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Australian Quaker Centre announces courses for September - November

In its inaugural year, the Australian Quaker Centre will be held at Silver Wattle Retreat Centre, about 15 km from Bungendore, NSW. In this spacious landscape you will  have time for private contemplation, browsing the library, bush walks and the very special experience of a learning and worshipping Quaker community.

The Australian Quaker Centre offers a series of 1 - 2 week courses following five themes:

• Our Quaker heritage
• Prayer and inward life
• Indigenous Spirituality
• Sustaining a Creative Life
• Preparation for Quaker Witness

The AQC holds an atmosphere of prayer and simplicity, and offers the experience of an extended period of immersion in a spiritual community .

To consult the brochure for courses September - November 2009 , click here.
For further information about the Australian Quaker Centre, click here.
To go to the Australian Quaker Centre website, go to http://www.aqc.quakers.org.au/

Week of rehearsals for World Children's Choir for Peace

Girls and boys  (9-16 years) with unbroken voices who love singing from  Quaker Meetings around the world  — you are invited to apply to attend the World Children's Choir for Peace to be held from 3 - 9 January 2010 in Adelaide, South Australia.

The cost will be AU$400, which covers:

• 7 nights’ accommodation at the modern andwell-equipped Walford Boarding House
• All meals
• Entry fees and transport costs
• Use of sheet music
• Professional instruction in choral singing
• Group work to facilitate life skills such as communication, group membership and assertiveness skills.

Transport arrangements and costs will need to be met by individual choristers, hopefully with financial support from their Local Meeting and/or other sources.  For further details, download brochure here. 

Revised Handbook available for comment

 The Draft 6th Edition of the Handbook now includes feedback from the Regional Meeting review. Click here to view this work. 

Yearly Meetings

Yearly Meetings are the annual gatherings of Quakers from around Australia to discuss business and to build community. The next Yearly Meeting is in Adelaide, at Westminster School, 2–9 January 2010. For options for off site accommodation, please click here.

Documents from Yearly Meetings can be accessed by members and attenders by logging on and going to the Members' Homepage.

Who we are

The Religious Society of Friends began in Britain in the 17th century with the teachings of George Fox, and has spread to most regions in the world.

It has always been clear that George Fox was not unique in his spirituality, but an eminent member of a community experiencing an outbreak of mysticism. … Early followers were never George Fox's 'adherents', but were already spiritual 'finders' in their own right.
(O'Shea 1993, quoted in this we can say; Australian Quaker Life, Faith and Thought , AYM 2003)  

There are a quarter of a million Quakers worldwide ; in Australia, we have around 2000 people who worship in Meetings for Worship , of whom 1000 are in membership.

Quaker beliefs and testimonies

Quakers share a way of life rather than a set of beliefs. Guidelines for living the Quaker way can be found in Australian Advices and Queries .  Quaker practice within the past four centuries has given rise to a number of testimonies  —  

• Peace testimony
  
• Testimony of Simplicity
• Testimony of Equality
• Testimony of Integrity

Quaker Voices in the 21st Century is a collection of thoughts, ideas and actions that come from a period of travelling in the ministry by two Australian Friends, Katherine Purnell and Helen Bayes. Full details can be found at http://voices.quakers.org.au/index.php/

Quakers and Social Issues

• Quakers and the environment
• Quakers and development aid
• Quakers and Indigenous peoples
• Quakers and the death penalty
• Quakers and homosexuality
• Quaker peace lobby — Action alerts!
• Quakers and other religions
• Quaker nonviolence calendar

For media comments on these issues, contact the national office (email YMsecretary@quakers.org.au or telephone 07 3374 0135).

Read public statements from Quakers in Australia on these and other topics. Also check out our FAQ page .

Quaker issues for action in 2009

• Global warming
• Earthcare
• Indigenous justice
• The Middle East conflict  

Quaker accommodation for travelling Friends

Quaker Meeting Houses offer accommodation for travelling Friends. For further details, click here .

Homestays with Australian Quaker families are also available, and are listed in the Australian Directory for Travelling Friends available from the Friends Booksales in Adelaide for AU$10.00.