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Christmas Thoughts from Amersham
Sunday 18th December saw a wonderful gathering of Ffriends at Amersham Meeting House. We began with a slightly shortened Meeting for Worship, followed by carols and readings, interspersed with a tableau of Mary, the shepherds and angels, laid on by the meetings's children. Then we all sat down for a splendid shared lunch, which even included Christmas pudding!
But in case we're missing the point, we'd like to share this Christmas Thought, written and read by Andrew:
One of those ironies of Christmas is that it is the time in the year when the middle classes become sympathetically interested in an unmarried mother with a housing problem. She at least receives one useful handout from a wise man. As a diversion they, the middle classes that is, mark the birthday with a turkey sacrifice and lots of presents, mostly to those who do not need them.
The unmarried mother, who is usually forgotten after the school nativity play, also compounded the problems she was causing by becoming an asylum-seeker in Egypt which had its own socio-economic problems – and still does.
The boy grew up and contributed respectably to society until he got it into his head to become a traveller. He headed up an itinerant gang, one of whom had a terrorist background, and another was a collaborator with the occupying forces as an inland revenue inspector. As leader of the gang, from his wayside pulpit he started exhorting people to do some crazily subversive things, which threatened national security, like loving their enemies, and properly upset labour relations by advocating that masters wash their servants’ feet. He also had no professional qualifications for his practice of medical and mental health cures.
Finally, the authorities caught up with him, through the temple police, who were inter alia very upset by his allegedly unprovoked attack on their temple and city business practices. In common with those today who favour harsh punishment, he was given the harshest.
That the story has a triumphant ending is no thanks to most of us, who are still struggling to get the point.
Shabbat Shalom
On Friday 11th November, Amersham Friends were invited to join the South Bucks Jewish Community for their Erev Shabbat (Sabbath Evening) service.
The SBJC have been using Amersham Meeting for their Friday services for many years now. Most of us are familiar with the sight of the ark (the container for the Torah scrolls), tucked away in the corner of our Meeting for Worship room covered in a plain damask cloth. But on Friday night it was uncovered and all eyes were immediately caught by the stunningly beautiful curtain thus displayed. Designed by one of the congregation, its iridescent golds, greens and blues represent the land and the sea.
The SBJC went out of their way to welcome their Quaker guests, starting the service half an hour early so the Rabbi had time to explain to us, not just what would happen, but the meaning of each part of the service.
The service followed a prayer book (printed, of course, from right to left). Parts of it were sung and parts were spoken – by the Rabbi or by the congregation in response. Parts were in English and parts in Hebrew. At one point Ann, our clerk, and Anita, their chair, shared a reading on the subject of peace. Ann read one passage that could easily have been penned by a Quaker – underlining how all the world’s major religions have a striving for peace at their core.
In the middle of the service, the Torah scrolls were brought out from the ark, and the Rabbi told us something of their history and also explained the painstaking process by which such scrolls are still produced – little different today to the way medieval monks once transcribed copies of the Bible.
When the formal part of the service was over, everyone greeted one another with ‘Shabbat Shalom’ (Sabbath Peace) and we moved out into the lobby area to share bread and wine (the kiddush). The Rabbi held the plaited challah bread and everyone touched the shoulder of the person next to them, forming a chain linking everyone to the bread.
All in all a very informative and moving occasion. I am sure all the Friends there felt privileged to be allowed to share these ancient traditions that have survived so vibrantly into the present day.
Quaker Week
Quaker Week saw a range of activities throughout the Chilterns Quaker area.
Friends from High Wycombe man a stall in Frogmore during Quaker Week
A colourful Quaker presence in High Wycombe reminded folk that we are still alive in the 21st century and can offer an alternative refuge for those seeking time and room to think about their spiritual journey. On the Saturday following our stall, we opened our meeting house in the afternoon offering free tea, coffee and biscuits, and a silent meeting house in which to recover composure from the busy life outside. Visitors are always welcomed at our meetings on Sunday mornings. They last from 10.45 a.m. to 11.45 a.m. with time for tea, coffee and a chat afterwards.
Actors from the Quaker Theatre join in the discussion
Meanwhile, Amersham Meeting House was the first venue in the south of England on the Quaker Theatre Company's tour of its new play, “George Fox and Margaret Fell get stuck in a lift,” by Alan Avery. Our Peace Testimony comes under sharp scrutiny when life and death decisions have to be made. Can Margaret Fell sustain her belief in the testimony when lives are at risk? What hold does George Fox have over her – and why are they stuck in a lift together?
The highly enjoyable play ran for 45 minutes, followed by a brief interval for refreshments (including Hot Apple Punch made from apple juice from our very own apple tree). We then returned to the Meeting Room for a lively discussion of the issues raised by the play.
Heritage Day
Amersham Friends welcoming visitors to their Meeting House
Amersham Old Town had a delightful sunny afternoon for Heritage Day with around ninety visitors to our Meeting House, which was decked out with banner, peace flag and Heritage Day balloons. Literature about our heritage is always on display at these events, so it was timely to have a supply of the new Peace Testimony booklet indicating Peace Building work being carried out throughout the year.
On show were photographs of Amersham Quakers old and new, some of them displayed for the first time. We were fortunate to receive an album of photographs dating from the early part of the twentieth century from a New Zealand benefactor whose from the collection of a local Friend, these had been enlarged and printed and matched with modern photographs of the same locations to show how the Meeting House (and Friends) had changed over time.
One particularly fascinating photograph showed what we believe to be a Meeting for Worship during Monthly Meetings c1930, shortly after the Meeting House came back into Quaker use. Our familiar benches had been taken outside and Friends were gathered on the meadow! (To see some of these photographs, please visit our 'Quaker Trail' page.
Another first for us was Amersham Quakers’ Apple Juice produced from apples from a Friend's orchard. Forty bottles were sold in aid of improvements to our premises, especially those for disabled people.
Quaker Camp 2011
Quaker Camp took place this year at Westover Farm, Wootton Fitzpainne, Dorset from 27th July to 9th August. Old and new campers were delighted by a return visit to one of our favourite sites. The farmer is extremely hospitable and friendly and led us on a very interesting farm walk. We were fortunate to have good weather with only a few rainy days.
In addition to our regular activities (wide games, swimming, Camp Olympics and so on) we planned two sessions with the staff of the Charmouth Heritage Centre: a talk by the geologist about the Jurassic coastline and a session rock pooling in Lyme Regis with the centre’s marine biologist. We also had a wild flower meadow walk which was led by Nick who works for the Dorset Wildlife Trust.
Our theme for Camp this year was Desert Island and acting on a request from the children last year we combined this with finding out more about our Quaker heritage. We had team names such as‘ Peg-Leg Fox, One-Eyed Fry, Penns’ Parrots’ to name but a few! We worked together to find out about these founders of our Faith and we spend a very enjoyable time in the sunshine making flags for each team. We had early evening discussions where we shared learning about these Quakers and we presented interesting facts we had learnt about each Friend.
We are camping next year in Princes Risborough. We would love to welcome Friends to Camp to see why we love living in a Quaker community.
Aylesbury in June
Aylesbury Quakers received many positive comments from the large number of people who came to see the new garden as part of the Aylesbury Secret Gardens day on Sunday 19th June. Many also came into the Meeting House, and of course, partook of our now famous cream teas in the Cottages. A good deal of money was raised for local charities.
A few days later, as part of our discussion group programme, we had a talk by Jon Neall, a recently returned Ecumenical Accompanier. He gave us a combination of historical information and a very personal account of his time spent in Palestine witnessing the problems faced by communities whose lands straddle the ‘wall’. The question time was a powerful illustration of the challenges faced by peacemakers in the area; Jon Neall’s response to questioners was an excellent example of the resilience and steadfastness required of an accompanier.
Please click here for more information about Ecumenical Accompaniers in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).
Celebrating Sanctuary London
An Amersham Friend's account of the free festival that celebrates the contribution refugees make to life in Britain
Celebrating Sanctuary London, now in its twelfth year takes place along the South Bank and kicks off Refugee Week. This was my first time attending and I was intrigued.
After the rain of the previous ten days, the tents and stalls set out in Bernie Spain gardens, below the Oxo Tower, were bathed in dappled sunshine. As I approached from Waterloo, cooking smells wafted towards me from stalls serving food from the Caribbean, North Africa, Ghana, Eritrea...
Getting Ready for the 'Umbrella Parade' at the start of Refugee Week
Groups such as the Red Cross, the Council for Refugees, Freedom from Torture and the Migrant and Refugees Communities Forum were represented and eager to dispel the myths about refugees so often perpetuated by sections of the Press.
There were three stages set up – the Collaboration Stage, the Hot Shoe Café Stage and the Acoustic Yurt. Between them, they were showcasing an astonishing array of talent, from singers to story-tellers to cookery demonstrations.
I spent most of my time sitting on woven rugs on the floor of the Acoustic Yurt. I had come especially to hear the work of the Write to Life group – a group of writers who are all survivors of torture, and who have been mentored by volunteers from Freedom From Torture (formerly the Medical Foundation for the Care of the Victims of Torture). Jade from Uganda and Faith from Ethopia read two beautiful poems each. And then Faith – a tiny, beautiful woman who walks with a pronounced limp – sang an extraordinary, haunting song that filled the tent and brought people crowding in at the doors to listen.
Their anthology, Body Maps, was on sale and I bought a copy. The title refers to the medico-legal report that all refugees must provide to support their claim for asylum. In it are charts of the human body on which every scar and injury found during an intimate medical exam are recorded. Reading, on the way home, the accounts of three refugees who have undergone this process was almost unbearably moving.
Body Maps cost £5 and can be purchased from Freedom from Torture.
Hall Barn Shakespeare: Winter on a Summer's Evening
It is something of a tradition for Jordans Local Meeting to have a social evening out at Hall barn in June to see the open air Shakespeare production. This year a small group of us went on the 10th June to see 'A Winters Tale' which was up to the usual high standard. Hall Barn provides a fantastic setting for theatrical events and happily the audience is protected from the elements.
We like to begin the evening with a shared supper and take the opportunity to stroll around the grounds and we were able to do this on Friday.
Coram and Nobel
An account High Wycombe Friends' 'Not Quite Fifth Sunday' Outing to the Coram Museum in London.
On 1st June four adults and seven teenagers travelled by train to Marylebone and on the top deck of a London bus to St Pancras, where we walked to The Coram Museum. There we were met by ‘Thomas Coram’ himself, easily recognisable from his portrait painted by Hogarth in 1740. Thomas Coram was the philanthropist who conceived the idea of The Foundling Hospital, which was in effect an 18th century orphanage. He surprised one of our younger members by asking her if she had seen the cows in the fields outside and went on to explain that the children ‘here’ were fed with good wholesome milk from those cows.
Thomas Coram outside his Foundling Hospital
Two governors of the hospital were Reynolds and Hogarth so there was a floor devoted to theirs and other artists’ works. A fashionable Sunday afternoon activity for the wealthy was to visit the hospital and watch the children eating their Sunday lunch. Hogarth did one of his wonderful satirical ‘cartoons’ depicting just this scene.
Handel was also a governor and the first performance of his ‘Messiah’ was given in the hospital chapel. One floor was devoted to his work and comfy chairs were provided to sit and relax and listen to a chosen Handel composition. Thomas Coram himself had some of the treasures left by the mothers when they brought their babies to be cared for by the hospital. They told their own sad tales but ‘Thomas’ was full of stories about the good wholesome treatment provided for the children in their care.
After a drink and flap-jack in the sunshine we spent a short time in the playground and then walked to Friends House, arriving just in time to purchase our lunch in the restaurant before it closed at 2pm. The food served there received accolades all round and we would commend it to anyone in the area at lunch time.
We were then welcomed in the Quaker centre and had a short tour of Friends House, looking into the large Meeting Room before going to the Library where we were in for a big treat. The Nobel Peace Prize medal awarded to Quakers in 1947 was brought up for us to see and indeed hold. This was quite awesome. We were all amazed at the weight of the gold medal which filled the palm of an adult sized hand. In his presentation speech given in December 1947 at the University of Oslo Gunnar Jahn, Chairman of the Nobel Committee said ‘they have given us something more: they have shown us the strength to be derived from faith in the victory of the spirit over force.’ And this brings to mind ‘lines’ from one of Arnulf Överland's poems which helped so many of us during the war. I know of no better salute:
The unarmed only
can draw on sources eternal.
The spirit alone gives victory.
The face of the medal of the Peace Prize shows Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), the founder of the prizes. The other side of the medal represents a group of three men forming a fraternal bond. The inscription reads:
Pro pace et fraternitate gentium (For the peace and brotherhood of nations)
The four adults were grateful to the seven teenagers whose company we all enjoyed, for giving us the reason to plan and share this ‘Not Quite 5th Sunday’ outing which became an even more memorable occasion for us all.
Saumur: in the footsteps of William Penn
A group of Friends from Jordans visited the historic and beautiful mediaeval town of Saumur on the River Loire in north west France for the weekend 19th to 22nd May 2011.
We were there to celebrate the brief period William Penn spent in the Huguenot academy there, after he had been sent down from Christchurch College, Oxford for an excess of Protestantism. There he came under the influence of Moise Amyraut, one of the most distinguished Protestant theologians of the time, one of the few whom Catholic theologians were willing to converse with.
Saumur, where a public square, adjacent to the protestant church in Saumur, was renamed Place William Penn
We attended the public and academic colloquia exploring the influence that the teaching at the academy had upon William Penn’s system of thought about religion and governance, and his later development. The academy was a centre of Protestant teaching in Catholic France and flourished for a brief period after the Edict of Nantes in 1598, but was closed and demolished after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 which suppressed Huguenots, many of whom fled abroad, including to England.
Moise Amyraut was a keen defender of religious tolerance, and well regarded by Catholic authorities of the time. Penn's academic records have been lot, but it is likely that Penn discovered the commitment to education for everyone – boys and girls alike, and the importance of teaching professional skills to all, and the enfranchisement of all men with equal voting rights, and the function of prison to reform and not only to punish. William Penn also learnt French. He was probably influenced towards writing his famous essay on The present and future peace of Europe in 1693, in the middle of wars with France.
The academic presentations outlined the significance of William Penn in founding the colony of Pennsylvania where Quakers could find freedom from the religious persecution present in Europe. They outlined how the constitution of the colony was to influence the constitution of the USA in 1787, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789. We learnt about the ending of the Holy Experiment in 1756 when Pennsylvania, together with other colonies, declared war on France and on the Indians, and Quakers withdrew from the government, and Pennsylvania later ceased to be a proprietary colony. We learnt about the continuing work of the Pennsbury Manor Society in making accessible information about the life of William Penn and where he lived in the brief periods he lived in Pennsylvania. Some of the papers will be published in due course by Woodbrooke College.
So this was a rich and rewarding experience for us in the beautiful town of Saumur. We were hosted very well, and had meals with the speakers and the some of the participants, in nice restaurants, one in the grounds of the spectacular chateau, and one in the local troglodyte caves.
Christian Aid Lunches at Amersham Meeting
House
Enjoying the soup
During Christian Aid Week (16th to 20th May, 2011) Amersham Meeting House played host to the annual Christian Aid Soup Lunches. This is a Churches Together event, organised jointly between Amersham Quakers, St Mary's Church and the King's Church.
Each day during the week, the churches took it in turn to provide home-made soup and cakes to all comers, with the money raised going to Christian Aid. There was also a Fair Trade stall selling all manner of dry goods.
This year, a grand total of £425 was raised in the course of the week.
Amersham Quakers also supported the Christian Air Craft Fair at St Michael's Church, on Saturday 21st May, which raised a further £1523.
One Thousand Years of the Harp
On the 8th May 2011, harpist Paula Tait came to Jordans Quaker Meeting House as part of the New Jordans Programme to present a history of the harp and to play the music to illustrate her talk. The concert was attended by about 65 people, a few of whom chose to picnic in the grounds beforehand.
It was a truly memorable occasion with a very appreciative audience, who learnt a lot and listened to some beautiful music. Paula is very skilful in blending information with singing and playing, in a simple and humourous way. The time passed very quickly as we were taken from early harp music through the development of this wonderful instrument. Paula’s loving enthusiasm for the harp is clear and very infectious. Many people are hoping that she will come to play again. When she does, don’t miss what is a very special experience. Paula worships at High Wycombe Meeting and New Jordans Programme is very grateful to her for a wonderful musical experience.
Concientious Objectors Monument, Tavistock Square
Pathway for Peace
A High Wycombe Friend gives her account of a sponsored walk in aid of the St Pancras Peace Pathway:
On Saturday May 7th some 30 people set off on a sponsored walk around central London. Roger, a retired English lecturer, accompanied us. We were soon to discover that he had a vast knowledge of the history of the sites we were about to visit. First we were invited inside the beautiful old church of St Pancras for explanations about the Peace Pathway and the history of the church. After this we lit candles and said our individual prayers for peace.
Our first visit was Tavistock Square to see the monument to war resisters and the statue of Gandhi. Roger explained his Quaker up-bringing. In his youth he had written to and received a reply from Bertrand Russell upon the question of his (Roger’s) conscientious objection to National Service.
After several more interesting sites and much mentioned social reformers we stopped for lunch in Queen’s Square, home of the Art workers Guild and the new Mary Ward House with its vegetarian café.
The highlight of the walk was the chapel at Great Ormond Street Hospital. It has been designed in the manner of a Greek Orthodox Church and was said to be Oscar Wilde’s favourite private chapel. A particular feature was its sensitivity towards non- Christians. There is no cross at its centre only the word ‘Alleluia’ inscribed in gold lettering on the altar stone. Around the sides of the chapel soft toys had been left.
The walk terminated in Red Lion Square. Everyone enjoyed it and Roger has promised to take us on another walk later in the summer. All welcome. I found the walk spiritually up lifting and thanks to the generosity of CAQM Friends I have raised over £120 towards the Peace Pathway.
The next walk in support of the Peace Pathway will be on Saturday 24th September. Click here to download a leaflet.
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