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Quaker faith in action newsletter

The below is the latest news from the Quakers

Quaker faith in action
 
March 2023

Dear Friend,
      “…we know that there isn’t one right thing to do, the important thing is to do our best, and not give up. We each commit to listen to each other, love and support each other, work and worship together. […] The universe is participatory, there are no bystanders. Our commitment to climate justice encourages us to see everything we do as something which is of god or against god.”
– Living Witness 2022 Closing Minute
This month many Quakers will be gathering in London with others on Friday 21 April to take a stand for climate justice. If you’d like to be there, you can find out more here. We are holding you in the Light.

Action on climate justice can take many forms, as well as protest. This newsletter looks at some of the many ways you can find a place in the climate justice movement and some of the heartfelt and heartening work Quakers are already undertaking.

In Friendship, 

Ailish
Faith in Action Coordinator

Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW)
www.quaker.org.uk/our-work
Act

The Big One: Climate Protest 21 – 24 April
                                                                                                                                          Image: Unsplash by Markus Spiske

On the weekend of 21 – 24 April 2023, Quakers across Britain will be gathering with others in London to give witness to our concern for climate justice. If you will be attending, Westminster Meeting Library will be serving as a base from 9:00 until 17:00 each day (except Sunday morning, when it is in use for meeting for worship). You can find more information about what will be happening each day here.

Many Friends have spoken about wanting a visible Quaker presence so if you have banners, bringing them would be much appreciated. You can also buy a Quakers for Climate Justice t-shirt here if you would like.

If you would like more information, please contact faithinaction@quaker.org.uk
 

Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS)

13 April – 9 May 2023
                                                                                                               Image: Global Campaign for Military Spending

Quakers will once again be supporting the Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS).

This annual event is timed to coincide with the release of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s figures on the colossal sums spent worldwide on armed forces. This is money which contributes to military carbon emissions and diverts funding from work to stop climate breakdown. GDAMS helps to spread the word about military spending while the media’s attention is focused on the issue. It makes it an ideal time to hold a vigil or join an existing action. 
 
See here for further details and for any queries or to let us know what your meeting will be doing, please contact dixew@quaker.org.uk
 
 
Reflect

Awards Made by Quaker Housing Trust
                                                                                                                                                        Image: Quaker Housing Trust
Quaker Housing Trust made awards in February to three great organisations to create safe and secure homes.Ella’s in London received a pledge to support the purchase of a new safe house for women who have been trafficked. Assist Sheffield received an award to support the purchase of new property to house refugees.  An award was also made to Deptford Ragged Trust to support the development of 33 flats for young people who have experienced homelessness in south London.

If you would like to support future work by the Quaker Housing Trust, you can donate here to make sure we can make awards like this in the future.
Learn

Free session on nonviolent Indigenous (Adivasi) resistance to coal mining
                                                                                                                                                 Image: Soni Sori by Garima JainA way to both learn and teach, the recording from this month’s Peace Education Network is now available to watch here. This skills share from London Mining Network demonstrates a collaborative teaching workshop exploring the experiences of frontline communities resisting the impacts of mega coal mining. It highlights what is at stake for people on the frontlines of defending against climate breakdown. 

This recording could support you to run an event in your community to discuss climate change, especially as protests in London could put it back in people’s minds this month.

The next skillshare will be with Positive Negatives and Life Worlds on 21 June. Contact peaceedu@quaker.org.uk for more information.
 

Getting active on climate justice after April
                                                                                                                                                 Image: Quakers in Britain
Quakers in Britain will be offering the following online sessions in the month after 21 April to look at a range of ways to take action if you feel energised by having gone to London, or want to act on climate justice but don’t feel that large protests are where you are being led.

  • The Big One Debrief on 3 May: a space to be together and prayerfully reflect on the action in London from 21 April – 23 April (link to be sent to those who attended)
  • Nurturing Nature on 9 May: looking at practical local projects protecting nature, with case studies from Spiceland, Hoddeston and Norton Local Meetings
  • Building Community Power on 18 May: drawing on ideas from Rupert Read’s ‘moderate flank’ and Citizens UK, with case studies from Newcastle and Taunton Local Meetings
  • Pressuring Powerful Institutions on 22 May: focusing on influencing existing power structures, with case studies from Quakers involved in climate change direct action and Quakers in Britain’s Loss and Damage campaign
 
Adult Education Grants open
                                                                                                                                                    Image: Quakers in Britain       
“It has been a nourishing, challenging, transformative experience, which will remain with me going forward.”  – MA graduate in Gender, Media and CultureAny mature student or graduate who is a member of Britain Yearly Meeting, or an attender of at least five years, can apply for an Adult Education Grant to follow a course that will equip them to serve society or Quakers in Britain if they need financial support to do so.

For more information on the grants and how to apply, please click here.
 
International peacebuilding Special Interest Meeting

Saturday 22 April 16:00 – 17:00 (BST)
                                                                                    Image: AfriNov (Benson Khamasi in action delivering nonviolence training)

Come along to hear about QPSW supported international peacebuilding work including nonviolence in East Africa and the conciliation programme.

Guest speakers are Benson Khamasi (Programme Officer at AfriNov, Kenya) and Ivan Hutnik from the QPSW international conciliation programme. They will share their experiences about nonviolence and conciliation approaches in international contexts and offer some thoughts about the importance of truth and integrity in their work.

This online Special Interest Meeting (SIM) is part of the preparation for Yearly Meeting 2023. To attend you’ll first need to register for Yearly Meeting, you’ll then receive an email when the online info goes live to book your place. More SIMs organised by QPSW will be announced in this mailing, so keep an eye out for the full list!
 
Celebrate
We really want to highlight things that are happening all over the country so if you have some good news or know of someone else’s work you think we should celebrate, please email us at faithinaction@quaker.org.uk

This month we’re focusing on just a few of the ways Quakers are taking action on climate breakdown and biodiversity loss.
 

Norton Quakers: Creating a nature haven
                                                                                                                                      Image: Tees Valley Wildlife Trust   
Norton Quakers partnered with The Wildlife Trust to create a nature garden in the grounds of their meeting house, despite having to overcome the challenge of it being filled with unmarked graves! You can watch a video about how they creatively and collaboratively approached this here, with the aim of creating a green space for nature and their community.
 

Malvern Quakers: Vigil for Defenders of the Earth
                                                                                                                                    Image: Melanie Jameson, 2023   
Malvern Quakers held a vigil in partnership with their local Extinction Rebellion group to  to honour people who have died or been imprisoned defending the earth – a moving example of how we can work with others in a our community on our concerns. You can read more here.
 

Chelmsford Meeting: Supporting Activists on Trial
                                                                                                                                      Image: Chelmsford Quaker Meeting   
Quakers in Chelmsford Quaker Meeting hosted Just Stop Oil protesters who were in the area for their trials, providing valuable support for their protest without being at the site themselves. You can read more here.

 

 

 

Newsletters

Salesians of Don Bosco Justice and Peace Newsletter – March 2023

 

Salesians of Don Bosco – Justice and Peace Newsletter – March 2023

 

Written by Fr Marco Villani SDB, the Justice and Peace newsletter for March 2023 looks at the fair payment for employment – Not just locally, but internationally.

Click here to read this months’ Justice and Peace Newsletter

 

Newsletters

NJPN Newsletter Spring 2023

The latest NJPN Newsletter, spring 2023 focuses on many topics such as “COP27 and the Environmental Crises”, Tax Justice “Can Tax Be Neighbourly?” and much more including news from the North East, Honeybees, news about our 2023 conference and future events

 

Click below to download and read the latest edition, feel free to share with others,

2023 Newsletter 1

Newsletters

NW NJPN E BULLETIN FOR APRIL 2023

The NW NJPN E BULLETIN FOR APRIL 2023 showcases Peggy Healy’s excellent lecture: ‘Responding to the Cry of the Poor Today’ for Romero Week – a long read but well worthwhile.  As we approach Easter there are reflections and a poem, plus an in-depth look at the ethical concerns around the chocolate industry.  There is an interesting extract from a talk by the late peace activist Jim Forest, an update from Life on the Breadline and CAFOD news as well as diary dates. This month’s issues is somewhat lighter on current articles because I lost all Hotmail access for a couple of weeks, only getting back into action yesterday, so apologies to anyone who has sent diary dates or articles recently.  The enforced quiet provided an opportunity to go through old emails, carefully deleting what was no longer necessary, and a host of interesting items came to light. 

 

Wishing all our readers the joys and blessings of the Easter season.

 

Anne O’Connor

 

NW NJPN Justice and Peace E Bulletin April 2023 

NJPN North West

NJPN E-Bulletin 19th March 2023

God of justice and peace,
We thank you for the vision and mission of the National Justice and Peace Network,
and for the people who work and pray for a more just and peaceful world.
We ask you to bless them with your grace and guidance,
and to inspire them with your Spirit of love and compassion.
Help them to be faithful witnesses of your Kingdom,
where all are welcome, respected and valued.
Help them to be agents of change and transformation,
where all are empowered, supported and challenged.
Help them to be signs of hope and joy,
where all are healed, reconciled and celebrated.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(courtesy of Paul Southgate, NJPN Chair, who asked Bing (AI) to write a prayer before a recent Executive Meeting)

Dear Friends,
 

Another fortnight has whizzed past, and the big issues being the Immigration Bill and the Budget. Interesting that once a ‘big name’ gets involved (as in Government/BBC vs Gary Lineker), everyone jumps on the bandwagon. In this case it is good publicity, but it then becomes more about the celebrity than the actual cause.

We have a rather different Action of the Week, which we hope you will engage with. Our leading section this weekend, though, is the Refugee situation. As you can imagine, there are lots of articles, many of which are saying something very similar. I have just picked a few of them.

This weekend we celebrate Mothering Sunday; however, I don’t believe you need to have had children, or indeed be female, to have been in a position to have looked after someone. Many of my generation no longer have children at home, but instead have elderly relatives that they are having to look after. Most of us have that mothering instinct which we have to draw on from time to time. regardless of who it is directed at. 
So, to all of you out there that care for someone, have a blessed day. You may not always feel appreciated, but you most definitely are. Thank you!

The next e-bulletin should be out on Palm Sunday, the 2nd April, as long as life doesn’t get in the way.

With all best wishes,

Sharon

NJPN E-Bulletin 19th March 2023

NJPN eBulletins

NJPN E-Bulletin 5th March 2023

“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.”
(Nelson Mandela)

Dear Friends,
 

Some years ago I ran a church youth club for Year 6 and over, and at that time CAFOD were using the above Nelson Mandela quote. It has always been one of my favourite quotes to inspire our youth, and it seems particularly apt in that this weekend 10,000 of our young people/catechists/Priests etc. are congregating in Wembley for Flame 2023. 
I was hoping to be there, but work/home commitments have got in the way. If there is some way that we can bottle the energy, vibrance and feel good factor of Flame, and bring it back to the parishes, and the organisations that we are all part of, then the church and its charities would be thriving. 

Speaking from experience here, many of our young people (the TikTok Generation as I have heard them called) are more worried about which gender, if any, they want to identify with, and whether what their parents are saying is politically correct, rather than rolling up their sleeves and getting involved.
We have a world that is in a mess; the climate issues, the threat of yet another World War; the cost of living. How do we focus the youth that are not engaged into realising that this is their world too?

One idea would be to encourage them to attend the NJPN Conference in July. At a recent Conference Planning Meeting, one of the big things that came out was to find ways to get some more young people to attend. The Conference has a great energy to it, and if we could just get them through the door, I am sure they would be just as enthused as we are to be there. I know my son was 19 when he attended the online Conference (during the Covid year). He is now 22 and this year will be his third Conference in person – and he has never looked back. If you have children or grandchildren that you feel might benefit from coming along, please consider bringing them. If they are students at Uni, maybe their CathSoc would sponsor them. I know some of the Dioceses are looking at bursary schemes for young people. Why not approach yours?

(CAFOD also have some ways that young people can get involved on their website. That is also well worth a look.)

Last week’s Networking Day on the Cost of Living Crisis was fantastic, and we have a little bit about it further down. Well done to our Speakers and the work that they are doing. I believe that a recording of the Day will be on the website sometime soon. Our Action of the Week came out of one of the discussions from last weekend.

All being well, the next e-bulletin will be out around the 18th March, so if you have anything that you want included, I would appreciate receiving it by Friday 16th please.

God bless, and keep up the good work,

Sharon

 

NJPN E-Bulletin 5th March 2023

NJPN eBulletins

Concerted Action by Justice and Peace Europe for 2023-2024

On Ash Wednesday Justice and Peace Europe launched their next concerted action. It will last for 2 years. 
 
Further details and concrete proposals will be shared in the forthcoming weeks.
 
Please publish the information and documents also through your channels.
 
 
 
J&P Europe

NW NJPN E BULLETIN MARCH 2023

The March issue of the NW NJPN E BULLETIN leads with a statement from Church leaders concerned by the increasing cycle of violence in the Holy Land.  One year on from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pax Christi International expresses deep concern for the countless victims of a war that has led to death, injury, displacement, trauma, and ecological harm.  Joseph Kelly reports on the uncertain situation for Ukrainian refugees here in the UK as the war drags on whilst Professor Ian Linden examines the background that links Putin’s war and South Africa.  Other topics featured are Climate Action, the 25TH Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, a look at Pope Francis’ papacy ten years on, CAFOD news from Lancaster diocese and upcoming events in Liverpool archdiocese, including a Romero Anniversary Memorial Mass followed by a talk from Peggy Healy. Ellen Teague reports on NJPN’s recent online Networking Day on ‘Cost of Living Crisis – Living or Existing’ and has advance news of this July’s NJPN Conference on the theme ‘Sustainability? Survival or Shutdown’.  All this and a packed diary.

Please pass on to others.

Best wishes

Anne O’Connor

 

NW NJPN Justice and Peace E Bulletin March 2023 

NJPN North West

Spring Mouthpeace 2023

I am pleased to send you this Spring Mouthpeace.  There are some things to do during Lent including things to watch and join online. The first starts on this Wednesday with the first of the weekly Pax Christi online meditation on the Peace Icon.  There are several things going on this weekend and though March.  Please check the Diary.
 
This Mouthpeace seems to have an ecological slant- thanks to some of the Laudato Si’ animators who have sent things  to me. But this is good preparation for the Swanwick Conference in July.  
 
Please pass this on to anyone whom you think may be interested. 
 
Marian
 
NJPN North West

Pax Christi International Declaration on the War in Ukraine: One Year after the Russian Invasion
 
“Let us look at all those civilians whose killing was considered ‘collateral damage.’ Let us ask the
victims themselves. Let us think of the refugees and displaced… the mothers who lost their children, and the boys and girls maimed or deprived of their childhood. Let us hear the true stories…look at reality through their eyes…In this way, we will be able to grasp the abyss of evil at the heart of war. Nor will it trouble us to be deemed naive for choosing peace.” – Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti, 2020, par. 261.
 
One year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pax Christi International expresses our deep concern for countless victims of a war that has led to death, injury, displacement, trauma, and ecological harm. This war has generated almost 6 million internally displaced persons and 8 million refugees; killed more than 7,200 civilians including over 400 children and hundreds of thousands of soldiers; and caused generational trauma.
 
The war of aggression against Ukraine has clearly demonstrated that no international authority exists with sufficient wisdom to effectively address the root causes or with adequate means to have prevented Russia’s brutal invasion. International law provides every sovereign nation with the right to self-defense. In a world of highly destructive weapons, armed self-defense may trigger an escalation to extremes that can even lead to a nuclear war.
 
For this reason, Pax Christi International urgently calls on the international community to
immediately facilitate diplomatic initiatives, to restore the international order and the territorial integrity of Ukraine. We plead with Russia and Ukraine to enter negotiations directly, on neutral ground, and with a mutually agreeable mediator.
 
Insufficient investment in developing and scaling up proven effective nonviolent strategies for defense, including civilian based defense, has created the impression that self-defense is always armed. Many Ukrainians are demonstrating clearly and with great courage, however, that nonviolent defense can be very effective and could be much more readily available with significant investment in resources, training, and research.
 
Pax Christi International calls on the international community to invest in developing nonviolent strategies for defense and just peace.
 
As a human rights and peace movement, Pax Christi International advocates for the right of conscientious objection for soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict. We call for sufficient independence for media, political opposition parties, and civil society in Russia; we highly value the many forms of nonviolent resistance to the war by Russian society; and we support all Russians who protest against the war, risking arrest and imprisonment.
 
This war also shows the immorality of the possession of nuclear weapons and the urgent need for nuclear abolition. President Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine reminded the world that a single nuclear bomb detonated could create a humanitarian disaster of unparalleled proportions. A full-scale nuclear war would spell the end of human civilization as we know it.
 
Pax Christi International calls on all States to delegitimize these weapons and strengthen the legal norm against their use by signing and ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
 
Pax Christi International also urges a Human Security approach in Europe and in the world. Russia should be included, as well as Belarus and Ukraine, in a broader security concept based on trust building and collective security, oriented by a just peace framework. A Human Security approach also recognizes with UN SCR1325 that peace and security efforts will be more sustainable if women take part in the prevention of violence, the delivery of relief, trauma healing, and recovery efforts for lasting peace.
 
The need for people-to-people peace processes that involve dialogue between the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, including women and youth, are important to the prevention and transformation of violent conflict. Pax Christi International supports initiatives that allow contact, cooperation, and healing.
 
Pax Christi International is a movement for reconciliation and active nonviolence, founded at the end of the Second World War with a deep belief in the possibility of just peace. We are painfully aware that war is not limited to Ukraine; that violence is endemic in many corners of the world; that a new logic of peace and nonviolence is urgently needed.
 
We call Pax Christi members and all people of good will to pray and to mobilize for peace, urging States to address the relationship between human security, care for creation, human dignity, and sustainable peace and to advocate urgently for dialogue.
 
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine is inflicting untold suffering on the Ukrainian people, with profound
global implications. The prospects for peace keep diminishing. The chances of further escalation and
bloodshed keep growing. I fear the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war.
I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open.”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (6 February 2023)
 
If we want to reap the harvest of peace and justice in the future,
we will have to sow seeds of nonviolence here and now, in the present.”
Mairead Maguire | Irish Peace Activist and Nobel Peace Laureate
Areas of Conflict, Peace

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