In the 2026 Swarthmore Lecture, Stuart Masters focused on the faith and practice of the first Friends and explored how their complex legacy presents Quakers today with a range of challenging choices and dilemmas. During this day, we will explore the main lecture themes in more detail.
Together, we will consider how to balance:
1. the inward guidance received in the present with the beliefs and practices inherited from the past.
2. the need for a cohesive community and a clear identity with the need for a culture that values and encourages each individual member.
3. a quiet, inward, and contemplative spiritual practice with a powerfully active and embodied life within the world.
4. the desire to play a constructive role within wider society with the need to resist its violent, unjust, and destructive ways.
By grappling with these issues, we can develop a deeper appreciation of the roots of global Quaker diversity and become better able to navigate important choices and dilemmas as we encounter them in our communities today.
Category
Woodbrooke Where You Are – History & Theology
Tutor
Stuart Masters
Formats
1. In-person
One whole day
Fee: £770
2. Online
Two half days OR four 90 minute sessions
Fee: £420
Please note that in-person or online refers to the location of the tutor. For this course it is possible to have a combination of online and in-person participants if the meeting is suitably equipped and it is discussed in advance.
