The Australian Friend
Journal of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia
About
The Australian Friend is the official journal of The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia Inc. It has been continuously published since 1887. There are four issues per year, in March, June, September and December.
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Editorial
We are told that in our spoken ministry we should not be political, but from the beginnings Quakers have not been afraid to become involved in politics if that was needed to further moral and...
Diplomacy: Is it a Sign of Weakness?
David Purnell, Canberra and Region QuakersThis article is based on a talk given at the QPLC webinar on 30 April, 2022There was a news headline in The Canberra Times on 27 March 2022 saying:...
Climate change, biodiversity conservation and pollution
David Shorthouse, Canberra and Region QuakersThis article is based on a talk given at the QPLC webinar on 30 April, 2022“We are called to consider the world as an enspirited whole, to accept no...
Climate and security
Dale Hess, Victoria Regional MeetingThis article is based on a talk given at the QPLC webinar on 30 April, 2022National security has been a key issue in the federal election. The...
Raising Peace: taking away the occasion of war
Aletia Dundas, New South Wales Regional MeetingThis article is based on a presentation given at the Raising Peace event, on ANZAC Day, 25th April 2022 On this ANZAC Day like every...
Reflections on a train from Geneva
Tim Gee, General Secretary of the Friends World Committee for ConsultationI write from a train, on the way from Geneva, following the Quaker United Nations Committee in support of the teams who...
Yuggera Boys Home
Lindsay Vieth, Queensland Regional MeetingThe gully on the Brisbane Meeting House land allows water to flow to Enoggera Creek, fed by Enoggera reservoir, and over a few ridges lies the...
QSA Notes: Working with Indigenous Groups
Jackie Perkins, QSA Executive AdministratorMany meetings, TV news presentations, forums and conventions now begin with an acknowledgement of country, paying respect to First Nations Elders past,...
Know thy Friend
Diana Pittock, Victoria RegionalMeetingPelicans! The beginning of my river of life. My life ahead was not planned but evolved, perhaps from an awareness which began at 5, when I saw for the first...
The Thucydides Trap: Stumbling blindly into nuclear war on a rapidly warming Earth
Andrew Glikson, Canberra and District QuakersThucydidesOn a rapidly warming planet engulfed by bush fires, collapsing glaciers, floods and rising oceans, the last thing needed is the growing threat...
A brief journey back in time
Michael Corbett, Queensland Regional MeetingMy association with Friends at the Kelvin Grove Meeting House goes back over 40 years. During that time there have been many different scenarios by which...
Noted
This is our regular feature in which we briefly record interesting publications and websites that have come to our attention. Inclusion of an item in this format does not preclude a possible longer...
Editorial
“Holding in the Light” is a commonly used Quaker expression which has added significance in these troubled times. Sometime it just seems to mean “I’ll be thinking of you”, but some Friends find a...
Holding in the Light
Duncan Frewin Michael Corbett and Duncan Frewin, Queensland Regional Meeting Quakers often use the term “holding in the Light”. Holding someone in the Light seems to replace the prayers of...
Holding in the Light –My experience
Moira Darling, Victoria Regional MeetingIt was the experience of being held in the Light during a time of discord and misunderstandings in my local meeting that convinced me I was a Quaker. It was...
Some fruits of spiritual preparation
Tim Gee, Friends World Committee for Consultation"When the Friends World Committee for Consultation announced that for their next General Secretary they would like me, my first response was joy –...