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
As the war in Ukraine enters its third year and images of bombed out starving Palestinians fill our tv screens, I am reminded of a recent online philosophy class (U3A) where three Quakers...
A letter to Quakers: principled impartiality
Aletia Dundas, New South Wales Regional MeetingDear Friends, I feel like I’m standing up in meeting with my heart racing and a heaviness that I can’t shake. Friends, over the past few months when...
A listening pilgrimage across these lands now called Australia
Lisa Wriley, New South Wales Regional MeetingMay the gum tree from its roots to its branches remind us to dig deep and reach high in our action for justice.(from an Aboriginal Blessing on Country by...
Where spirituality and justice meet: A Pilgrimage
A Wakka Wakka woman and member of the Wellspring CommunityIn October 2022, I had a phone conversation with Dr Diane Speed AM, inviting me to participate as a curator of on an online seminar for the...
The interconnectedness of all life: what does love require of us?
Jenny Turton, Victoria Regional MeetingWe do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures and seek to maintain the beauty and...
Know thy Friend: Pat Mavromatis
Pat Mavromatis Peter Jones, Tasmania Regional MeetingPat Mavromatis comes from an illustrious Quaker ancestry as her great-great-grandfather, Henry Propsting (originally a Congregationalist from...
For it is the light which makes all things visible
David Johnson, Queensland Regional MeetingFor it is the light which makes all things visible (Eph. 5:14 NIV) - so what is this light? It is not the normal daylight of the Sun shining upon the world....
QSA Notes: Highlights from the 2023 Annual Report
Cressida Hall, QSA Executive ManagerI have now been in the position of Executive Manager for around four months. My first few months were a blur of learning, meeting people and trying to understand...
Silver Wattle Committee and Community Gathering and Board Retreat 12-16 January 2024
Trish Johnson, Queensland Regional Meeting“Acknowledging the past and preparing for an uncertain future” This Gathering was held as the second cyclone was approaching North Queensland along...
The sense of presence
Noël Staples, Peterborough Meeting, Cambridgeshire Area Meeting, UKSome time ago I remember ministering about how my sense of the presence seemed that morning to delight in itself, and how I shared...
Health care inequities for transgender and gender-diverse people in Australia
Judith Pembleton, Queensland Regional MeetingGender diversity is often presented in the media as a recent 'trend' or a new 'issue', but the Encyclopedia Britannica, among other sources, indicates...
Yearly Meeting 2024, Saturday 6th to Saturday 13th July
SANTRM Yearly Meeting organisersMarch update A unique opportunity The organisers are delighted to hear that many Friends are planning to come to Adelaide in person in July, the first face-to-face...
Hill of Vision
(A Ballad of George Fox at 400) Tune: Slane* It was to the hill of visionThat a young man was calledAnd upon it he soundedThe day of the LordAnd there he had a visionOf a people near and farWho...
Letter to the Editor
Dying to be Green During the mini-Yearly Meeting in January, Katherine Purnell raised the issue of how to dispose of corpses so as to minimise damage to the environment. I explored this topic in a...
Book Review: Enlarging the Tent: Two Quakers in Conversation About Racial Justice by Jonathan Doering and Nim Njuguna
This book uses the metaphor of “enlarging the tent” to describe what the two Quaker authors feel is essential for freeing the life-blood of Quaker communities into channels that can help to heal the...
Book Review: The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel exports the technology of occupation around the world by Antony Loewenstein.
Antony Loewenstein is an Australian Jew who is disturbed by how far Israel has fallen from its aspiration to be " a light unto the nations." The book was published before the current war in Gaza....
Editorial
In this issue, as we approach George Fox’s 400th birthday, we look back to past spiritual guides, and forward to see how our ancient testimonies can be applied to the current state of the world....
Devoted Friends: glimpses of QUNO Geneva in its 75th year
Adrian Glamorgan, West Australia Regional Meeting and Asia West Pacific Secretary for the Friends World Committee for Consultation Quaker United Nations Office is now officially 75 years young, with...