Hereford Quakers Newsletter

June 2018

“The only way to protect joy is to practise it.”
(quoted by Chris Alton, in his 2018 Swarthmore Lecture)

Diary

Events are at the Friends Meeting House, 21 King Street, Hereford HR4 9BX unless otherwise stated

Reading Quaker Faith & Practice

10th June – Chapter 3: General counsel on church affairs
24th June – Chapter 2: Approaches to God – worship and prayer

Tuesday 5th June

Churches Together in Hereford: A walk in Queenswood Country Park

An opportunity to walk, observe the birdlife and appreciate the woodland, or just meditate. Meet at 6.30pm at Queenswood car park. (Please note the car park charges are £1.50 for 1 hour, £3 for 2 hours.)

This will be followed by a shared meal at Bodenham Chapel at about 7.45pm. Offers of food – cheese, cold meats, salad, bread, fruit, cakes – to Audrey on 01432 820436 please. Those not wishing to walk may go directly to the Chapel for 7.30pm (for directions, please contact Sheila Milne 01432 279740 or s.milne40@btinternet.com).

If it’s very wet, meet at Bodenham Chapel at 7.30pm or contact Audrey (07800 803914) for confirmation.

Friday 8th June

Hereford Peace Council’s Charities Quiz

7.00 pm, £3 per person, proceeds to the Peace Council and a charity nominated by the winning team. Hereford Quakers are warmly invited to provide a team and/or come as individuals and make up teams on the night. For more information, contact Sheila Milne.

Saturday 9th June

Fellowship Day at The Pales

Tuesday 12th June

Education Meeting – a chance to get to know each other better

Book Club – Thursday 14th June
This month’s book is Master & Commander, by Patrick O’Brian. The book for July’s Book Club (on Thursday 12th July) is Patrick White’s A Fringe of Leaves.

Friday 22nd June

Night of the Churches

Saturday 23rd June, 19.00

A Midsummer Concert at The Pales Dates for your Diary

Saturday 21st July – Saturday 4th August

Quaker Camp

Contact Mikki Pullen for information. Saturday 14th July

Area Meeting at Ross

Future Appeals

will be made for:

•   Anti-Slavery International
•   Friends House Moscow
•   Fine Cell Work
•   Glebe House:
•   SHYPP
•   Quaker Homeless Action

  Please listen at Meetings for them.

Proposed City of Sanctuary: An Update

Jane Straker writes: I think Friends will be pleased to learn that there is a steering group currently working on setting up a City of Sanctuary to help us all meet the challenges we face when seeking to offer support to Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the city. A further group of Syrian refugees will begin to arrive shortly and will surely be glad to meet welcoming faces. Some Asylum seekers are also due to arrive shortly and as they do not have official refugee status they face a more challenging and less supportive official welcome. This makes any voluntary support we can all offer even more important. If anyone has time to help with this work please get in touch, especially if you are prepared to take any leadership role in the local City of Sanctuary. There will be a meeting at the Bishop’s Palace on Monday 18th June from 19.30- 20.30 for those interested. This is something which will run in parallel with our own Meeting being a Sanctuary Meeting.

As a Sanctuary Meeting we have undertaken to hold at least one public meeting each year looking at issues of forced migration. We are currently planning to hold a meeting with two refugees with very different experiences talking to us about what it has meant for them to have to leave their homes and settle in a strange country. We expect this to take place later in June so please listen out for notices after meeting as the details are finalised. For further information, please contact Julian Rutherford or Jane Straker.

Make Poppies, not war….

The 100th anniversary of the end of World War 1 will be marked by commemorating civilian victims of war – described by the military as Collateral Damage. Please consider making white poppies to add to an art exhibition, which will be exhibited in London in November, and also touring. We need to send our poppies to Friends House by 15th October. You can find instructions for making poppies (sewing or knitting) and more information about the project at the Peace Pledge Union website www.ppu.org.uk/collateral-damage or www.facebook.com/whitepoppies2018 – there are a few copies of the leaflet at the Meeting House too.

Britain Yearly Meeting

Several Friends from Southern Marches attended YM in May, and would be able to tell you more about the Swarthmore Lecture, and the main business of the meeting – which was to consider whether the time is now right to review and revise our Book of Discipline. You can find out more information, including how to get involved in this process, and read the Epistle from YM at www.quaker.org.uk/ym and find out more about the Swarthmore Lecture at www.woodbrooke.org.uk/learn/about/swarthmore- lecture/ – audio is available now. Video and the book itself will be available in due course.

Keeping in touch – Quake!

You can receive regular news and updates from Quakers in Britain by subscribing to Quake! There is more information, including the signing up process at www.quaker.org.uk/resources/newsletters/quake

For further information about Quakers, please contact: Clerk: Ruth Stanier – ruth.stanier@smquakers.org.uk

Please submit copy in writing for the next newsletter (July 2018) to the editor, Liz Chave – liz.chave@smquakers.org.uk by 18th June.