Course Search
Trusting the Spirit: understanding discernment
What do we mean by discernment? How do Friends make well-grounded personal and group decisions? This course will look at individual discernment in daily life, at individual discernment in community at times of life change or in testing concerns, and at corporate discernment through meeting for worship for business. You will be enabled to know…
Spiritual Nurture and Pastoral Care in Quaker Meetings
This six-week online course will help all those responsible for eldership, oversight, pastoral care and similar roles to gain understanding and confidence – whatever the system in their meeting. We will explore how we can provide pastoral care and spiritual nurture in Quaker meetings as well as looking at worship, community, caring and leadership N.B….
How Do Quakers Talk About God?
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
God, the Light, the Spirit, or whatever you call it – what do Quakers call it, and why? This session will introduce central ideas in liberal Quaker theology by looking at the ways in which British Quakers talk about God. We will explore the idea that it is possible to make lists of synonyms, and…
The Holy Well: Contemplative Practices for Daily Life
For centuries people have sought deeper connection with the Divine through contemplative practices. Practitioners often find themselves at home in practices originating from different faith or wisdom traditions. Friends worship itself is often contemplative and may be a fertile source of deeper grounding and centring in the Spirit. Centred in worship, this retreat will offer…
Deepening our Commitment: Loving Earth Project
The Loving Earth project enables you to engage with the Climate Crisis in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming, centring on three questions we focus down on what we love, what is at risk due to climate breakdown and what we can each do about it. The Loving Earth Project is a textile-based project and…
Being a Quaker Clerk – Intensive
This online course is for new or prospective clerks with little or no experience of Quaker clerking. It covers the clerk’s role before, during and after a Meeting for Worship for Business. We also consider why we use our particular way of making decisions in our meetings, including how we can do this online. We…
Meeting for Worship for Dance – January
10:30 am - 11:30 am
In the spirit of adventure and exploration we are offering a chance to embody our responses to what is going on for us at the moment. Live music from Robin Bowles will support and respond to the movement. We will start with a time to warm up our muscles and get our bodies moving, there…
Women in the Early Quaker Movement
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
One of the most striking features of the early Quaker movement was the active contribution of women as writers and preachers within a rigidly patriarchal society. In this live session, we will consider what it was about the Quaker way that made this possible, and how the role of women changed over time
Thinking Together for Fellowship and Fun
Through this course you will become part of a ‘community of enquiry’ using the Philosophy for Communities (P4C) method. P4C encourages creative, critical, collaborative and caring thinking to bring people together for lively discussions about ideas, grounded in lived experience, that enable different views to be heard. Through four live sessions, we will think together…
Mental Health: Quaker approaches
What is a Quaker approach to mental health? In this course we explore mental health and spirituality, asking why mental health is important to Quakers. We consider our understandings of mental health issues, and reflect on how Quaker meetings value and support people who are in distress. We will use Quaker and other writings, games…
Eucharistic Bodies: Quaker Disabled Theology in Secular Times
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
This taster session explores the relationship between Quaker theology, the Eucharist, and Disabled Theology. Learners will be introduced to early Quaker accounts of bodies, ‘inward communion’ and frailty. The session will show the ways in which Quaker theology has recently lost a rich theological account of bodies. The session attempts to restore this tradition through…
Confident Quakerism
The heart of the Quaker experience is encounter – as individuals and as a community. It is the basis of all our processes, our discernment and the authority of the Spirit. During our sessions we seek to deepen and enrich our own understanding of encounter and how it provides the foundation for all our Ministry…
‘Immortal Diamond’: the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844 – 89) occupies a unique position in English poetry. His art – combining daring technical innovation and robust colloquial eloquence – has been compared to Shakespeare’s. Delight in the divine energy that fires creation confronts an unflinching honesty in the face of spiritual despair, causing his work to speak powerfully and…
The Writings of Luke: seeing beyond power and privilege
‘Do you see?’ Jesus asks this question in Luke’s Gospel as an invitation to look deeply, to see beyond the expected, beyond normal conventions of success and power. The neat contour of Luke’s narrative in both the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles skilfully hides its disruptive intent, written with the awareness that only…
Nurturing Our Spiritual Lives Through Spiritual Direction
To listen to another’s soul into a condition of disclosure and discovery may be almost the greatest service that any human being ever performs for another’. – Steere, D (1986) Gleanings: A Random Harvest. Upper Room, Nashville Friends value the primacy of experience of the Spirit and God’s work in our lives above theology and…
Resisting the Evils of the Religion of Empire
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Whose side is God on? What does God say about empire, especially when Empire uses God to justify so much of what it does? In our day, “religion” has often been taken as a negative or limiting connotation because of these connections between “God” and empire. Can Friends find new ways of talking about religion,…
Researching Quakers: the history of ‘Quaker studies’
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
This is the first of five sessions running throughout 2021 on the processes of academic Quaker research and some of its most recent findings. This first session traces the history of modern academic work on Quakerism starting in the 1870s and coming up to the present day. It considers the changing nature of the work…
A Light in the Darkness
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
A day of reflection and contemplation on what gives us hope and where we can find the Light when times are dark. The day will combine poetry, music and readings from the Bible and Quaker texts with individual reflection and worship sharing. It will be an opportunity to retreat from the world for a while…
Early Quakers in their Own Words: theology
In this course, we will engage at a deep level with several short passages written by early Friends that express something essential about their theological vision. This will help us to understand these Friends better and consider what their words mean for us today. Some of the words are very well-known and others less so….
Eucharistic Bodies: Quakers and disabled theology in secular times
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
What has the Quaker tradition to say about bodies, ethics, and disability? In this course, learners will be introduced to Quaker accounts of disability through the themes of Eucharist, woundedness, and interdependence. Sessions will show the ways in which Quaker theology has resources to liberate disabled persons and challenge Ableism, in dialogue with a range…
Meeting for Worship for Dance – February
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
In the spirit of adventure and exploration we are offering a chance to embody our responses to what is going on for us at the moment. Live music from Robin Bowles will support and respond to the movement. We will start with a time to warm up our muscles and get our bodies moving, there…
Spirituality and Creative Practice: Wax Wonders
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
This series of sessions will enable people to learn from practising artists about different creative practices and encourage them to try it for themselves using a playful and spiritual approach . Timed to be accessible to working people, and able to include older children and their parents. Sue Tyldesley will show you how to work…
Being a Quaker Clerk
This online course is for new or prospective clerks with little or no experience of Quaker clerking. The five modules cover the clerk’s role before, during and after a Meeting for Worship for Business. We also consider why we use our particular way of making decisions in our meetings, including meeting online. We will focus…
Building on the Peace That is There
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
We have good intentions when we enter a movement or an organisation that works for something we strongly believe in. Depending on what we do and how we do it, however, our actions can unwittingly encourage division to grow within our communities, feeding existing resentments and tensions and degrading relationships. Or – if we plan…
Teaching the Tradition: using the Quaker past to nurture our worship
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
As Quakers we often look back to earlier generations for inspiration and guidance, but how can we best use our history to help nurture our worshipping communities today. This session for Elders and others involved in leading learning in Local and Area Meetings will offer reflections and advice on how to engage with the Quaker…
Freeing the Imagination: creative and devotional writing (February)
2:00 pm - 5:30 pm
A series of four sessions offering a chance to immerse ourselves in the creative process of writing. The focus is on creative and devotional writing so we will be led by the heart rather than head, as we explore how to use the imagination to help people feel and see the world in new ways….
All-Age Community Beyond Lockdown
The pandemic has been a time of change, loss, challenge and new opportunities. Quaker communities have lived adventurously and found new ways of doing things. As we look towards a time beyond lockdown, what discoveries do we want to hold on to? What don’t we want to forget? In this short course we will share…
Nourishing Well-Being: mindfulness practices for everyday life (6 March)
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Whether you are new to mindfulness practice or an experienced practitioner, here is an opportunity to look afresh at ways to take good care of ourselves. With practices of mindfulness of the body and of the mind, the morning will offer a Deep Relaxation, followed by a short comfort break, guided sitting meditation and gentle…
Understanding the Roots of the UK’s Immigration System and How to Dismantle It
As more people seeking refuge continue to drown in the Mediterranean, the UK government continues to reinforce its hostile environment against undocumented immigrants. Despite many studies confirming that immigration is not damaging the economy or putting a strain on public services, people who migrate continue to be blamed for the UK’s ills. How did we…
The Genesis of Gender: Gender Diversity in the Hebrew Bible
This course invites participants to begin to explore the richness of gender that can be found in the Hebrew Bible. Focusing on the book of Genesis, we will establish the current understandings of gender within biblical scholarship, exploring malestream, feminist, and critical masculinity interpretations. We will then consider emerging work that highlights the potential for…
Essentials of Quakerism (March 2021)
This course, designed particularly for those new to the Quaker way, will introduce the basic and essential elements of Quakerism: the expectation of a transforming encounter with the Divine (however we describe it), the use of a distinctive form of collective worship to nurture that encounter; discernment; and witness – the life that emerges as…
A Restorative Space to Consider Whiteness
Consideration of our whiteness can feel like territory that makes us self-conscious, shy, uneasy. Together we will create a compassionate space where we can explore this theme with a sense of non-judgmental enquiry. The theme of whiteness will be approached with care and curiosity with the understanding that acknowledgment can be liberating and healing. The…
Women in Praise of the Sacred
This course will explore spiritual experience through the poems of women across the centuries and from different religions and cultures. The profound connection between each individual and a reality larger than the personal self is at the heart of every religious tradition. But descriptions of this most intimate of encounters have come to us predominantly…
Exploring Judgement: how to use it wisely
Judgement is at the source of much division, separation and fragmentation in smaller and larger living units or communities. But it is a psychological and cognitive mechanism which remains essential in our understanding of the world and in the preservation of our wellbeing. How might we turn systematic judgement into a wiser process of openness,…
Meeting for Worship for Dance – March
7:30 am - 8:30 am
In the spirit of adventure and exploration we are offering a chance to embody our responses to what is going on for us at the moment. Live music from Robin Bowles will support and respond to the movement. We will start with a time to warm up our muscles and get our bodies moving, there…
Clearing the Way
9:30 am - 4:30 pm
This day course is an opportunity to reflect on who we are, what we feel called to do, and what gets in the way. We will explore the nature of the clutter that distracts us from our life’s purpose and consider how to create space in our minds and hearts, as well as in our…
Nourishing Well-Being: mindfulness practices for everyday life (27 March)
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Whether you are new to mindfulness practice or an experienced practitioner, here is an opportunity to look afresh at ways to take good care of ourselves. With practices of mindfulness of the body and of the mind, the morning will offer a Deep Relaxation, followed by a short comfort break, guided sitting meditation and gentle…
Handmaidens of the Lord: Exploring the Writings of Early Quaker Women
One of the most striking features of the early Quaker movement was the active contribution of women as writers and preachers within what was a rigidly patriarchal society. In this course, we will explore the lives, and writings of a number of important early Quaker women. These will include Margaret Fell, Martha Simmonds, Hannah Stranger,…
Answering that of God: Looking with the Eyes of Love
What do we mean when, as Quakers, we speak of ‘that of God’? What would be the implications if we held an awareness of the Eternal in everyone all of the time? How can we live out this belief in our relationships and encounters with other people? This course will provide an opportunity to explore…
Creation, Creature, Creativity in Scripture and Poetry
‘Creativity’ is a word that is often on our lips – and here is an opportunity to consider precisely how we ourselves understand this spirit of initiative to which everything owes its existence. The word ‘poetry’ means ‘making’, and this course will explore how poets have enacted and illuminated the nature and principles of creation…
‘That Your Love May Overflow’: Paul’s letter to the Philippians
This is a letter of encouragement. You know the gift of life you have received, says Paul, now live it to the full. ‘Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, pure, pleasing, commendable, if there is any excellence, anything worth of praise, think on these things. … Rejoice!’ Challenging theology and practical counsel…
Resisting the Evils of the Religion of Empire: liberating spirituality
Whose side is God on? What does God say about empire, especially when Empire uses God to justify so much of what it does? In our day, “religion” has often been taken as a negative or limiting connotation because of these connections between “God” and empire. Can Friends find new ways of talking about religion,…
Researching Quakers: Friends in World War One
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
This is the second of five sessions running throughout 2021 on the processes of academic Quaker research and some of its most recent findings. This standalone session will talk about the various sources used to research and follow up the people (sometimes ancestors) being written about, which range from Quaker and war records to Local…
Being a Quaker Community of Witness and Welcome
Quakers have a treasure to share with the world – the liberating power of following the promptings of love and truth in our hearts. Rather than treating ‘outreach’ as an event, this course asks how Quaker communities can witness to the power of the Quaker discovery, and welcome those who seek it, all year round,…
Freeing the Imagination: creative and devotional writing (April)
2:00 pm - 5:30 pm
A series of four sessions offering a chance to immerse ourselves in the creative process of writing. The focus is on creative and devotional writing so we will be led by the heart rather than head, as we explore how to use the imagination to help people feel and see the world in new ways….
Introduction to Restorative Justice
This six-week course is designed as an introductory overview of the Restorative Justice field and its potential for making a transformative contribution at multiple levels: global, national, regional, local and personal. Each session will offer experiential learning alongside theory and resources for ‘taking it further’. The learning will be accumulative and the group will develop…
Radical Spirituality: the Early History of the Quakers
When you think of the Quakers, it might bring to mind porridge oats, or pacifism, or perhaps prison reform. But there is much much more to the Quakers than any of these things. Through this course, we will be finding out about what lies at the heart of Quaker beginnings, who its main characters were,…
Jews and Quakers Conference: On Privilege and Prejudice
Religious prejudice and privilege manifest in multiple ways in our society and our lives. Antisemitism is still common, and Quakers are not immune from it. Historically, some Quakers experienced brief periods of persecution, but most now experience the privileges of the majority Christian culture. Both Jewish and Quaker identities are intersectional, only one aspect of…
Researching Quakers: a fresh look at the history of Quakers and business
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
This is the third of five sessions running throughout 2021 on the processes of academic Quaker research and some of its most recent findings. This session will give an overview of the received wisdom about how early Quakers went into business because they could not join the professions, and offers an alternative theory. Following doctoral…
Freeing the Imagination: creative and devotional writing (July)
2:00 pm - 5:30 pm
A series of four sessions offering a chance to immerse ourselves in the creative process of writing. The focus is on creative and devotional writing so we will be led by the heart rather than head, as we explore how to use the imagination to help people feel and see the world in new ways….
Researching Quakers: romance and reality – the life cycle of a PhD
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
This is the fourth of five sessions running throughout 2021 on the processes of academic Quaker research and some of its most recent findings. This session traces the life cycle of a PhD project from initial idea to successful completion. It looks at the administrative and emotional highs and lows as well as some of…
Freeing the Imagination: creative and devotional writing (October)
2:00 pm - 5:30 pm
A series of four sessions offering a chance to immerse ourselves in the creative process of writing. The focus is on creative and devotional writing so we will be led by the heart rather than head, as we explore how to use the imagination to help people feel and see the world in new ways….
Researching Quakers: UnPlain Quaker Craft – defying accepted wisdom
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
This is the last of five sessions running throughout 2021 on the processes of academic Quaker research and some of its most recent findings. This session is based on a PhD currently entitled ‘“Women Professing Godliness with Good Works: Quaker Women’s Decorative Arts Before Ackworth and Westtown, 1650-1779’. The focus is on seventeenth-century English needlework…
