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Greenbelt, is a festival of arts, justice and faith that takes place at Boughton House near Kettering in the Midlands of England. It's become almost an annual pilgrimage for me, and this year, helped by the glorious weather, it has refreshed and inspired me in unexpected ways. One of the highlights of the festival was… Continue reading Be a God-Bearer: A Quaker Mariology →

The George Gorman Lecture is given at the Yearly Meeting Gatherings of Quakers in Britain by a younger Friend. Tim Gee delivered the 2017 Gorman Lecture - 'Movement Building from Stillness' - on Wednesday 2 August. I would like to congratulate Tim on his excellent, engaging and thought provoking lecture. He presented hard truths in… Continue reading Re-Membering Scripture: a footnote to the 2017 George Gorman Lecture →

1. Is Quakerism like Marmite? I believe that Quakerism is for everyone. Apparently this is a controversial thing to say amongst British Quakers, so I’d like to have a go at explaining what I mean by this, and why I believe it’s important. I suspect that what most people mean when they say that ‘Quakerism… Continue reading Is Quakerism like Marmite? →

2016 has given me much to be thankful for: the birth of my nephew, a year of continuing job satisfaction and being part of a vibrant faith community are at the top of my list. 2016 has also been a disturbing and troubling year. The continuing escalation of the refugee crisis, climate disruption and global… Continue reading Spiritual practice for uncertain times →

2016 has seen my blogging rate slow considerably. Apologies dear reader! When I started the blog I worked a 3-day week (those were the days!) and now I have a full time job. Since October, the blogging time I had left over after domestic duties has now been taken up with a rather intense three… Continue reading Quakers and the theological dinner party →

This year like most years I attended Greenbelt, a festival of arts, justice and faith. As a last minute decision, I attended a panel discussion entitled ‘The Lemonade Effect: Beyoncé, blackness, feminism and white discomfort’. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the festival, being both educational and energizing, prompting me to… Continue reading Reflections from Greenbelt – Beyoncé and white Quaker discomfort →

Before Jolly Quaker, I began my blogging adventure on qicil.com, the catchily titled 'Quaker Intentional Community in London' blog. That blog no longer exists, and we never did start a Quaker intentional community in London, but many great conversations were had, and I wrote a few good posts. Here's the first of a few that… Continue reading God, food and me →

My last post concluded on a pessimistic note. The last four weeks have certainly shaken me up. In the wake of the referendum it's felt like there's been horrifying event after horrifying event, to the point where I've taken to turning the radio off. Too much bad news. Finding hope by looking backwards What I've been… Continue reading After the referendum – finding hope →

The days following the EU referendum result filled me with an obsessive, disbelieving sadness that verged on grief. I hadn’t even countenanced a ‘leave’ victory, the case for ‘remain’ seemingly so sensible. I know not everyone who voted ‘leave’ did so for racist reasons, but because people like Nigel Farage campaigned on an anti-immigration ticket,… Continue reading After the referendum – a Quaker response →

Some valuable words from Friend Ben: '...without healthy Christian roots, latter-day British Quakerism has been thrown back on the dominant God-hypothesis of our culture; a theory of God which leads either to the God of the gaps (which Pascal calls ‘deism’) or non-theism. Yet, there is an alternative to these two visions; a God-talk that… Continue reading Quaker Non-Theism and the God of Pascal →