What a strange year we’ve had. After the first lockdown in Spring, when the wonderful weather made everything tolerable, we now find ourselves in a third lockdown in Winter. It is so different. I still try to take a daily walk but I don’t tend to go so far or on routes that are very muddy. I’m so looking forward to snowdrops, daffodils and magnolia blossoming in the next […]
Southport Friends may be interested to learn about this fascinating figure from the 18th century, who spent a lifetime fighting prejudice (even amongst fellow Quakers) and was ahead of his time in many ways: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/benjamin-lay-abolitionism-racism-slavery-dwarfism-quaker
Greetings to nature loving Friends. Cow parsley thinking it must be spring, earth star fungus, a very pinkish hogweed all by the canal at Halsall, and winter heliotrope in Aughton. Brian
With Quaker Week 2020, Southport Friends have been reflecting on what being a Quaker means to them. Sheila Galligan I have been a Quaker now for almost thirty years – and as I wasn’t born into Quakerism, I still feel ‘new’ to membership. There has been a lot to learn – procedures, business meetings, what is acceptable and what is not, standing up and being […]
My name is Sue Hornby and I have been beekeeping for sixteen years. For at least ten of those years I have kept some colonies at the Friends Meeting House in Southport. The garden is a pleasant, peaceful enclosed area and at the moment I have two colonies there. The bees are gentle creatures and go pleasantly about their business. There have been one or […]
During the Covid-19 lockdown Southport Quakers have been keeping busy in various ways. Marcia and Tony have kindly shared with us some photos of their recent (socially distanced!) adventures in Formby and Freshfield, plus a vintage piece of sheet music that has regained its relevancy in these isolating times. Meanwhile, Elizabeth took some pictures of the Meeting House front garden in bloom for everybody currently […]
This morning I missed our usual Quaker Meeting as I’d been invited to accompany two friends, Anastasia and Dimitrios, to their Greek Orthodox Church in Leyland. It was part of my need to be ‘open to new light from whatever source’ and was an experience not to be missed. The community, which includes lots of different nationalities, felt warm and welcoming – in other words […]
Catherine Martin asked her children Thomas and Lauren what they thought about coming to Southport Quaker Meeting. This is what they had to say: Thomas’ feelings (age 13) In Children’s meeting “We talk about Quaker things. It can sometimes be hard (sitting in silence) because I don’t like awkward silences but it’s a good time to think about things. Last time at meeting we wrote […]
Even as a young child, I was always interested in religion. I went to a Church of England School which was a lovely environment. The vicar came in to tell us Bible stories. I was fascinated. I particularly remember the story of St Christopher carrying the Christ child across the river (not Biblical, but fascinating to a young child). My parents didn’t go to Church […]
When I first visited Southport Meeting in 1990 I definitely felt a sense of ‘home-coming’. This seemed to be a place where I belonged and could grow. It had been a long and searching journey with some sadness which I still feel at the loss of my original church. I was born in 1951, the fourth child of a family of seven children. We were […]