Rex Ambler's collection of passages from the writings of George Fox (1624-1691) is intended to make available his clearest and most profound writings from the whole range of his works, and to display them in such a way as to show the connections between them. It should therefore be possible, reading the text through, to gain a picture of Fox's whole vision. The anthology is presented in parallel with a translation into modern English, a glossary and a concluding essay 'Making sense of Fox'. This edition has some minor revisions.

Physicist and astronomer Arthur Eddington tested Einstein's Theory of Relativity at an eclipse in 1919. A lifelong Quaker, his 1929 Swarthmore Lecture explores how science and religion define and look at reality. 'You will understand the true spirit neither of science nor of religion unless seeking is placed in the forefront.' 'He puts a strong line against simplistic reductionism in relation to our minds . He emphasizes that when we ask the question, What are we to think of it all? What is it all about?, the answer must embrace but not be limited to the scientific answer. His lecture explores this in a delightful way, that remains fully relevant today.' - Prof. George Ellis 'The attitude of the scientist, here so admirably explained, is the attitude, also, of the mystic. Experience, to both, is what matters most.'- The Sufi Quarterly, 1929.

This pocket-sized book celebrates the Quaker way and affirms the wonderful riches of the Quaker tradition in Britain, and the Quaker 'Liberal tradition' more widely. It is a book for Quakers rather than about them. It talks of 'us' and 'we' and is for 'insiders'. It is a devotional book, for us.

As Quakers, we still rely on virtues of trust, solidarity, toleration, compromise. We have our testimonies to peace, truth, equality, simplicity. We have our social witness. But are these enough in practice? Does an emergency not demand more of us? Where can we find hope when everything looks dark?

What to do, in an era of pandemic, climate emergency, and right-wing populism? Does Quaker history or the Bible offer hope? Can we find positive stories in Britain and abroad that help us see a way forward? What if we looked close up, or saw the bigger picture, or saw things from the point of view of eternity?

Tom Shakespeare argues we must nurture active hope. Through doing inner work on ourselves, and outer work in society, joining with others, we may contribute to the creation of God's Kingdom. With a lever and a place to stand, we can move the world.

Tom Shakespeare is a social scientist, writer and broadcaster. He has been active in the disability movement for three decades, and served in the voluntary and cultural sectors. He has worshipped at Newcastle, Geneva, Wymondham and Westminster Quaker Meetings since 1997.

If we cannot change what is happening on our street, why should anyone believe we can change the world? Politics starts with the local. ere is inequality in all of our communities, so we must begin there, with practical action where it matters - on the ground. Quakers have a strong tradition of addressing the failings in the world around them. In this book, Catherine West and Andy Hull inspire Friends to champion the cause of equality in their own communities. Despite market forces and global headwinds, they believe that we can make a di erence in our neighbourhoods, acting as spirit-levellers by recognising that of God in everyone. Catherine West is the Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green in North London and a former Leader of Islington London Borough Council. She worships at her local meeting in Muswell Hill. As a Quaker, Catherine is committed to tackling rampant inequality as one of the most pressing challenges of our time. Andy Hull represents Highbury West ward on Islington Council, where he co-chaired the country's rst Fairness Commission. He tries to tackle poverty and reduce inequality by doing politics with people, not just for them.

An important aim of our peacebuilding has been to help communities to heal and be reconciled to each other so that they grow together as communities. The first step is forgiveness. Reconciliation begins with healing past hurts and framing a vision for a better future. Esther Mombo and C cile Nyiramana give a flavour of Quaker peacebuilding in East and Central Africa, a region that has seen devastating internal conflicts in the last 20 years. Directly affected by these conflicts, and driven by the belief that all are made in the image of God, Quakers have been challenged to respond. Esther and C cile explore that response and the difference it has made. They tell the inspiring stories of those who have been led to build a lasting peace in their communities. They also look at the peacebuilding tools used and developed by Quakers, and at how the themes of their work are universal. Esther Mombo is a member of Highlands Yearly Meeting, Kenya, and Professor of African Church History, Gender and Theology at St. Paul's University. She has studied the impact of conflict and violence on family, church and society, and calls for African communities to be empowered through education. C cile Nyiramana, of Rwanda Yearly Meeting, holds a degree in Clinical Psychology and has worked for peace since 1999. She founded Women in Dialogue - an initiative that brings together widows, genocide survivors and perpetrators' wives - and works for African Leadership & Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM-Rwanda).

Central to Quakerism, as I understand it, is the belief of 'that of God' in every individual. For me, this leads essentially to the obligation that all should be treated as human beings with dignity and rights... The Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) in Geneva enables Quaker concerns to be heard at an international level, while its quiet processes help informal but crucial talks to be held. In this book, Quaker human rights lawyer Rachel Brett outlines what is unique about how and why Quakers work at the UN. Through personal reflections on specific work and achievements, such as outlawing the use of child soldiers and advocating for conscientious objectors and women in prison, Snakes and Ladders provides an insight into QUNO's profound and continuing effect on people's lives. Rachel Brett first worked at QUNO Geneva in 1976. Following an internship with QUNO New York she gained a Masters degree in International Human Rights Law and returned to QUNO Geneva in 1993.

Tim Newell brings his considerable experience as a prison governor and his Quaker insights to bear on the future for criminal justice. Forgiving Justice combines uplifting stories of what is possible, with a rigorous analysis of the basis for criminal justice reform and an understanding of our view of those who offend. This revised edition includes the experience of the Circles of Support and Accountability project in Britain since the book was first published. Do we simply forget offenders behind the prison gates, or can we take this opportunity to reaffirm our belief in the worth of everybody? With the rich tradition of Quaker work on prison reform to guide us, we hope you too will be inspired to take a fresh look at what the processes of repentance and forgiveness could mean to a community-wide approach in which we all play a part. This book includes ideas for both study and action, for individuals or groups who wish to take the issues further.

Beth Allen offers her understanding of faithful discipleship, starting with how we experience and think about God. She explores how we can think and worship today in integrity to our inner selves and to our knowledge of the world, and takes a practical approach to theological and philosophical concepts, from her Quaker and Anglican experience. We need a solid foundation to ground us as we reach for the ideals, the actions which will make peace and justice real today. For Quakers, this starts with the meeting for worship, and continues with the experience of God found in words from Quaker and other traditions. The cool stillness of the Spirit is the source of enormous, exuberant life.

Are Quakers Christian? Is it possible for Quakerism to be both Christian and Universalist? These are just two of the questions which form the starting point for this book. In exploring them, it becomes clear that they cannot be answered in isolation for they are linked to a whole complex of questions about Jesus, God and the nature of human living. So it becomes necessary to engage in theology. But for Quakers this must be from a distinctively Quaker standpoint which seeks to be both undogmatic and concerned with practical issues. Most of all it must be grounded in our corporate experience of God. Janet Scott attempts to begin this process. She explores what we may say about Jesus and about God, sets out one way in which Quakerism may be both Christian and Universalist, and points out areas needing further discussion.

If the holy potential is in each of us, and we recognise it, our behaviour towards others must be deeply affected. How could we abuse or treat them as enemies? Must we not try to heal relationships fractured by anger, fear and incomprehension, making use of the universal capacity for peace making that flows from 'that of God'? To do so effectively involves understanding the nature of unpeaceful relations and recognising that there are different types depending on the power balance of the protagonists. But some methods are always appropriate: recognising and responding to the good in the other, establishing and maintaining a relationship of trust, listening, perseverance. There is no box of magic peace making tricks. All depends on love and concern informed by experience and understanding.

From a lifetime of seeking, Harvey Gillman explores a way to respond to what remains, in spite of everything, a very beautiful and sacred universe. This is a journey through language, using poetry, philosophy, and insights from different religions, graced with the song of a blackbird, who accompanied the author as he wrote the work. Pandemics, civil wars, religious extremism, spilling of blood in the name of sacred and secular causes, destruction of our environment... Why write a book on spirituality and language? Don't we need calls to action, positive plans to change the world? But the way we speak, the way we search for meaning, the way we declare our truths - these are often at the root of such political and spiritual 'dis-ease'. The driving force behind this book is how we can use difference compassionately and with integrity.

Doug Gwyn has researched and written extensively on early Quakers in 17th-century England. His other books include Apocalypse of the Word, and Seekers Found. He has taught at the Pendle Hill Quaker Study Center near Philadelphia, and at Woodbrooke in Birmingham, England. Doug has also worked with the American Friends Service Committee, and is Pastor of First Friends Church, Richmond, Indiana. The Covenant Crucified combines the scholarly and prophetic to compare covenant, uniting people under the care of a transcendent God, and contract, uniting them primarily through secular visions of self-interest. This book, part of Doug Gwyn's trilogy on early Quaker history, is critical to our understanding of early Friends and how the movement changed in the first decades. Gwyn outlines the highly distinctive nature of the Quaker covenant of light, and how that was transformed within a generation into a more worldly contractual understanding. It is also a call to Quakers today to recover a sense of covenant for the journey ahead. - Ben Pink Dandelion, Quaker Studies tutor, University of Birmingham/Woodbrooke

Where do we stand on lived witness, on social testimony? Both in the essay by Jonathan Dale, which carries forward ideas expounded in his Swarthmore Lecture of 1996, and the short contributions from many Friends, we get a glimpse of other people's experience of the living truth. As Jonathan Dale says, 'The more the Light is followed, the deeper the joy and the readier we may be for the next step'. Quaker Books hopes that this book will inspire readers to think more on how we live out our testimonies in our lives, to develop a culture of mutual accountability, and to share the lessons from our own journeys. When we say that God is love, the integrity of our claim is known by the degree to which it is lived out in our lives. The examples given here should provide much to stimulate further action by us all.

'Rejoice in the presence of children and young people in your meeting and recognise the gifts they bring... Are you ready both to learn from them and to accept your responsibilities towards them?' Pastoral care of children and young people has its own particular difficulties and rewards. Quaker meetings vary so much in size and character: how can Friends offer appropriate overshght and eldership? Within local worshipping groups, who bares the responsibility for safety, for nurturing the Spirit, for developing a friendly, inclusive community? Many - old and young - have contributed to this handbook for all committed to good oversight and eldership, whether appointed elders and overseers or sharing the work in a corporate system. Members of monthly meeting children and young people's committees will find useful guidance in this book, as will those who help with children's meetings and other resource co-ordinators, parents and children and young people Pastoral care of children and young people is the seventh in a series of booklets produced by the Committee on Eldership and oversight, offering information, support and guidance to all those responsible for oversight and eldership. The volumes together form a developing handbook on spiritual and pastoral care, based on the experience and insights of Quakers in Britain Yearly Meeting. The Committee on Eldership and Oversight offers opportunities for reflection, worship and learning more about pastoral care, in co-operation with Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, and organises a gathering at the time of Yearly meeting. The Committee is a means for sharing experience and good practice between Friends and between meetings.

In seeking to understand the words of early Friends, it seemed as if I was following a thread in a labyrinth. As I penetrated deeper more seemed to be revealed - a book, a conversation, an insight, a revelation - and a Way opened. The stories of Quakers, past and present, as individuals and as communities, are important. They can reveal a truth that is beyond words, can guide and inspire us. In this powerful and often challenging book, Gerald Hewitson weaves his own story - from his humbling upbringing to his coming into being as a convinced Quaker - into the context of the Quaker tradition. Punctuated by the words of early Friends, Journey into life explores how the stories and texts of Quakers in the past can offer a vision of how to transform and invigorate our Quakerism now; by examining the faith, politics and metaphors of Quaker heritage, the author shows how understanding the spiritual awareness of early Friends opens us to a new conviction and truth in the present. Originally from South Yorkshire, Gerald found Quakers in the late 1970s and is one of two founder members of now flourishing Holyhead Meeting. He has served the Society in a number of ways, most recently with his wife Gwyneth as Resident Friend at Pendle Hill Quaker Center, Philadelphia, in autumn 2011.