Quaker news 91 by Quakers in Britain

Quaker News C

An update on Quaker work in the care of Britain Yearly Meeting

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Young people explore Quaker faith and practice No. 91 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Winter 2014

Contents Exploring Quaker activism 4 Young people’s Quaker faith & practice 7 Partnership working in Burundi 8–9 Large Meeting House reopens 11 News in brief 12–13 New approach to legacy income 15 Cover: Exploring Quaker faith & practice at a consultation last year. This year young people will be developing a Quaker faith & practice of their own. Photo: © Jane Hobson

Editorial Like many Friends who heard Ben Pink Dandelion’s 2014 Swarthmore Lecture, I have been reflecting on the idea of transformation: transformation within ourselves and our own lived experience; transformation in our Quaker communities and their activities; transformation of the world around us and our environment. The theme of transformation runs through this issue of Quaker News. The exciting resources in the Being Friends Together project allow Quaker meetings to transform themselves by embarking on a guided learning journey, strengthening themselves as communities of faithful people (page 3). As Alistair Fuller writes, we are transformed through “worship and… the relationships we form with others by being part of a Quaker community.” Our experience in Quaker meeting leads us to transform the world around us too. Many Quakers find themselves called to social action: the recent activists’ gathering at Friends House (page 4) brought together 70 Quaker activists – a good example of both our do-it-ourselves and our do-ittogether faith. In turn, activists find they are transformed themselves: on page 5, Carolyne Jendeka, after training from the Quaker programme Turning the Tide in Nairobi, says, “Many times I used Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

to look at the injustices in the community and a feeling of defeat would wash over me. Not anymore. Turning the Tide has honed my nonviolent skills to the extent that my life revolves around it.” Contact with a Quaker chaplain can be the start of something that transforms a person’s life. Philip Jones, a Quaker street pastor, says “it’s about showing people that God is present at all times and in every situation. You engage with people where they are and at their time and need.” For two young placement workers in Africa, engaging in Quaker peace witness in Burundi has been a transformative journey. On pages 8 and 9 they tell us of their experiences, and in particular of the transforming power of love and forgiveness in communities scarred by past violence. Finally, a transformation of a different nature: the 88-year-old Large Meeting House at Friends House, under refurbishment for almost two years, has reopened to general acclaim. We hope the space will provide a thriving and newly accessible meeting place as a gift to London, a home for our Yearly Meeting sessions and a secure income for Quaker work for many decades to come. Paul Parker Recording Clerk

A magazine about work supported by Britain Yearly Meeting. Britain Yearly Meeting works on behalf of Quakers in Britain, supporting the Quaker faith and putting Quaker values to work in the world. It is a registered charity, number 1127633. Quakers try to live simply and sustainably, promoting peace, equality and truth. Putting faith into action is central to their way of life and they gather weekly for quiet worship, usually on a Sunday, in more than 475 locations across Britain. You are welcome to any Quaker meeting for worship. Find your local meeting, and more information about us, at www.quaker.org.uk.

Also available in large print Quaker News, Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ qn@quaker.org.uk 020 7663 1019 Printed by Headley Brothers on paper from sustainably managed forests.

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The transformational power of being Friends together A versatile new resource encourages Quaker meetings to explore and develop their communities as sources of spiritual nourishment and growth.

Alistair Fuller, Head of Outreach Development At the heart of living as a Quaker is transformation; we are transformed in ourselves and we work for the transformation of the world. This transformation takes place through our experience of worship and through the relationships we form with others by being part of a Quaker community. The work of Quaker Life and Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre is to support Friends and meetings in building and developing communities where we are challenged, inspired, nourished and transformed; places where we know and are known in the things that are eternal, where we can deepen our spiritual lives and witness faithfully in the world. As part of this work Quaker Life and Woodbrooke are launching Being Friends Together, a learning project we have created to support meetings in their ongoing development as living communities of faithful people. Being Friends Together is an easy-to-use online resource that brings together a wide range of activities and ideas that meetings of all sizes can use to deepen their sense of Quaker identity and strengthen their confidence in living out their Quaker testimony in their lives and localities. The resource will also help meetings to grow as communities. Being Friends Together can be approached in a number of different ways. Meetings can use keywords to search for learning activities around a particular subject or use one of the readymade ‘pathways’, which offer a series of linked learning sessions around a particular topic. The pathways are organised within

four main themes: ‘Growing as community together’, ‘Deepening the life of the Spirit together’, ‘Exploring our living tradition together’, and ‘Being in the world together’. Within each pathway there are a variety of learning approaches to choose from: some for adults, some mainly for children, and some for all ages together.

At the heart of living as a Quaker is transformation; we are transformed in ourselves and we work for the transformation of the world. Being Friends Together is intended as something for meetings to engage with collectively, whatever approach they choose to take, and it contains a simple discernment process. This will help meetings to reflect on their shared journey and their life together – thinking about what most nourishes and most challenges them – and to identify where there might be potential for development. A guide to this discernment process forms part of the resource, but meetings

can also request a visit from two experienced Friends who have been trained in using the resource and can help meetings to explore how it might work best for them. This is a major piece of work for both Quaker Life and Woodbrooke and has huge potential for enriching the worship, work and witness of Quakers in Britain. The best way to find out more is to go and explore Being Friends Together at http://together.woodbrooke.org. uk. Some resources are available free of charge and you will gain a sense of how the website works and what it contains. To access the full range of resources, meetings will need to take out a subscription at a cost of £35 per year. If you have experience of group work and facilitation and might like to become involved in supporting meetings through the discernment process and in using Being Friends Together, please contact us at together@quaker.org.uk. Contact: Alistair Fuller alistairf@quaker.org.uk 020 7663 1016 http://together.woodbrooke.org.uk

Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

Exploring Quaker activism 4

Gathering for Quaker activists provides space to share skills, stories and inspiration – whatever the cause. Sunniva Taylor, Programme Manager: Sustainability & Peace

What does it mean to be a Quaker activist? Can we build stronger connections between Quakers planning to take action? These are just a couple of questions that were explored at the Quaker Activist Gathering in November. The event was organised by Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), and held in the newly refurbished Large Meeting House at Friends House, London. What began as a concept for a peace activist event grew into a gathering for almost 70 Quaker activists interested in bringing about change on a wide range of issues and in a variety of ways. A joint project of QPSW’s Disarmament, Economics & Sustainability, Peace Education and Turning the Tide teams, the day was not focused on a single issue – it was about delivering effective Quaker activism, whatever the cause. QPSW organised the event this way in recognition that Quakers across Britain are active on a wide range of issues, but that these are all underpinned by a shared desire to live out Quakerism in the world. The idea was to provide a space where Friends who might traditionally meet in subjectspecific gatherings could share common tactics, be inspired by each other’s stories, and crossfertilise ideas; and above all be upheld in taking action as Quakers. Periods of worship were threaded throughout the day, and there was an emphasis on seeing worship as preparation for action. The participants shared their stories of how they had felt led to activism by their commitment to Quakerism, as well as how meeting Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

for worship itself is used in public spaces as a witness to peace and sustainability. For example, Quakers in London have been gathering regularly for worship in the British Museum in protest at the museum’s sponsorship by the oil company BP. There was a workshop for those present to explore more deeply how Quakerism and activism interrelate for them. Other workshops focused on skill-sharing and strengthening. The activists showed particular enthusiasm for developing their social media skills. The staff involved in planning the day were very clear that it should be a space for participants to use as they were led. The priority was therefore to create a safe framework within which the participants could explore what they wanted. The afternoon session was organised in the spirit of open space, a technique which allows anyone to propose a conversation and for others to pick a discussion to join, or to circulate between them as they wish. A wide range of issues were covered, all under the

Get active on Twitter

Twitter accounts linked to Quaker activism: @BritishQuakers Quakers in Britain main account @DisarmQuaker Peace and disarmament @EandEquaker Economics and sustainability @PeaceEduQuaker Peace education @PoliticalQuaker Parliamentary engagement

theme of ‘what next?’, with some concrete actions agreed, including the establishment of a Quaker group of Grandparents Climate Action. In a room full of people, all bringing their passion for change, QPSW staff left feeling sustained by the energy and commitment of the participants. Now – as one wrote in their evaluation form – we hope to find more ways to provide “a sense of continuing to uphold all Quaker activists”.

Quaker activists gather in the newly refurbished Large Meeting House at Friends House, London. Photo: Ellis Brooks

Supporting Quaker campaigners How an approach that has helped Kenyan activists to successfully challenge corruption and injustice can support Quakers campaigning for change in Britain.

Steve Whiting, Programme Manager: Turning the Tide For many years, Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) has promoted nonviolence as a force for positive change through its Turning the Tide (TTT) programme. TTT provides workshops and resources for activists and has worked with many groups from Occupy and Climate Camp to workers’ co-operatives and co-housing projects. Typically, TTT’s support has been through one-off workshops, but now we are offering Quaker activists a more sustained approach – accompanying them through key stages from groupforming, analysis and first actions to evaluation, skills development and strategic planning. This model of campaign support was developed in Kenya, where widespread anger at injustices, corruption and impunity erupted into violence in 2008 after the national elections. In 2009, Kenyan Quaker peace activists invited QPSW to introduce TTT’s nonviolence training methods and adapt them for the Kenyan context. A collaborative project was agreed between QPSW and Kenyan partner Change Agents for Peace International (CAPI). The results have been astounding: students ended corrupt university bursary awards; motorcycle taxi drivers stopped license registration fraud; a community group cleaned up corruption in a local hospital; community activists mobilised against a dam construction that would displace 50,000 people; farmers reversed a bank decision to change the terms of their loans; a community returned a grandmother to her home after it had been sold from under her to a

high-ranking national figure... the examples go on. “Many times I used to look at the injustices in the community and a feeling of defeat would wash over me,” says Carolyne Jendeka from Nairobi. “Not anymore. TTT has honed my nonviolent skills to the extent that my life revolves around it. I am able to start a campaign and follow it through despite the challenges involved.”

“Many times I used to look at the injustices in the community and a feeling of defeat would wash over me. Not anymore.” Carolyne Jendeka Benard Agona is CAPI’s Turning the Tide programme coordinator: “It is amazing to see how in a period of only three years TTT has supported groups to start challenging social injustices within their communities. The secret has been doing small actions that will grow to become a big movement.”

Having had such success in Kenya, we hope that our campaigning support will now empower people in Britain to keep going with the hard and slow work of creating social change. The support can be tailored to the needs of the group and adapted to changing requirements. The whole point is to make people increasingly effective in their work for justice and peace. Are you keen to take action on issues important to you, but not sure where to start? Are you part of a group that could benefit from refreshing your campaigning approach or exploring new ways to work effectively together? Whether your issue is local, national or international; whether it’s related to issues of peace, environment, economy or social justice, we’d love to hear from you. We can make change together. Contact: Steve Whiting stevew@quaker.org.uk 020 7663 1061 www.quaker.org.uk/about-ttt

Wilson Yator, Sammy Tor and Joseph Komande explain their campaign plan to tackle the poor state of roads and bridges in Ainabkoi, Kenya. Photo: Nigel Downes

Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

Upholding Quaker chaplaincy 6

Quaker chaplains working in prisons, universities, hospitals and more have come together to develop the support available for this vital form of ministry. Andrew O’Hanlon, Outreach Development Officer Quaker Life offers support to all kinds of Quaker chaplains and provides specialist support for prison chaplains. Earlier this year we brought together a group of Quaker chaplains working in prisons, education, health, industry and as street pastors to explore Quaker chaplaincy. Chaplaincy can be a lonely business. Quaker chaplains can find themselves working in isolation, offering practical and spiritual care for individuals of all faiths and none, sometimes in difficult environments. So meeting up with others doing the same work and sharing experiences and approaches is very important. One of the first questions the group considered was what they had in common. They discovered that following the Quaker way they all sought to: l

be open to new light from wherever it may come l respect each person and respond to them with love l seek a direct experience of God within themselves and in their relationships l build spiritual connections and community not through professing identical beliefs but by sharing and working together l encourage the gathered stillness of meeting for worship l respond to spiritual need in the moment without recourse to creeds or preaching l go to places often overlooked by others and never give up on people l listen to and support people to help them connect with the source of their own strength Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

promote social justice, support peacemakers and care for the environment l speak plainly to people in power. The sharing of these insights has led to the creation of A brief guide to Quaker chaplaincy. The guide draws on the direct experience of Friends and what it means to them to be a Quaker chaplain. “It’s not a question of taking the church onto the streets,” says Philip Jones of Leicester Area Meeting, who serves on an ecumenical street pastor initiative. “It’s about showing people that God is present at all times and in every situation. You engage with people where they are and at their time and need.” The group also valued the practical and spiritual support of their area and local meetings. To help encourage this and develop the work of Quaker chaplains they formed a chaplaincy cluster within the Quaker Life Network. The cluster aims to: l

help connect Quaker chaplains and reduce isolation l promote positive approaches and tested models of Quaker chaplaincy l contribute to the development and training of new Quaker chaplains.

One of the first tasks of the cluster was to help plan a weekend event at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre on 6–8 March 2015 for those actively engaged in chaplaincy. This event will look at case studies from their different sectors, relationships with chaplains of other faiths, emotional

resilience and spiritual nurture. It will also include presentations about the latest national research into chaplaincy conducted by Theos, an ecumenical think tank. To further support chaplains we have just launched an online resource that includes advice, papers and a forum for members to raise topics of concern or interest. To find out more about the online resource, the chaplaincy cluster and the chaplaincy weekend at Woodbrooke in March see www. quaker.org.uk/chaplaincy, where you can also download a copy of the chaplaincy guide. Contact: Andrew O’Hanlon (general chaplaincy) andrewo@quaker.org.uk 020 7663 1017 Marleen Schepers (prison chaplaincy) marleens@quaker.org.uk 020 7663 1143

Quaker faith & practice for young people How we are responding to young people’s call for their own version of Quaker faith & practice, and making sure they have the opportunity to help shape it.

Howard Nurden, Head of Children & Young People’s Staff Team In October 2013 we consulted a group of young people about whether they thought that the time was right to begin revising our book of discipline – Quaker faith & practice – for the next generation. The young people thought that it was the right time, but said that what they really wanted was a Quaker faith & practice aimed at them. They also said that they didn’t want to wait ten years for it, otherwise they’d no longer be young people! Now an initiative is underway to produce such a publication by the end of 2015. Graham Ralph, a Quaker from Friargate Local Meeting in York, will oversee the creation of the book. He has recently retired after 32 years of teaching at Bootham School. Whilst working there he compiled Faith and practice at a Quaker school (published 2013). “I am so pleased to hear that young people were asking for this, as for years I have felt that such a publication is needed,” he says. “I look forward to working with young people and others on this project over the next year.” As this issue of Quaker News is rolling off the press, Graham will be leading a workshop for young people aged 14 to 18 that will help them to explore what Quaker faith & practice is and how a young people’s version might be structured. The workshop will encourage young people to share their ideas about what should be included and submit their own pieces for consideration. Cat Waithaka, Youth Participation Officer for Quakers in Britain, comments: “It’s important that this publication captures young people’s views and experiences of

being Quakers; we hope it will be an engaging resource for young and old alike.” The spring issue of Journeys in the Spirit (youth work edition), our regular free resource for people working with 12- to 18-year-olds in a Quaker context, will focus on the project. It will encourage young people to get involved and contribute by engaging them in thinking about what their Quaker faith & practice might include. The issue comes out on 9 February and can be used with local Quaker youth groups and link events. If you are not already a subscriber to Journeys in the Spirit and would like to receive a copy, simply sign up at www.quaker.org.uk/ subscribing-journeys-spirit-youth or phone 020 7663 1013. We’ll also be gathering young people’s views at Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM) and the Young People’s Programme at Yearly Meeting in May. At JYM an editorial group made up of young people will be appointed to work alongside Graham and make decisions about what is included. We’re also asking

Quaker faith & practice

Quaker faith & practice is the book of religious discipline of Quakers in Britain. Largely composed of extracts from Quaker writings, it is an anthology of experience and theology. It was first printed in 1783 and has been revised by successive generations. It is available in print and e-book formats, and can be read online at http://qfp.quaker.org.uk/.

Quaker regional summer events to encourage young people to contribute ideas. We’re excited about creating a Quaker faith & practice that is fresh and relevant to young people, and would like to encourage as much input as possible. For more information or to submit ideas directly, please get in touch. Contact: cypadmin@quaker.org.uk 020 7663 1013 www.quaker.org.uk/cyp

Young people taking part in a consultation about Quaker faith & practice, held alongside Meeting for Sufferings in December 2013. Photo: © Jane Hobson

Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

The power of partnership 8

Quaker peaceworkers placed in Burundi have made a difference to a grassroots trauma-recovery programme and been profoundly changed by the experience. Laura Shipler Chico, Programme Manager: East Africa Each year Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) runs a small number of peaceworker placements to support other peace organisations in the UK, Africa and Europe. Peaceworkers are recruited by QPSW and seconded to host organisations with the aim of significantly enhancing the organisations’ capacity and effectiveness. The scheme also aims to develop the skills of the peaceworkers in order to prepare them for a career in peace or international affairs. We run two placements in Africa each year. For the last six years, QPSW has placed peaceworkers in Bujumbura, Burundi. Burundi has been affected by ethnic and political violence, with conflict within its own borders as well as acting as host to refugees from neighbouring Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The most recent phase of conflict saw rounds of brutal violence between 1993 and 2006, when the

last of the rebel movements in the country agreed a final ceasefire with the government. In September 2010, Elin Henrysson packed her things, got on a plane and flew to Bujumbura. She had been appointed as a QPSW peaceworker, assigned to our then-new partner, Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC). HROC is a grassroots traumarecovery programme, founded and run by Quakers from Burundi Yearly Meeting (the Friends Church). It focuses on bringing Hutu, Tutsi and Twa participants together in ‘hot spot’ communities for collective, group recovery and healing processes. HROC’s two-room office has five desks and intermittent internet. There are only three permanent members of staff, but a host of volunteers and trained facilitators call themselves a part of the HROC family. Elin would be given a modest stipend by international standards, but a

HROC’s goat-sharing scheme gives people from different communities and ethnic groups joint responsibility for a goat, helping them to build trust and friendship. Photo: Edith Kaze

Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

There is a power in having someone from far away come and not only contribute her talents, but come and cry with us, feel with us and hope with us. That builds something deeper than money can buy. Adrien Niyangabo fair salary compared to her local colleagues. She would need to live simply in contrast to many ex-patriate workers. After Elin had been working with HROC for a year, we could point to many contributions she had made: from developing monitoring and evaluation systems, to fundraising, to raising the profile of the work and more. But we asked Adrien Niyangabo, HROC’s founder, if it might have been better if we had simply sent a grant so that HROC could hire someone locally. While that might be helpful and needed, he replied, there is a power in having someone from far away come and not only contribute her talents, but come and cry with us, feel with us and hope with us. That builds something deeper than money can buy. In 2012, QPSW placed another peaceworker, Edith Kaze, with HROC. Both Edith and Elin found that in spending time working with HROC they had gained as much, or more, than they were able to give. Each of them witnessed human pain and a tremendous capacity for resilience. For four years, we have enjoyed a fruitful partnership with HROC, whose power is most concentrated in its simple approach: bring

enemies together and they will discover the humanity in the other and the good in themselves. In many ways, this approach echoes our placement scheme’s core belief: while financial grants are important, this world is built on relationships. If we can create authentic and equal partnerships, model simplicity, and work

respectfully across cultures and vast global inequalities, then these relationships have the power and potential to teach and to build a more connected and peaceful world. Our latest peaceworker in Burundi, Linda Kitenge, is placed with a new partner organisation, Action for Peace and Development

Elin Henrysson, Quaker peaceworker 2010–2012 “The past two years have been some of the richest and most transformative of my life. So often I have found myself wanting to package and contain a moment, an interaction or an experience, to somehow breathe it in and make it a permanent part of my own organism… I have felt it when listening to Pastor Sebastian who forgave the man who plotted to kill him during the

war, who taught himself to read and write and works tirelessly to rebuild his community… His story has sunk into my heart and has grown in me a desire to continue coming alongside these kinds of efforts – on the seeming edges of things, with those who do not, at first glance, seem qualified or competent, at the real centre of transformation.”

Contact: Laura Shipler Chico lauras@quaker.org.uk 020 7663 1075 www.quaker.org.uk/east-africa Photo: Nigel Downes

Participants of a HROC trauma-healing workshop take part in a ‘trust walk’. One of each pair is guiding the other, who has their eyes shut. Photo: Elin Henrysson

(APD). APD facilitates dialogue among youth from different backgrounds to support the peace process and build a growing democratic society in Burundi. As Burundi approaches elections in 2015, political tensions have been mounting and there is a risk that widespread violence will erupt. APD is one of 29 local organisations that have come together to form Initative Amatora Atekanye (INAMA – the peaceful elections initiative), an earlywarning, early-response network to prevent and respond to electoral violence. Linda’s main focus will be to support this network of organisations. The initiative hopes to train up to 645 citizen reporters who will report election-related violence to a call-in centre in order to inform local, national and international responses.

Edith Kaze, Quaker peaceworker 2012–2014 “It has been a transformative journey and I could not be more grateful. I feel I have become much wiser and more knowledgeable about what matters most in life… My stay has been doubly special because I am a Burundian who had not lived among my countrymen and women for over a decade. I feel that Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) has

truly enabled me to reacquaint myself with my people and daily realities from which I had been so far removed. HROC has truly opened my eyes to their enduring afflictions and also their strength of character, ability to forgive, love and trust again and look towards a brighter future for all Burundians.”

Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

Helping other voices to be heard 10

Even in the shadow of rocket fire, Israeli peace groups are calling for a nonviolent end to the conflict with Palestine. We can support them by helping to get their message across. Teresa Parker, Programme Manager: Middle East I visit Israel and Palestine twice a year in my roles as the Middle East Programme Manager with Quakers in Britain and the National Coordinator for EAPPI UK and Ireland. EAPPI – the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel – is an initiative of the World Council of Churches that works for a just and sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Sderot is an Israeli town of 19,000 residents about a mile from Gaza. In October 2014, just weeks after the ceasefire that brought an end to the rocket attacks, it seemed particularly important to go again. On each of my previous three visits, Nomika Zion, resident of Sderot and founder of Israeli peace group Other Voice (www.othervoice.org), had voiced the terrible anxiety of living under rocket attack, fearing for family and friends serving in the army in Gaza and the inability to get news of how Gazans, who were friends, were surviving. Her response to this anxiety in 2009 was to write a war diary from Sderot. “The bloodbath in Gaza is not in my name nor for my security,” she wrote, in what was effectively an open letter to the Israeli government putting the case for viewing Gazans as neighbours, not enemies. She gained international acclaim at high personal cost. How was she faring now, I wondered, after five weeks of another war? We took the bus to Sderot. The market was busy, the residential streets were quiet and we were glad but surprised not to see any damage. Nomika had previously shown me Sderot’s bus-stop rocket shelters, its concrete-reinforced Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

public buildings and her own flat’s safe room. Clearly ‘Iron Dome’ – Israel’s rocket interception system – had done a good job. The contrast with the devastation of Gaza, just over a mile away, was very stark.

You can see the cost of living in Sderot written on her face, but she says she will not leave and will continue to argue that war is not a rational solution. The fear of the next attack, Nomika told me, warps ordinary life, and this has created a society that has lost its ability to empathise. When Gaza was being bombed people had taken sofas to ‘cinema hill’, to watch and cheer. When you stop seeing others as human, she said, you stop being human yourself. She describes how war has become normal for Israelis, who have become addicted to it. Other Voice members get anonymous phone calls and fear attack for going against the mainstream view. During the recent war, Israeli peace activists in Jerusalem had collected money and gifts for Gazans and decorated a bus with flowers and symbols. The bus stopped in Sderot and the plan had been to meet Other Voice members in an act of solidarity. Nomika told us how it rapidly became impossible for them to meet each other, due to a protest against the bus in the town. The activists had to get the assistance of the police to be able to leave the area. You can see the cost of living in Sderot written on her face, but she says she will not leave and will continue to argue that war is

not a rational solution. It is hard to hear her speak for the third time, the fourth time, but she raises our spirits a little when she ends by saying she welcomes visits from ecumenical accompaniers and others as they “help her breathe a different air”. Israeli peace groups such as Other Voice feel stifled and unable to effect change from within their own country. It is important that we maintain relationships with them so that we can understand their perspectives and advocate their positions back in the UK. In this way we can help to build international pressure that the Israeli government is more likely to take notice of. Partnering with international peace organisations also helps them to feel less alone and boosts their credibility. Contact: Teresa Parker teresap@quaker.org.uk 020 7663 1073 www.quaker.org.uk/eappi

Nomika Zion of Israeli peace group Other Voice. Photo: Dee Poujade / EAPPI

Large Meeting House reopens The Large Meeting House at Friends House has reopened after being refurbished as part of a two-year, £4.5m renovation project. “Optimism, faithfulness, expertise and a commitment to Quaker values – which includes hospitality to others – have all helped create this wonderful space,” said Jennifer Barraclough, clerk of Britain Yearly Meeting Trustees, as the venue reopened. Trustees’ vision for Friends House, the administrative base of Quakers in Britain, is being realised: to become a “thriving and fully accessible meeting and working place which epitomises Quakerism, to project Quakerism to London and throughout Britain.” The new space is simple and fitting for worship. A thousand Quakers are expected to fill it for Yearly Meeting in May 2015. As well as hosting Quaker events, the Large Meeting House is being marketed as a major conference venue, under the name ‘The Light’. It has already attracted bookings for 2015 in excess of what it used to earn. In just one weekend thousands of customers were welcomed for Criminal Law Friendly Society, Grace Baptist Mission and Occupy London, as well as students of Birkbeck College, University of London. Lettings generate income to fund Quaker work in the world. Period features such as wooden panelling and doorkeepers’ seats have been retained. A huge skylight allows in natural light from above, not seen since the clerestory windows of the award-winning 1926 Hubert Lidbetter design were hidden by a 1950s ceiling. Recycle, re-use and reduce have been the watch words, with benches resited and toilets sent to a project in Sierra Leone. There’s LED lighting and a heat recovery system. The project architects are John McAslan + Partners, and the builders are Westco Partnership.

Photos: Colin Edwards, Anne van Staveren.

Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

News in brief 12

Support for Quakers during times of war

A new set of guidance will support Quakers in expressing their views and taking action during times of war. The advice sheet aims to help individuals and Quaker meetings to cope with the current challenging conditions for peace churches. Advice for Friends in times of war has been produced by Quaker Peace & Social Witness and draws on staff experience of supporting British Quakers through previous wars. It includes guidance on discussing war with children and young people, speaking out, opportunities for action and more. You can read or download it at www.quaker.org.uk/disarmament.

Resources for the 2015 general election

New resources will help Quakers engage with the general election scheduled for 7 May 2015. An election guide and list of resources will be sent to meetings in January. Meetings will be able to request briefings on specific topics, check guidance on holding hustings, and consider questions for candidates. The election is an opportunity to start a conversation about our concerns, talk to others in our communities, and influence national debates. All resources will be available online at www.quaker. org.uk/quakervote.

Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

Quakers at the political party conferences

New expressions of Quaker community

Grants available for Quakerbacked projects

Quakers welcome vote on Palestinian statehood

Quakers in Britain held a fringe event at the Labour party conference in Manchester this autumn. The event was called ‘Shared visions for a moral 21st century’ and covered a wide range of issues including environmental concerns, welfare, peace and immigration. Jane Dawson and Jessica Metheringham of the Quaker Advocacy & Public Relationships Team also attended the Conservative and Liberal Democrat party conferences. They were part of a delegation including representatives from the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church in Britain, the Salvation Army and the United Reformed Church. They attended the Green and Co-operative party conferences for the first time. Over the conferences Jane and Jessica spent time with 18 parliamentarians, as well as a few candidates. The party conferences are important opportunities for us to share concerns and find common ground with those in positions of influence, regardless of political persuasion.

Simmons Grants of £1,000 to £2,000 are available for projects that enable rural young people to become self-sufficient or for other similar educational purposes. Grant requests must come from the organisation managing the project for which funds are sought. The organisation needn’t be Quaker or Quaker-run, but all applications must be accompanied by evidence of Quaker support. Further information and application packs are available at www.quaker.org.uk/grant-making. The closing date for applications is 27 February 2015.

All local meeting clerks have been sent a copy of a new resource from Quaker Life designed to help meetings explore fresh and creative approaches to being a Quaker community. New expressions of Quaker community encourages Quakers to engage with some stimulating and challenging questions about how we might find new ways of making Quaker worship and community more open and accessible. The resource forms part of Being Friends Together (see page 3).

Quakers in Britain welcomed the result of October’s parliamentary vote to formally recognise the state of Palestine. MPs voted overwhelmingly to adopt the motion “this House believes that the government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution”. Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) provided a template letter and encouraged Quakers to write to their MPs ahead of the debate urging recognition as a vital step towards justice and peace for

Palestine and Israel. If you wrote to an MP and got a reply please share it with us by sending it to Clare Wood at clarew@quaker.org.uk. QPSW will continue working with Quakers to push the government to convert this vote into policy. Quakers’ call for the government to recognise Palestine as a state was first made in a statement produced by Yearly Meeting Gathering in August.

Quaker map shows the human cost of WWI

An online map created by Quakers in Britain dramatically shows the global death toll of World War I. The map illustrates the scale of the deaths by extending the area covered by Paul Cummins’s installation at the Tower of London with a sea of white poppies. ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ involved the placing of 888,246 ceramic red poppies in the moat of the Tower of London, each one representing a British military death during WWI. Without denigrating the lost lives represented at the tower, the Quaker map questions whether the true cost of war is reflected in an annual remembrance ceremony that focuses on military deaths. Using the installation’s ratio of 50 poppies per square metre, the map shows how far the sea of poppies would have spread had it included soldiers of other nations who fought alongside the British, civilians who died, and all those in Germany and its allies who perished – some 19.5 million lives in total. The map was picked up by The Guardian and their piece about it was the most read article on their website on the evening of 6 November. You can view the map at www.quaker.org.uk/WWI.

First legacy-funded projects get underway

Following a new approach to using legacy income (see page 15), four projects funded by gifts made by Quakers in their wills are now up and running. In Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), a programme assistant is boosting the capacity of the Peace & Disarmament and Peace Education programmes for a year. Additional funding for QPSW’s work on active nonviolence in Kenya, which equips ordinary people to stand up against injustice, will help move the project beyond local community success towards building a mass movement for social change. Back in the UK, a ‘directory of services’ will be developed to help Quakers understand and access the range of support available to them from central staff – with a particular emphasis on those undertaking roles in local and area Quaker meetings. In light of the significant and growing differences between the Scottish and UK (Westminster) parliaments, an Edinburghbased Scottish Parliamentary Engagement Officer has been appointed. The new post is paid for by a mixture of legacy funding and contributions from General Meeting for Scotland.

minister, “is that what they enjoyed together was a marriage, in the eyes of anyone who knew them, and would have become a marriage in law if only Clive had lived on.”

Quaker WWI relief work exhibition now online

The records of Friends Emergency & War Victims Relief Committee (FEWVRC) are now more accessible thanks to a 15-month cataloguing project funded by Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Between 1914 and 1924 FEWVRC worked tirelessly to help civilians displaced by fighting in France, support ‘enemy aliens’ interned in British prison camps, and feed Russian peasants during the post-war famine of 1921–22. The project, part of our World War I centenary commemorations, also includes a display at Friends House, London, until April 2015. An online photo exhibition can be viewed at www.quaker.org.uk/ online-exhibitions.

Marriage update

In England and Wales, from 10 December, couples can convert their civil partnerships to marriage. The regulations provide for this to take place in a Quaker meeting house. In Scotland, same-sex marriages and civil partnership conversion ceremonies are possible from 31 December 2014. Introducing the regulations in the House of Commons Legislation Committee, Minister for Skills and Equalities Nick Boles referred to Kelvin and Clive Beer-Jones, who celebrated their civil partnership in 2007. When Clive contracted a terminal illness Quakers asked the government to expedite the regulations. That wasn’t possible and sadly Clive died on 16 October. “Our belief, and that of all his friends and their families,” said the

The white feather diaries will be back in 2015

The white feather diaries is a realtime media project based on the diary entries of five Quakers who refused to fight during World War I. While some Quakers signed up, many refused to and instead courageously went – unarmed – to the front line to relieve suffering, or worked for legislation to allow the right to refuse to kill. The diary entries for 2014 are now complete, and the next instalment will be posted between 2 and 27 November 2015. You can meet the diarists and catch up with the entries so far at www.whitefeatherdiaries.org.uk. Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

Quakers take part in global climate action How Quakers at home and abroad are calling for climate justice and what you can do to help put climate change at the top of the next UK government’s agenda. Maya Williams, Economics, Sustainability & Peace Network Coordinator On 21 September, International Day of Peace, Quakers from across Britain took action to call for climate justice and peace, two days ahead of an international climate summit in New York. Quakers joined marches in London, Bristol, Newcastle, Cambridge and Edinburgh. Quaker vigils were held in Birmingham, Norwich and Ashburton. Cardiff Quakers took part in the ‘For the love of…’ campaign by tweeting photos of themselves with the things they love that will be affected by climate change. These activities were one aspect of an amazing array of climate actions across the globe, with almost 3,000 events taking place in 166 countries that weekend. The outpouring of climate action was inspired by the United Nations Climate Summit, called by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. World leaders gathered to try to catalyse climate action ahead of the continuation of the UN climate negotiation process, which is intended to result in a new international climate change agreement in Paris in autumn 2015. American Quaker organisation Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) and the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) were present in New York, and organised some side events, including a lunch with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and regional faith community representatives. The aim was to enable grassroots faith representatives to engage with international efforts on the most recent science of climate change, and to encourage communication and understanding. Dr Pachauri, Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

chair of the IPCC, came to the meeting and spoke about the expected human impacts of climate change, and of the potential economic and environmental wins if we act now. Ahead of the summit Quakers in Britain, along with 11 other Quaker bodies from around the world, signed up to a shared Quaker statement on climate change (see www.quaker.org.uk/facingchallenge-climate-change). The statement was then used by QUNO and FCNL at their meetings during the summit. In early 2015 Quaker Peace & Social Witness will release a briefing on climate change ahead of the UK general election and the climate negotiations in Paris. We will also be adding to the general election page on the Quakers in Britain website: www.quaker.org. uk/quakervote. In the meantime you could contact your MP to let them know why you would like them to take action on climate change through the ‘For the love of…’ campaign (www.fortheloveof.org.uk), or the ‘Hope for the Future’ campaign (www.hftf.org.uk). We hope that the general election will help us put climate change at the top of the new government’s agenda. If you’d like to get involved in future climate change actions please get in touch using the details below. Contact: Maya Williams mayaw@quaker.org.uk 020 7663 1056 www.quaker.org.uk/ sustainability

Top: Quakers get ready for the People’s Climate March event in Birmingham; middle: Quakers at the march in London; bottom: Cardiff Quakers take part in the ‘For the love of...’ campaign.

Legacy income helps us work more responsively Contribute to Quaker work

Serve on a Quaker committee: phone 020 7663 1121, email nominations@quaker.org.uk or visit www.quaker.org.uk/ quaker-service. Make a donation or leave a gift in your will: phone Rosie Carnall on 020 7663 1066, email rosiec@quaker.org.uk or visit www.quaker.org.uk/donate.

A Scottish Parliamentary Engagement Officer, partly funded by legacies, will grow our capacity for advocacy work in Scotland. Photo: Scottish Parliament / Flickr CC BY-2.0

As Friends we have a long tradition of seeking to keep our outward affairs in good order, including making sure we have a will in place at the time of our death. Often this will include a bequest for Quaker work, and through this valuable support much has been achieved, both nationally and locally. During 2014 four new developments were made possible by legacies left to us by Friends and others (see news-in-brief item on page 13). These developments are the outcome of Britain Yearly Meeting Trustees’ new way of making best use of the legacy income that is entrusted to us. Patterns of legacy giving change over time and it isn’t possible to know what they’ll be in the future. Although we trust we will always be in the care of Friends’ generosity to take forward our share of Quaker work, Trustees are trialling a new way to manage legacy income: using it for time-limited projects rather than to support core work. Using legacy income for projects that address specific situations enables us to be responsive to the needs of the time, allowing us to take on new work while reducing risk in relation to income and

spending. Project work also helps us to report more effectively on what we’re achieving. Nick Francis, a Britain Yearly Meeting Trustee, says “We want to enable the organisation to better respond to the leadings of the Spirit as discerned by our governing committees of Quakers. This new approach means we can live adventurously as well as responsibly.” The new way of managing legacies seeks to make more effective and creative use of legacies, encouraging innovation and the adventurousness to take forward new work. Friends’ generosity is a continuing support for Britain Yearly Meeting’s work. The tradition of legacy giving stretches back to our beginnings and on into the future. As Quaker faith & practice reminds us, legacies “form an important part of our income and Friends are urged to bear this in mind when making a will” (14.11). To find out more about how to leave a legacy to Quaker work in your will please contact Andrew McVicar, legacy administrator for Britain Yearly Meeting, at andrewm@quaker.org.uk or call him in confidence on 020 7663 1119.

Subscribe to Quaker News

Subscribe to Quaker News by email, access electronic back issues or read online at www.quaker.org.uk/qn. Subscribe to Quaker News by post, make changes to your subscription or request paper back issues by contacting Andrew McVicar on 020 7663 1119 or at qn@quaker.org.uk.

Connect with Quakers in Britain

Phone us on 020 7663 1000, email enquiries@quaker.org.uk or write to Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ. Enter your postcode at www.quaker.org.uk/fam to search for a Quaker meeting near you. Find us on Facebook and Twitter: follow the links at www.quaker.org.uk/sm or search for ‘Quakers in Britain’.

Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

Quakers: committed to caring for peace and planet 16

Meet Colin Hall

Quakers share a way of life, not a set of beliefs. Their unity is based on shared understanding and a shared practice of silent worship, where they seek a communal stillness. Quakers seek to experience God directly, within themselves and in their relationships with others and the world around them. They meet together for worship in local meetings, which are open to all who wish to attend. Quakers try to live with honesty and integrity. This means speaking truth to all, including people in positions of power. The Quaker commitment to peace arises from the conviction that love is at the heart of existence and that all human beings are unique and equal. This leads Quakers to put their faith into action by working locally and globally to change the systems that cause injustice and violent conflict. Quakers try to live simply. They are concerned about the excesses and unfairness of our consumer society and the unsustainable use of natural resources. To find out more about the Quaker way visit www.quaker.org. uk or request a free information pack using the form below.

Request a free information pack: Name Address

Postcode Email Please send completed form to: Quaker Outreach (QN) FREEPOST QUAKERS FREEPHONE: 0808 109 1651 E: outreach@quaker.org.uk Quaker News 91 – Winter 2014

Colin Hall is a member of Luton & Leighton Area Meeting. He serves on the Economics, Sustainability & Peace Subcommittee of Quaker Peace & Social Witness, which oversees Quaker work on issues including economic justice and climate change. After long thinking of myself as an atheist with a strong sense of spirituality, I became a Quaker. I was drawn to Quakerism partly by the emphasis on direct mystical experience. For me this can mean a profound sense of connection with every other human being, and with all life, and even all things in the universe – born out of wonder, leading to compassion. My small but vibrant local meeting in Luton showed me faith in action: people involved in charity work, some utterly passionate about politics and social justice. I went to Yearly Meeting Gathering at York in 2009 as a nontheist, but then was overwhelmed by the experience of 1,500 people being movingly led by the spirit to uphold same-sex marriage – because of the deeply human stories that were told, because equality is an absolute that must apply to all. Being a member of the Economics, Sustainability & Peace Subcommittee (ESP) of Quaker Peace & Social Witness has been one of the most inspiring and personally fulfilling experiences of my life. Our work is at the heart of fundamental

Quaker concerns about economic justice and catastrophic climate change, which we see as intertwined: enormous issues. I am neither economist nor environmental scientist, but some of the committee, including the staff members, do have such expertise. We have been encouraged to take a strategic role which requires us to be at once deeply informed and visionary. We operate with joy and creativity, and get through a huge quantity of business. A vital project is to create an outline of a new economy shaped by our Quaker testimonies. We are practical too. Because we were meeting at Woodbrooke and therefore could not attend the main rally in London, ESP members participated along with other Quakers and many young activists in the People’s Climate March event in Chamberlain Square, central Birmingham. If you would be interested in serving on a national Quaker committee, please phone 020 7663 1121, email nominations@ quaker.org.uk or visit www.quaker.org.uk/service.