Quaker Week 2010 - What's happening in Scotland.....

EDINBURGH

Plans are still at an early stage, but these are some of the talks and events we hope will take place at the Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, between September 27th and October 6th.  Further details to follow.

KELSO

Kelso Friends are holding a week of events at the Quaker Meeting House, Abbey Row, Kelso.

Exhibitions about the Quaker Housing Trust, the Quaker Tapestry and Quaker Peace and Social Witness can be viewed daily from 1.00 - 6.00pm.

In addition the following talks will be held:

Saturday 2 October at 10.30am, Jane Pearn will talk about Healing the Land in Cambodia

Tuesday 5 October at 7.30pm, Phil Lucas, a peace-worker in Palestine/Israel, will talk about the Siege of Jerusalem 2010

Wednesday 6 October at 7.30pm, Chris Wood will speak about What Peace Means to Me

All events are free.  For more information download Find Out About Quakers

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These are some of the things that happened in Scotland in Quaker Week 2009:

In Montrose, Angus Quakers  gathered for their first ever outdoor Meeting for Worship on a bright and blustery Sunday. They assembled their table and chairs in the centre of the piazza at the top of the town's High Street alongside the buzz of the busy and popular farmers market and at 10am they took their places amid the noise of the stall holders, traffic and rapidly filling High Street. To their amazement their own stillness and silence took hold and they settled into Meeting. They were joined by two elders from the Church of Scotland. Alongside this two members of their Meeting offered Quaker leaflets to passers by and offered an explanation of what was going on.

The Meeting heard a reading from Advices and Queries and two Friends gave spoken ministry, one making a link with the event and the earliest record of Quaker Meeting in Montrose in 1692. At 10.30 they shook hands and gathered even closer together for much needed hot coffee as the wind on this Scottish October morning was becoming rather ‘fresh’. As they tidied up and prepared to leave their clerk commented: ‘This should give us confidence to do other events’. The local newspaper, the Montrose Review, ran a story in their 1 October edition and the regional newspaper, the Dundee Courier, ran a timely story on Saturday morning.

Great outreach, great inreach and highly recommended. (Just remember to dress warmly!)

Edinburgh Friends had a very busy week:

Rex Ambler gave a series of talks on the ‘Quaker Way’ and a morning's "Experiment with Light" workshop.
There were workshops on ‘Spiritual Healing and the Quaker Message’ and ‘Weaving Together’ (involving creative art). 

Quaker Tapestry panels were used to illustrate a talk on "Equality and Emancipation", and on a similar theme a workshop entitled ‘Suffragettes or Suffragists’ covered the particular Scottish Quaker involvement and its antithesis to the direct action associated with the militant suffragettes.

During the week there were also talks on the work of Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva, Europe and Middle-East Section (EMES) of Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), and the Brussels office of the Quaker Council for European Affairs; on the current situation with healthcare in North Western Pakistan and the support given by an Edinburgh Friend to this project over many years; and on the experiences of a member of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).