Fairtrade Fortnight

Follow this link for more information on Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Foundation Facebook

Cymru Masnach Deg / Fairtrade Wales website


what more could we each do in supporting Fairtrade...and local trade?

Today's Reading 25/02/2018

Cynghorion a holiadau 11

Byddwch onest â chwi’ch hunan. Pa wirioneddau diflas y dichon eich bod yn eu hosgoi? O adnabod eich ffaeleddau, na foed i hynny eich digalonni. Mewn cydaddoli, gallwn ganfod y sicrwydd o gariad Duw a chanfod o’r newydd y dewrder i ddal ati.

 

Advices & Queries 11

Be honest with yourself. What unpalatable truths might you be evading? When you recognise your shortcomings, do not let that discourage you. In worship together we can find the assurance of God’s love and the strength to go on with renewed courage.

Sam Barnett-Cormack's Openings

I would like to share this blog with you. It is Called Openings by Sam Barnett-Cormack.
He is a young Quaker from Lancaster. These writings are writing as ministry.

You will find his blog VIA THIS LINK

He covers  wide range of subjects, and I have found them, helpful, moving, thoughtful [Maura]

I will add that he is looking for patroens - there is more information about him on his blog.

Today's reading 18/02/2018

Advices & Queries 12

When you are preoccupied and distracted in meeting let wayward and disturbing thoughts give way quietly to your awareness of God’s presence among us and in the world. Receive the vocal ministry of others in a tender and creative spirit. Reach for the meaning deep within it, recognising that even if it is not God’s word for you, it may be so for others. Remember that we all share responsibility for the meeting for worship whether our ministry is in silence or through the spoken word.

Cynghorion a holiadau 12
Pan fyddoch synfyfyriol neu ddryslyd yn y cwrdd addoli, gadewch i feddyliau cyndyn neu anesmwyth ymollwng yn dawel i’r ymwybod o bresenoldeb Duw yn ein mysg ac yn y byd. Derbyniwch weinidogaeth lafar eraill mewn ysbryd addfwyn a chreadigol. Estynnwch am yr ystyr sy’n ddwfn ymhlyg ynddo. Hyd yn oed os nad yw’n air Duw i chwi, gall fod felly i eraill. Cofier ein bod oll yn rhannu cyfrifoldeb am y cwrdd addoli, pa un bynnag ai mewn distawrwydd neu ynteu trwy’r gair llafar y bo’n gweinidogaeth.

What is to be done about Universa Credit?

Universal Credit is the biggest shake-up in social security in a generation.

With more than 400,000 households in Wales expected to be claiming Universal Credit by 2022, it is vital to find out how it operates and how it could affect households in your area.

15th March 2018
9.00 – 13.00
Cardiff City Hall, Cathays Park, Cardiff

This half-day conference is a great opportunity for stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors to learn what we know about the roll-out of Universal Credit and the impact of the changes on claimants.  You’ll also be able to share ideas about how to make Universal Credit work as well as possible.

 LINK TO MORE INFORMATION

this came to us via Cytun & SWAM

February 11th 2018 today's reading

[before a meeting for church affairs]

paragraphs 3 & 4 of Faith & Practice 10.03:

Our sense of community does not depend on all professing identical beliefs, for it grows from worshipping together, knowing one another, loving one another, accepting responsibilities, sharing and working together. We will be helped by tried and tested Quaker methods and procedures, but the meeting will only live if we develop a sense of community, which includes children and adults alike. If all those who belong to our meeting are lovingly cared for, the guidance of the spirit will be a reality. The celebration and commemoration of life’s great events draw us together as we share the occasion and rejoice or mourn with one another.

Our shared experience of waiting for God’s guidance in our meetings for worship and for church affairs, together with careful listening and gentleness of heart, forms the basis on which we can live out a life of love with and for each other and for those outside our community.

Link to chapter 10 Quaker Faith & Practice.

February 2018 notices from British Yearly Meeting / Quakers in Britain

Books of the month link to PDF

Woodbrooke Upcoming Courses February 2018 link to pdf

Swarthmoor Hall 2018 Programme Guide link to pdf

Young Quakers Calendar link to pdf  

 

Gatherings & conferences

Yearly Meeting 2018

All Friends (whether in membership or not) are invited to participate in Yearly Meeting

to be held at Friends House, London from 4–7 May 2018. Enclosed in this mailing is the calling letter with registration details. Please circulate this letter to as many Friends in your meeting as possible.

Link to calling letter PDF

 

Keynote speaker at QPSW Spring Conference announced

23–25 March, The Hayes conference centre, Derbyshire

The keynote speaker at the QPSW Spring Conference will be Elsie Whittington. Her keynote title is “Awkwardness as activism: embracing vulnerability in love, activism and witness”. The Spring Conference theme is ‘Journeys of Witness’.

Link to information flyer PDF

Booking deadline extended to 11 February!

Kristin Skarsholt, bymevents@quaker.org.uk, 020 7663 1121

 

 

Sign up to new e-newsletter

Get the best of Britain Yearly Meeting’s digital content

Quake! is the new monthly email update on the work of Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) and Quakers in Britain. It will include discussion

and exploration of Quaker life and worship, insights into faith-based activism, and links to new publications as well as the latest news, events and public statements from BYM. This newsletter replaces the Quaker Life Network monthly email and aims to provide an essential monthly digest of the best of our digital content.

Sign up to Quake! HERE

 

 

Meetings and mental health

Friends Quarterly – Quakers and mental health

The theme of the current Friends Quarterly. is mental health with articles written by Quakers from a range of perspectives. A complimentary copy has been sent to us.

Oliver Waterhouse, oliverw@quaker.org.uk, 020 7663 1007

 

New leaflet: Mental health in our meetings

Quaker Life has just published this new leaflet on mental health in

our meetings. It offers advice and guidance to help meetings respond when mental distress is present. It is a helpful resource for those with responsibility for eldership and oversight and useful for all Quakers to be aware of. A copy is available in Meeting and we can order more.

Link to PDF copy

 

Spiritual life of the meeting

Experiment with Light

Quaker Life recognises that for some Friends, Experiment with Light can be a powerful way of deepening their spiritual life. Experience has shown that the practice contributes best to the life of the meeting when it is undertaken in a group that is in the care of the meeting and supported by elders. In 2018 Experiment with Light Network offers opportunities for people with a range of experience of the practice.

Friends can find out about the practice from a very basic level of understanding or, as a practitioner, might wish to be immersed in a 24-hour retreat, or local meetings might request a workshop.

Link to PDF information leaflet

Angie Dunhill, experimentwithlight@gmail.com

www.experiment-with-light.org.uk

 

Outreach

Quaker Week 2018

29 September – 7 October 2018

Have you started planning your outreach for Quaker Week 2018?

We hope even more meetings will get involved this year. Details of the theme, ideas for activities and a range of resources will be shared over the next few months. There will be regular updates in the clerks mailing and information on the Quaker Week web page. Remember for outreach to be most effective you may need to go out into your local community rather that expecting people to cross the threshold of the meeting house.

outreach@quaker.org.uk, www.quaker.org.uk/quakerweek

 

Children and young people

Growing as an all age community?

There are opportunities for meetings to be helped and supported in developing as all age communities. These are: hosting one of a range of workshops, considering how the new ‘All are welcome’ resource can be used and inviting a facilitator to an area / local meeting event. These are offered by the volunteer Children and Young People’s Work Training Team, supported by Quaker Life staff.

Link to PDF information leaflet

CYP administrator, cypadmin@quaker.org.uk, 020 7663 1013

 

 

Grants

Adult Education grants available

Grants are available for Quaker members and attenders continuing their education as mature students within the post-compulsory education sector, including vocational, further or higher education or continuing professional development. The grants are particularly

aimed at those studying to equip themselves to serve society and/or Quakers in Britain. Applicants should be in need of financial support to take the course and the course should be offered at a reputable institution within the UK. Please see the grant-making page of the Quakers in Britain website HERE

Closing date 30 April.

Ann Pfeiffer annp@quaker.org.uk, 020 7663 1053

 

Quaker witness

Quakers challenging torture

With this new leaflet Quaker Concern for the Abolition of Torture

(Q-CAT) hopes to raise awareness of the continuing scourge that is torture in the world today, what Quakers can do about this problem and how to find out more and get involved. (Erratum: the word ‘use’ is missing at the end of ‘Quakers and Torture’ section in printed copy that we have.)

Link to PDF version of leaflet