Woodbrooke is delighted to announce that Anya Nanning Ramamurthy will give the 2027 Swarthmore Lecture. Anya’s lecture will focus on the continuing, core elements of our faith at a time of change, development and a diversity of belief and experience amongst Quakers.
Anya is a member of Central Manchester Quaker Meeting and Young Friends in Britain. She has been part of Quaker meetings all her life and has been in membership since 2016. She has previously served as Junior Yearly Meeting co-clerk and is currently a member of the Book of Discipline Revision Committee.
The Clerk of the Swarthmore Lecture Committee, Kersti Wagstaff, said that: “Anya’s experience and gifts mean that she is well placed to enable Friends to explore the concept of constancy in change and reflect on where we are and where we are going. She has a longstanding and faithful commitment to the Quaker community, including service on a range of committees, and a deep involvement in Quaker and broader activism. Anya is a very able and articulate speaker and we are sure that the ministry of her lecture will enrich and challenge Friends.”
In her lecture, Anya will explore what the implication of saying ‘I am a Quaker’ is for our lives today, and how our faith leads us to act during a time of increasing polarisation, worsening climate catastrophe and incomprehensible violence. She hopes to offer discernment on what the Quaker faith can offer to this world. She will speak personally about how her faith leads her to act in all aspects of her life. ‘What canst thou say?’
Anya’s lecture will take place during Yearly Meeting Gathering to be held from 24–28 July 2027. The lecture will also be live streamed on the Woodbrooke YouTube Channel.
Further reading:
- The Swarthmore Lecture is funded and organised by Woodbrooke, an international Quaker learning and research organisation. You can find out more here: www.woodbrooke.org.uk/swarthmore
- Yearly Meeting Gathering will held at the University of Hull from 24-28 July. Information will be available in due course on the Quakers in Britain website: quaker.org.uk/ym
