In May 2019, the annual Swarthmore Lecture was given by Eden Grace, a member of New England Yearly Meeting and Director of Global Ministries for Friends United Meeting (FUM). Eden’s lecture was entitled ‘On earth as it is in heaven: The Kingdom of God and the yearning of creation.’ I’m blogging my reflections on the lecture, chapter by … Continue reading Reading the 2019 Swarthmore Lecture – Ch 3: Beginning, end, and new beginning
Reading the 2019 Swarthmore Lecture – Ch 2: Staying low
In May 2019, the annual Swarthmore Lecture was given by Eden Grace, a member of New England Yearly Meeting and Director of Global Ministries for Friends United Meeting (FUM). Eden’s lecture was entitled ‘On earth as it is in heaven: The Kingdom of God and the yearning of creation.’ I’m blogging my reflections on the lecture, chapter by … Continue reading Reading the 2019 Swarthmore Lecture – Ch 2: Staying low
Reading the 2019 Swarthmore Lecture – Ch 1: The Kingdom is come and coming
In May 2019, the annual Swarthmore Lecture was given by Eden Grace, a member of New England Yearly Meeting and Director of Global Ministries for Friends United Meeting (FUM). Eden’s lecture was entitled ‘On earth as it is in heaven: The Kingdom of God and the yearning of creation.’ I'm blogging my reflections on the lecture, chapter by … Continue reading Reading the 2019 Swarthmore Lecture – Ch 1: The Kingdom is come and coming
Reading the 2019 Swarthmore Lecture – Introduction
In May 2019, the annual Swarthmore Lecture was given by Eden Grace, a member of New England Yearly Meeting and Director of Global Ministries for Friends United Meeting (FUM). Eden's lecture was entitled 'On earth as it is in heaven: The Kingdom of God and the yearning of creation.' This lecture set out a solid, … Continue reading Reading the 2019 Swarthmore Lecture – Introduction
My whole life as testimony
The first week of October is Quaker Week, when many Quaker meetings in Britain make a concerted effort to educate others about Quakerism. This Quaker Week, my local meeting invited me to give a short talk as part of a panel discussion on Quaker testimony, and here's an adapted version of what I said. I … Continue reading My whole life as testimony
What is ‘that-of-God in everyone’?
I suspect you only need to spend a short time with British Quakers before you hear the phrase ‘that of God in every one’. It may take a much longer time before someone tells you what they think it means. In this post I’ll explore the various meanings of this phrase, and how theologian Jürgen … Continue reading What is ‘that-of-God in everyone’?
‘Greet one another with a holy kiss (unless you’re both men)’
I learned that men don't kiss men when I was about 11. We were visiting an aunt and uncle, and I kissed my aunty when we were greeted at the door. As I moved to kiss my uncle, he stuck a hand out for me to shake. The gesture was very clear. I was too … Continue reading ‘Greet one another with a holy kiss (unless you’re both men)’
An update from Jolly Quaker
Hello Jolly Quaker readers. I hope you've had a good summer. Mine's been busy, often too busy, but full of things to be thankful for. Here's a short update about my blog and the plans I have for it. You may have noticed that I've posted very infrequently over the last year. That's because I've … Continue reading An update from Jolly Quaker
No shortcut to the Kingdom: Reflections from Britain Yearly Meeting 2019
From 24-27 May, Quakers in Britain met to consider issues of privilege, diversity and inclusion and climate justice. You can read the Epistle here. Friends who were hoping for clear decisions to made, or actions to be agreed upon, may be disappointed. Some may worry that the gathering constituted a lot of 'naval gazing'. To … Continue reading No shortcut to the Kingdom: Reflections from Britain Yearly Meeting 2019
Jesus the key to my experience
As a Christian Quaker living in a post-Christian Quaker culture, I'm occasionally called upon to explain my Christianity to my fellow Quakers. I recently did this by saying 'Jesus is the key that unlocks my experience of the world'. I was then asked 'could you say more about that?', and I didn't really have an … Continue reading Jesus the key to my experience