News Release: Sharing faith in Quaker Week 2 to 10 October

24 September 2010
Sharing faith in Quaker Week
“Belief. In action” is the theme for this year’s national Quaker Week, being marked by Quakers around Britain from 2 to 10 October.

Quakers say that faith is about action in the world. At all kinds of events - from cream teas to porridge breakfasts, students’ fairs, quiet open gardens and market stalls - they will speak about their historic commitment to peace, equality, simplicity and truth, which challenges them to seek positive social change.
 
Newly appointed Outreach Officer Alistair Fuller says: “I have been delighted by the energy and imagination in so many events. Quakerism is a way of life that really connects what we believe with what we do, cherishing that which is sacred in everyone. During Quaker Week we particularly want to share that with the communities in which we live and also to invite people to the stillness of our Meetings for Worship which are inclusive and open to all.”
 
An anthology sharing the religious experience of Quakers in their worship and in the world, will be launched in Friends House (opposite Euston Station) at 6pm on Wednesday 6 October. In The Spirit of the Quakers Geoffrey Durham introduces quotations from well-known Quakers such as George Fox, William Penn, John Greenleaf Whittier, Elizabeth Fry and John Woolman, as well as many up-to-date authors. Geoffrey Durham was a founding member of Quaker Quest, a pioneering outreach project. He has worked professionally in the performing arts for more than forty years.
 
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Notes to editor:

• Quakers are known formally as the Religious Society of Friends.
• The Religious Society of Friends was founded as a radical Christian movement in seventeenth century England. Today, around 23,000 people attend Quaker Meetings for Worship in Britain and there are about 470 Meetings.
• The Spirit of the Quakers by Geoffrey Durham is published by Yale University Press in association with The International Sacred Literature Trust (ISBN 9780300167368 price £9.99 244pp). See http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300167368
• Quakers in England, Scotland and Wales will be available for interview and for providing Thoughts for the Day for local radio. Contact Anne van Staveren on 020 7663 1048. 
• For a full list of events see http://www.quaker.org.uk/fam/happening
  Events include:
• Aberdeen Quakers are holding taster meetings for worship on Saturday 2 October at the Meeting House at 98 Crown Street.
• Bolton Quakers are planning a workshop with Northern Friends Peace Board to encourage creative and effective peacebuilding in communities and in the wider world, on Saturday 2 October from 10.30am to 4.00pm, in Bolton Quaker Meeting House.
• Cambridge Quakers have two talks planned. On Monday 4 October at 7.30pm Quakers will speak about their recent visit to Quakers in Cuba. On Wednesday 6 October at 7.30pm Michael Bartlet, Quaker Parliamentary Liaison Secretary will speak on “The Age of Responsibility: How Quakers engage with parliament and government in order to express Quaker values and experience, including the issue of under 18s in the British army. Both events at Friends Meeting House, 12 Jesus Lane, Cambridge CB5 8BA
• Clun Valley Quakers are holding a public meeting “Prison Reform – the case for Change” at 3pm on 9 October at Church Barn, Bishop’s Castle. The speaker will be Juliet Lyon, director of Prison Reform Trust.
• Ilkley Quakers will have Professor Paul Rogers from Bradford University speaking on Peaceful responses to terrorism, at 7.30pm on Friday 8 October at Ilkley Meeting House.
• Leicester Quakers offer an opportunity to hear about building good relations between Christians and Muslims, listening to a peace worker funded by the Quakers (Wednesday 6 October) at Meeting House in Queens Road.
• University chaplains are planning stalls at Freshers’ Fairs, including Hull and the University of London. Quaker Schools are holding open days during the Week. See http://www.quakerschools.co.uk/
• The Week sees performances by Quaker Theatre Company of Kay Munk’s play “The Word” at meeting houses around the country. This hard-hitting play, set to challenge people of any faith, includes scenes unsuitable for under 16 year olds. Venues include London, Peterborough, Birmingham, Southampton, Bristol, Leeds, Kendal, York, Sheffield and Malton. See http://www.quakertheatrecompany.co.uk/

Media Information
Anne van Staveren
0207 663 1048 or 07958 009703
annev@quaker.org.uk
www.quaker.org.uk