Truth and repair – our Quaker journey towards justice.
23 October 2026, London
The BYM Trustees' Reparation Working Group invites Friends to join a day of learning, reflection, and discernment as we share the journey we have been on. We start with the call to action in Minutes 27 and 33 of Yearly Meeting 2022:
Love and justice require us to tell the truth, as best we can, about historic and contemporary injustices. We encourage local and area meetings to begin, or continue, work to understand how Quakers and Quaker structures benefitted from the transatlantic slave trade.
and
We have heard that love and justice also require us to consider deeply how the Society of Friends in Britain might make financial and other reparation for our part in the wrongs of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Since its formation in 2023, the Reparation Working Group has been engaged in a process of asking what reparative justice may mean. We have undertaken significant truth-seeking work into Quaker complicity in enslaving and trafficking Africans across the Atlantic, British Quaker colonialism, and economic exploitation.
The Historical Workstream has researched Quaker connections in Lancaster, Bristol, Sheffield & Balby, Hertford & Hitchin, Oxford & Swindon and Central England Area Meetings.
Our Theological Workstream, in collaboration with Woodbrooke, has explored the theological arguments once used to justify enslavement, alongside the theologies of abolition and the spiritual and theological dimensions of reparative justice .
We have come to understand that we must first seek the truth, both in the past and the present. Telling the truth about history and listening carefully to the lived experiences and enduring legacies of enslavement and trafficking of Africans across the Atlantic enables us to comprehend what needs to be repaired. This also requires us to recognise how the past harms of enslavement, colonialism and exploitation continue to shape lives, communities, systems and inequalities today.
This conference will offer space not only to confront discomforting histories, but also to consider how truth-telling, accountability, and spiritual discernment can help shape more hopeful and faithful futures.
During the conference
The day will include:
- Presentations from the Historical and Theological Workstreams
- Opportunities for worship and spiritual reflection
- Space for questions and discernment
- Contributions from invited speakers and researchers
- Hybrid participation for both in-person and online attendees
- A light lunch will be provided on the day
A full programme will be shared ahead of the event.
Photo: Negre marron and the national palace | Kristina Just | Flickr | license CC BY 2.0
More information
For more information contact:
Esta Nyeko
Telephone: