit

OUR SPIRITUALGIFTS

Led by Thomas SwainFinding out what our gifts are.

Can I make a difference?10am – 5pm Sat. 15th FebruaryFriends House, Euston, LondonEntry £10. All welcome. No booking.

www.londonquakers.org.uk

Ad pages 31 Jan 28/1/14 11:55 Page 6

31 january 2014 £1.70 the friendthe friend, 31 january 2014 3 thought for the week t he church we...

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