Tag Archives: quakers

Public Silent Quaker Peace Witness (Saturday Nov 8)

Dublin Monthly Meeting Peace Committee plans to hold another Silent Quaker Peace Witness on Saturday Nov 8 from 11.30am to 12.30pm, outside the gates of St Stephen’s Green at the top of Grafton St, Dublin. Friends from all Meetings, and their friends, are once again very welcome.

We are mindful that the following Tuesday 11th November is Armstice Day, which commemorates the ending of World War One in which 15 to 20  million individual people lost their lives.  And how may individuals and families lived with severe physical and mental injury for the rest of their lives?  Was this the war to end wars?

I would like to share with you a reflection given by our Friend Fiona Murdoch recently to the Ireland Interfaith Forum on Peace. I hope you will find a way to share this with many people of all faiths and of none. 

Where do we find the divine — the source of peace?

Did Elijah hear God in the storm, the earthquake, or the fire?
No. It was only when silence fell, did “a still, small voice” emerge.

That same “still, small voice” lives in us all,
called God, Allah, Yahweh, or another name.
Small, yet powerful —
encouraging us to become channels of peace and love.

What if we took time each day to listen in stillness and silence to that voice?
And what if we dared to act on its promptings and leadings?

What if we listened to one another with empathy and respect,
seeing light in every soul,
embracing our differences,
treating all as equals,
speaking love, not fear?

Because the still, small voice is love.
Love for Earth
and for the web of life that holds us all —
human and other-than-human,
seen and unseen,
one sacred whole.

What kind of world might we create
if we tuned into that “still, small voice” within —
and followed its leadings?
If we chose to live with integrity and generosity,
seeing the world’s resources as something to share,
not fight over?

Could we — would we — find the courage
to fan the flames of justice and peace?
To rise, to speak, to act —
and begin to weave a new world?
One not built on fear or greed,
but rooted deeply in love?

It will be then—and only then—
that we can truthfully call ourselves peacemakers.

Thanks

Sean Kinsella, Dublin MM Peace Committee

Public Silent Quaker Peace Witness (Saturday Aug 2)

Dublin Monthly Meeting Peace Committee plans to hold another Silent Quaker Peace Witness on Saturday Aug 2 from 11.30am to 12.30pm, outside the gates of St Stephen’s Green at the top of Grafton St, Dublin. Friends from all Meetings, and their friends, are once again very welcome.

We plan to hold it in the form of a Meeting for Worship as we
stand on the street, with 2 Friends holding a banner which reads
“Quaker Peace Witness” and with two being available with
leaflets to speak with any passer-by who wishes to ask a
question or interact.

We hope that our silent worship will encourage many people to
consider peace and how we may all help to advance it. We
hope that Friends and Attenders from many Meetings, as well as
family members and friends will again come and join us.

Public Silent Quaker Peace Witness (Saturday May 3)

Dublin Monthly Meeting Peace Committee plans to hold another Silent Quaker Peace Witness on Saturday May 3 from 11.30am to 12.30pm, outside the gates of St Stephen’s Green at the top of Grafton St, Dublin. Friends from all Meetings, and their friends, are once again very welcome.

We plan to hold it in the form of a Meeting for Worship as we
stand on the street, with 2 Friends holding a banner which reads
“Quaker Peace Witness” and with two being available with
leaflets to speak with any passer-by who wishes to ask a
question or interact.


This manner of public witness worked well at this same place
in November and in February. Maintaining the silent vigil added
to the solemnity of the witness. We were certainly noticed and
looked at with interest by people passing by on foot and on the
Luas.

We hope that our silent worship will encourage many people to
consider peace and how we may all help to advance it. We
hope that Friends and Attenders from many Meetings, as well as
family members and friends will again come and join us.

Public Silent Quaker Peace Witness (Saturday Feb 1)

At the Dublin Monthly Meeting Peace Committee’s Silent Public Peace Witness held on 30th Nov, 37 people maintained a silent presence in the manner of a Meeting for Worship. The participation of number of Friends from Quakers for Peace Waterford was very appreciated.

You are invited to join another public silent Quaker Peace Witness from 11.30am to 12.30pm on 1 Feb, held outside the gates of St Stephen’s Green at the top of Grafton St, Dublin.

Friends from all Meetings are very welcome!

IQFA Festive FUNdraiser (7 Dec)

A Festive FUNdraiser in support of Irish Quaker Faith in Action will be held on Saturday 7th December at the Rathfarnham Quaker Meeting House from 11am – 2.30pm. All welcome! 

The FUNdraiser is the perfect opportunity to get your Christmas shopping underway, enjoy lunch / refreshments in The Friendly Café and catch up with old and new F/friends.

There will be a great selection of art, crafts, gifts, books, plants, cakes and home produce, Christmas cards, hand-knitted children’s clothes, and a Kids’ Zone with toys, games and art activities. 

To make the FUNdraiser a success, WE NEED YOUR DONATIONS! Donations of home-baked cakes, biscuits, jam, chutney, paintings, crafts, unopened gifts, house plants, and good quality books and toys can be dropped off to Rathfarnham Quaker Meeting House, between 6pm and 9pm on Friday 6th or between 9am and 10am on Saturday 7th.

Please note we will NOT be accepting any CDs, DVDs, magazines, periodicals, clothes or bric-a-brac (e.g. crockery, jewellery, furniture etc).

If you would like to offer help or if you have any queries, please contact Fiona Murdoch via office@quakers.ie.

You can find out more about IQFA and projects recently supported in the IQFA Autumn 2024 newsletter and on the IQFA website.

Irish Quaker Faith in Action Newsletter and Festive FUNdraiser

Irish Quaker Faith in Action (IQFA) is a committee of Ireland Yearly Meeting, which aims to further the charitable concerns of Quakers both at home or abroad. 

Most projects funded are known personally to Irish Quakers or have a long-standing relationship with IQFA. Many are small developmental charities where IQFA can have an immediate and long-lasting effect. IQFA also sometimes contributes funds to specific larger charities that are able to fund larger-scale projects.

You can find out more about IQFA and projects recently supported in the IQFA Autumn 2024 newsletter and on the IQFA website.

A Festive FUNdraiser in support of IQFA will be held on Saturday 7th December at the Rathfarnham Quaker Meeting House. Please email office@quakers.ie if you are able to support the event by providing articles for sale (such as craftwork, artwork, good quality books, toys, etc, plants, baked goods …), helping out on a stall, helping setup the night before, or distributing posters and flyers beforehand. You can also support the event by coming by on the day to see what’s for sale!

Ireland Yearly Meeting 2021

It was wonderful to see so many faces from near and far for Ireland Yearly Meeting, which took place online from 8 – 11 April 2021.

The theme was ‘A Time to Act Together in Faith and Hope‘ and many different topics were explored, including faith, peace, social justice, migration and sustainability.

It was encouraging to hear how Meetings across Ireland have adapted during the pandemic to online meetings for worship, business meetings, coffee mornings and socials. Friends of all ages have conquered technical challenges and discovered that spiritual comfort, fellowship and community can take place online or via platforms like WhatsApp. It takes more than a pandemic to stop the Spirit at work!

It was also heartening to hear how Sunday Schools, youth clubs and other get-togethers for younger Friends have all adapted to the world of Covid-19 .

We heard updates from Quaker Service and Irish Quaker Faith In Action (IQFA) and from two campaigns that reflect our Peace Testimony – Stop Fuelling War and the Campaign To Stop Killer Robots.

We agreed to sign an inter-faith statement that urges UN member states and all people of goodwill to commit to preserving meaningful human control over the use of force, and to enact a pre-emptive ban on fully autonomous weapons.

To quote from the IYM Epistle agreed on the last day: “Our gathering is testament to the way we have adapted to changed circumstances since the cancellation of 2020 IYM last April and demonstrates the many positives we have been able to draw from adversity. While we agree that online meeting cannot replace the fellowship of meeting in person, it has allowed many more to join us at Yearly Meeting and has saved many hundreds of carbon miles of travel!”

You can read the Epistle here.

The Public Lecture, which was delivered by Eoin Stephenson of Limerick Quaker Meeting, was on the topic ‘Resurrection and Personality’. You can read the script and watch a recording of the lecture at this link.

Quakers and Ethical Investment booklet

Eco Quakers Ireland and the Ireland Yearly Meeting (IYM) Investment Committee has produced a booklet to promote an ethical investment policy for Quaker Meetings in Ireland and for IYM Funds.

The Quakers and Ethical Investment booklet, which arose out of a widespread concern among Friends in Ireland about the investment of funds under Friends’ care, is designed to give broad guidance on investment within the ethical framework which Friends have set.

In a letter accompanying the booklet, the Investment Committee and Eco Quakers Committee urges Friends responsible for the investments of Meetings and Funds to view afresh the strategy that is being pursued.

“Monies are only useful if they are used for a purpose which is well thought out,” the letter states. “If, as a result of a review exercise, you do plan to change some of your investments, do take into account that stock markets can be very volatile as we have seen in early 2020.

“We are investing for the long term and should not be over affected by short term movements. Advice is available, both from within the Society and from outside – do seek it and take it into consideration!”

The letter may be read in full here and the booklet at this link.

The booklet is initially being launched in digital form and hard copies have been made available to all Meetings. A small number of hard copies are still available on request by emailing ecoquakersireland@gmail.com.