Discover the Contemporary Quaker
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
21 February 2014 £1.70 the DISCOVER THE CONTEMPORARYFriend QUAKER WAY the Friend INDEPENDENT QUAKER JOURNALISM SINCE 1843 CONTENTS VOL 172 NO 8 3 Thought for the Week: Signs of hope ‘Early Friends testified to the truth that Craig Barnett had changed them by living their lives on the basis of that truth. The reality 4 News of their life (and of human life) shone 5 Patterns and examples through in their lives because they were open to that reality and lived in harmony Jane Pearn with it. Lives lived in the truth would 6-7 Structures and spaces then resonate with how other people Janet Quilley lived their lives and, more specifically, with the deep sense within them that 8-9 Letters they were not living well, not living 10-11 Saving the Meeting house rightly. When Friends spoke honestly and truthfully to people, when they dealt Stanley Holland with them as they really were, without 12-13 Sustainability series: pretence or projection, when they met The Canterbury commitment violence with nonviolence and hatred with love, people knew at some level they Laurie Michaelis were being confronted with the truth, 14-15 Be a good person whether they liked it or not.’ Eva Tucker Rex Ambler 16 Poetry: John ap John in ‘The prophetic message of Elaine Miles early Friends (and how it can be interpreted for today)’ 17 Friends & Meetings Cover image: The firewatchers’ logbook from Bournville Meeting House. Photo: Ed Lee Photographer Limited. See pages 10-11. The Friend Subscriptions Advertising Editorial UK £76 per year by all payment Advertisement manager: Editor: types including annual direct debit; George Penaluna Ian Kirk-Smith monthly payment by direct debit [email protected] £6.50; online only £48 per year. Articles, images, correspondence For details of other rates, Tel/fax 01535 630230 should be emailed to contact Penny Dunn on 54a Main Street, Cononley [email protected] 020 7663 1178 or [email protected] Keighley BD20 8LL or sent to the address below. the Friend 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ Tel: 020 7663 1010 Fax: 020 7663 1182 www.thefriend.org Editor: Ian Kirk-Smith [email protected] • Sub-editor: Trish Carn [email protected] • Production and office manager: Elinor Smallman [email protected] • Arts editor: Rowena Loverance [email protected] • Environment editor: Laurie Michaelis [email protected] • Subscriptions officer: Penny Dunn [email protected] Tel: 020 7663 1178 • Advertisement manager: George Penaluna, Ad department, 54a Main Street, Cononley, Keighley BD20 8LL Tel: 01535 630230 [email protected] • Clerk of the trustees: Nicholas Sims • ISSN: 0016-1268 The Friend Publications Limited is a registered charity, number 211649 • Printed by Headley Bros Ltd, Queens Road, Ashford, Kent TN24 8HH 2 the Friend, 21 February 2014 Thought for the Week Signs of hope hen our daughter Moya was born we held a ‘welcoming’ celebration for her at home, reading out this passage from the prophet Isaiah: W‘See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.’ (Isaiah 43:19) For us, the birth of our first child was a sign of hope for the future, simply because her life was ‘a new thing’ – filled with utterly unpredictable potential for bringing beauty and joy and healing into the world. Hope is not the same as optimism. It does not mean believing that things will inevitably improve or anticipating the sudden disappearance of all our problems. Hope is also possible alongside a clear perception of the consequences of our own destructiveness and the persistence of violence and injustice. But an attitude of hope means an openness to the future, recognising that the future is not fixed in a mechanical, unrelenting pattern, because it will result from the actions of innumerable people, all of whom are capable of unpredictable acts of creativity and generosity. The Quaker movement was formed in a period when many people’s expectations of the future had been crushed by political events. Many early Friends had been deeply committed to the parliamentary cause during the English civil war. They lived through the failure of the Commonwealth government, Oliver Cromwell’s dictatorship and, finally, the restoration of the monarchy. Friends did not respond to the failure of their hopes and the re-imposition of political and religious absolutism by armed resistance, nor did they simply submit to the new restrictions on religious freedom. Instead, almost uniquely among the nonconformist sects of the time, they sustained a persistent, public commitment to living the Truth they had encountered, despite systematic and intense state persecution. Quakers, at this time, emphasised the power of ‘testimony’ – of living a life of utter integrity and faithfulness to God’s purposes – challenging and transforming situations of untruth and injustice. They experienced the reality that living an authentic human life, and maintaining a genuine human community, is a political act. Rex Ambler has described it as ‘lives lived in the truth’ (see page 2). This kind of influence may seem inadequate to the huge and urgent political challenges of our time. The influence of individuals and small groups on those around them is unlikely to save us from the long-term economic and ecological crises that we are preparing for ourselves and future generations. But however difficult the times our children will live through there will be some people who practice sharing and reconciliation, and some places where a more fully human life and community can flourish, because of the actions of people living now. This means that how we choose to live matters. It will shape the future for good or ill and affect the lives of people we may never meet or know about. It means trusting in our own capacity for new beginnings, that we are not trapped by our past or confined by our habits and compulsions, that something new can happen in our own lives. Rather than despairing or giving way to fatalism, can we be ready to recognise and encourage these signs of hope within and around us, to perceive the times and places where the Spirit is acting to ‘do a new thing’? Craig Barnett Sheffield & Balby Area Meeting the Friend, 21 February 2014 3 News reported by Ian Kirk-Smith [email protected] Lessons learned at Winchmore Hill WINchmore HILL Quakers have announced that work will begin this spring on renovations to their Grade II listed Meeting house. The news that work will start soon marks a significant success for local Friends and their fundraising campaign. Winchmore Quakers are keen to share with other Friends and Meetings the lessons Photo courtesy of Stephen Cox. they have learned from their appeal. ‘Many people love the building but we needed to events. It is one of the reasons we’re pleased we’ve make it safer, more welcoming and more sustainable’ greatly expand the community use of the building… said Meeting fundraising clerk Stephen Cox. ‘We have ‘It is daunting to launch a campaign and if anyone subsidence – hence the slogan “We’re cracking up” – wants our “lessons learned” document to start their own decaying woodwork, and trip hazards in the grounds. thinking, please email [email protected]. We hadn’t run a fundraising appeal in living memory.’ ‘We’re really sorry that, due to serious unforeseen The fundraising campaign highlighted the historic circumstances, the Meeting has as yet not thanked some value of the site but also Quaker values and its use by individuals, trusts and Meetings for their generous the community. The Meeting used a mix of targeted support. We will do so, but please bear with us. written appeals and events like concerts. Stephen ‘If it is essential to correspond about any donation added: ‘We had strong support from Quakers across please contact Sue Newsom, clerk, on suenewsom2@ the country, but also from local people for our hotmail.com or call 020 8350 8272.’ Scottish referendum on the agenda 2015 Swarthmore Lecture THE forthcomiNG referendum on Scottish independence will DiaNA FraNCIS, the peace activist and be raised at next month’s General Meeting of Friends in Scotland. conflict transformation expert, will be the ‘One of the challenges in this debate and decision is where 2015 Swarthmore lecturer, the Woodbrooke to begin’, Christine Davis writes in the current edition of the Quaker Study Centre has announced. Scottish Friend. In the article she outlines some key background Diana is a member of Bath Meeting and issues and invites Scottish Friends to consider a number of has worked as a facilitator, trainer and important questions before the General Meeting. consultant with groups of people involved She highlights some issues that are of particular concern to in or affected by political (especially inter- Quakers, such as the position of the nuclear arsenal on the Clyde ethnic) conflict, or those seeking to address and NATO membership, and also raises the subject of the future injustice. relationship of Scotland to Britain Yearly Meeting. She writes: She will consider the Quaker Peace ‘Whatever the outcome, we will still be Friends; we will still Testimony in relation to the current global belong to Britain Yearly Meeting, though it may have to relate to context and articulate a radical vision for different jurisdictions as Ireland Yearly Meeting does today, and humanity and propose lines of witness and our values will remain a strong element of our communal life.’ action for Friends. Audio initiative at Friends House FRIENDS who were not able to Britain Yearly Meeting website as Interfaith Relations (QCCIR). attend the recent conference at audio files.