Tim Gee

Looking forward to being part of this. International online places still available. Bookings close on 6 February.

YouTube video by Quake It Up Global Quakerism: How FWCC Connects Friends Worldwide | Tim Gee

"What Quakers offer is.. the spiritual space that allows people to know what their vocation is and that vocation towards good. Secular NGOs can't do that. Media can't do that. Political parties can't do that. We can." - General Secretary Tim Gee speaks on the Quake It Up podcast tinyurl.com/2sz9m5vm

I enjoyed talking with @quakeitup.bsky.social about international Quakerism in its joys and challenges. The full video has just gone live.

Curious not condemnatory: Tim Gee on why Quakers talk to other churches | The Friend ‘I think interchurch engagement makes me a better Quaker.’| The Friend

Working with other churches is both rewarding and challenging.

It's also more familiar than you might expect as many Christian World Communions have a similar theological breadth to Friends globally.

The challenge is whether we can work together for peace.

thefriend.org/article/curi...

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The unity of Quakers is closely related to the unity of Christians more broadly. And the unity of Christians is closely related to the unity of humanity.

to find the lost
to heal the broken
to feed the hungry
to release the prisoner
to rebuild the nations
to bring peace among the people
to make music in the heart."

Howard Thurman, 1948

Black and White Picture of Howard Thurman

"When the song of the angels is stilled
when the star in the sky is gone
when the kings and princes are home
when the shepherds are back with their flocks
the work of Christmas begins"

(Continues)

Want a new job in the new year? Come work for Quakers worldwide, in our small friendly office in London.

Quakers Australia join our voice to the many expressing our shock, condemnation and deepest grief at the mass shooting of Jewish people at a Hanukkah gathering in Sydney, a terrible act of antisemitic violence...

Our holding position on AI is published in the Friend today.

In short, please don't send us stuff made by generative AI, and we commit that we won't knowingly publish things made by generative AI either.

(And all our mistakes will be our own :) )

thefriend.org/article/quak...

"Recent years have produced an unprecedented surge in the number of attendees at Sunday worship — from about 25 before the coronavirus pandemic to up to 100 today."

Good to see. Arch Street was where I was when I decided to become a Quaker member.

www.usnews.com/news/us/arti...

Quaker Week hailed ‘a success’ | The Friend Over seventy events were held worldwide to mark World Quaker Day on 5th October| The Friend

There's a write up of World Quaker Day (Quaker Week in Britain) in today's edition of The Friend. Enjoy! thefriend.org/article/quak...

I did not know that the origin of the trope of the conical witches hat, may have come from historic anti-Quaker propaganda.

I do know that the cultural memory of our own persecution is precisely why Friends extend solidarity to other religious faiths when they are depicted using caricatures.

Quakers know something about religious discrimination, because of the sufferings our forebears endured.

Standing for religious freedom then is instinctive to us, but not just for us, but for all.

That means freedom for everyone, including for our Muslim and Jewish neighbours.

A great deal of the outcry about the idea of a definition of Islamophobia seems to boil down to people wanting to be Islamophobic without pushback.

It is telling that many deny Islamophobia is even a thing.

It is tragic that most media reporting this don't care about the double standards.

It's probable both the IHRA and Jerusalem definitions of antisemitism could be improved. I imagine the authors of both would be among the first to say that.

The backlash against a definition of Islamophobia though doesn't seem to be about the detail, but about whether there should be one at all.

Of course we need free speech. Of course we need to name and reign in religious bigotry. And of course we need to be able to protect human rights.

A working definition (which is literally that) gives those of us who earnestly want to stand against racism and religious bigotry some guidance.

The debate about the IHRA vs the Jerusalem definition of antisemitism is largely about how to discuss political & nationalist expressions of the faith, in the context of human rights abuses.

With the Islamophobia definition though people are just saying they want to criticise Islam.

It's disappointing that some of the people and papers who shouted loudest for a working definition of antisemitism are opposing the same for Islamophobia.

If you support a definition for one group, but not for another, you need to think hard about whether that is because of your own prejudice.

British army horse who ran through the streets of London gets well-deserved retirement Quaker, a 15-year-old black horse, suffered a broken bone and serious bleeding during the incident on April 24, 2024.

Do you remember the military horse that escaped and ran through London a year or two back?

I was today old when I learnt that the horse's name was 'Quaker'.

Maybe it was an equine conscientious objector.

www.cbsnews.com/news/quaker-...

We welcome with deep relief and thanks the ceasefire in Gaza, the release of the living Israelis held hostage in Gaza and the release of Palestinians, including children, held in Israeli military detention.

(1/3)

Quite right. I'm glad Churches Together in England is speaking up on this, as they should. The attacks on communities of faith (indeed on anyone) need to stop.

Do you read the Bible with Jesus?

#LoveYourNeighbour

More reports of arson attacks on hotels hosting people who are seeking sanctuary. How many of these have there been now?

I'm frustrated that I don't see people speaking out against all political violence. Maybe that's something I need to do.

It just seems like such an obvious position.

Residents react to 'disgraceful' Peacehaven mosque fire A founding member of the mosque tells the BBC the

Now an attack on a Mosque in England. Wrong wrong wrong again.

Some people are trying to use our different religions to tear us apart.

Instead people of faith need to stand together and say, no violence, not in our name, the attacks need to stop.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

At primary school we sang:

When I needed a neighbour, were you there, were you there?
When I needed a neighbour, were you there?
And the creed and the colour and the name don't matter
Were you there?

That was long ago, but reading the news I think we need to sing it, and mean it, again.

I think we need to say this, keep saying this, then say it again.

If more self-described Christians loved their neighbours like Jesus taught, the world would be a much better place.

Sarah Mullally named as new Archbishop of Canterbury Dame Sarah, a former chief nursing officer, was previously the first female Bishop of London.

I have written to Anglican colleagues to welcome the new leader of the Anglican Communion. I pray for all religious leadership and for progress towards peace, gender equality and inter-religious understanding #LoveYourNeighbour www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Words of the statement: We are horrified at the terror attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, a Holy Day for the Jewish community. We stand with the Jewish community at this time and categorically reject all forms of antisemitism. Those who hold this ideology must be challenged and must never be allowed to win. We pray for the Jewish community, who will be deeply traumatised by this event. We pray for comfort for those who have lost loved ones. We thank the emergency services for their swift response, and we recognise with respect how, once again, they have put themselves in harm’s way to protect the community. We pray that all will come together in condemning this senseless attack. An attack against one faith community is an attack against us all. We commit ourselves to work for positive relationships between faiths and communities in our nation, now and always.

"An attack against one faith community is an attack against us all. "

The @churchesengland.bsky.social Presidents have issued a joint statement condemning yesterday's synagogue attack and antisemitism.

cte.org.uk/cte-presiden...

#ChurchesTogether #ChristianUnity