Quakers in Britain have highlighted concerns about the proposed implementation of the Equality Act 2010 relating to civil partnerships in religious premises, saying that they would be deterred by the cost of registering premises and bureaucratic hurdles such as procedures for layout and holding the ceremony and using an external registrar. “If religious premises are…
Quaker Peace and Social Witness Spring Conference By Tim Herrick, Sam Robinson, and Sue Smith The Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW) conference (25-27/03/2011) was an excellent opportunity to learn more about the work of this important Quaker body, to meet some of the people at the heart of its activities, and to learn more…
by Murray Short Paper presented by the Treaty Relationships Group to the Yearly Meeting of the Aotearoa/ New Zealand Society of Friends on 20 May 2011  Introduction Constitutional review is on the political agenda in Aotearoa *1 thanks to the agreement on confidence and supply between the MÄori Party *2 and the National *3 led Government. It…
The Constitutional System in New Zealand l We follow the British tradition, very unusual among nations, of not having a written constitution. In fact our constitution is based heavily on the British one, so it is a mix of ancient documents (Magna Carta, the 1688 Bill of Rights, etc) and “constitutional conventions†(the way things…
by Jay Clark On Thursday morning, Christian writer Symon Hill began a 160 mile walk of repentance for his former homophobia. The idea of doing a pilgrimage of repentance first came to him over 18 months ago, and, speaking the night before he began walking, Symon told the audience at Carrs Lane church in central…
Epistle from Yearly Meeting May 2011 Greetings to Friends everywhere The Yearly Meeting of Aotearoa/New Zealand was held May 20-23 2011 at the Quaker Settlement in Whanganui and included visiting Friends from Australia, South Korea and Britain. The opening welcome, partly in Te Reo Maori, confirmed for us that the Quaker Settlement is the “turangawaewae 
Harriet Hart is one of the editors of Spirit Rising, an anthology of Quaker youth ministry. She talked to Nayler about the book and her own experience of being involved in the project. You’re one of the editors of the Spirit Rising. What is it and why should people read it? Â Spirit Rising is…
Quakers & Business non-executive directors gathering 06-07/06/2011 minute: Fourth annual gathering of non-executive directors (NxD) 06 and 07/06/2011, Woodbrooke, Birmingham Nearly 20 Friends gathered at Woodbrooke with the theme of Organisational Structures for the Big Society. Big Society agenda After dinner on 6 June, Steve Wyler, CEO of LOCALITY spoke and introduced a lively discussion.…
In 06/2011Â David Atwood retires from the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva. He came to QUNO to lead the peace and disarmament programme and was later appointed as director. Thirteen years ago he was invited to address Switzerland Yearly Meeting on the subject of Faith and Action. David has offered his ministry to Nayler. Friends,…
by Jay Clark James Turrell is a light artist and an architect. He is also a Quaker, and created one of his skyspace installations for Live Oak Friends Meeting in Houston, Texas. His installations are site specific, and often change with the time of day. People often say that they are hard to describe, and…