An Uxbridge Quaker

Homes from recycled materials

2010-06-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favourite projects in the whole world. The Phoenix Commotion is a project to help people to build sustainable and affordable housing using recycled materials. As a bonus, many of the houses are of an organic design, and the use of recycled materials has been turned from a potential problem into a benefit.

The project has so many aspects that I love. I like the human scale designs, I like the empowering aspects of the project, helping people to learn how to build and maintain their own houses, and I love the green aspects of it, reusing and using things which other people can't use.

I urge you to visit the website and look at the projects. While you're at it, visit Roald Gundersen's Whole Trees site. He uses whole trees in his architecture and makes amazing homes and components for homes, like staircases, using whole tree branches. It is less wasteful and - I think - more beautiful than using planks and geometric timber cut from tree trunks.

Transition Towns

2010-06-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

There's been a long gap between the last post and this one, apologies. Transition towns are ones which have decided to view the challenges of climate change and peak oil as opportunities to strengthen their communities, and to help them to thrive.

There's a wiki about transition towns, and lots of blogs and websites with ideas, people's stories and advice.

Totnes is one town which is already ahead with its Transition Town project, and there's lots of interest in their website.

If anyone has information about local transition town projects, please share with me!

Low Impact Living Initiative

2009-10-08T14:43:00.000-07:00

Here's the first in the new series of blogs... a link to the Low Impact Living Initiative. It aims to help people to lower their impact on the environment.

It gives some no-nonsense advice about places to start, instructions, a forum to ask questions, and lots of links and information.

Quaker week and the Quaker Centre

2009-10-08T03:34:00.000-07:00

This week is Quaker week, a time for turning ourselves outwards and promoting the Quaker way to people outside our meetings. Many meetings have open days or hold events during this week.

This year is different, because the Quaker Centre has opened at Friends House and is hosting events to celebrate Quaker week. The picture above shows the worship roomin the Quaker centre. I did a shift as a vounteer on Monday and Wednesday afternoon at the centre, and will be there again on Friday.

It occurred to me as I was reading one of my favourite blogs - boingboing - this morning, that I could do a number of things in the real world and the virtual world to celebrate Quaker week. The first thing I am going to do is to start posting here about things which may interest Quakers. Items on living simply, truth and integrity, social justice, silent worship.

The second thing I am going to do is to set up a regular event in SL for Quaker questions and answers.

Human Library

2009-08-25T00:44:00.000-07:00

I must admit that until I posted the poster ideas here the other day, I had more or less forgotten about this blog, as I have so many others which I maintain. I will try to do better. In searching for addresses for meeting houses, I came across this page. I absolutely love this idea... it seems to me that in giving an enquirer the chance to "borrow" a specific Quaker, it might make people a whole lot more comfortable with the idea.

2009-08-21T03:13:00.001-07:00

Posting some ideas for posters here:

Hospital this week

2008-12-28T08:25:00.000-08:00

I don't expect to be around much ths week, as my son Ali goes into hospital on Tuesday to have his colostomy reversed.

Please hold us in the light as he goes through the week, which is likely to be quite difficult for him. I will try to post regularly once I get back to a routine next week.
x
Fee

Blog and website changes

2008-12-28T01:50:00.000-08:00

Originally I set up this blog to be a place to hold the information I was discovering in relation to Uxbridge Meeting's 350th anniversary, because Uxbridge local meeting didn't have an official website. The meeting does now have an official website, and so I have changed this blog to be a personal blog, with information about Uxbridge meeting's history contained in separate blogsites.

New Quaker forum

2008-12-13T22:50:00.001-08:00

There is a new forum for Quakers on BYM website, which is at http://www.quakerweb.org.uk/forum. There is not a lot of discussion going on at the moment, mainly because there don't appear to be any links to the forum from the main website, something I have pointed out to the forum peeps.

There are still a few enquirers and seekers asking questions, who would benefit from some experienced Quaker answers.

Freedom not fear

2008-10-12T01:02:00.000-07:00

While we were celebrating 350 years of Quakers in Uxbridge, the No2ID group was gathering in Parliament Square to protest about the over surveillance in our society. I thought Friends might be interested in a link to a report of that event, which involved Quakers from Godalming.

The activists at the event constructed a large picture of Gordon Brown from pictures sent in of surveillance cameras etc. Follow the story and see the picture here.

A mayoral visit

2008-10-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Saturday October 11, was the second of our open days in 2008. The meeting house was looking very clear and well ordered, as the nursery equipment etc had been moved out of the meeting house, and the exhibition of the history, and twelve panels from the Quaker tapestry were set up in the large meeting house.

There were displays from the hirers in the small meeting house, and a sale of books in aid of Amnesty International and Quakers.

About 30 visitors were in the room to see the Mayor tour the exhibits. Janet Cottrell, clerk of the meeting, made a speech welcoming the visitors, David Burnell then spoke about 350 years of Quakers in Uxbridge, and there were speeches from the mayor, and the representative from Hillingdon Carers too, who had received a donation from the Quakers.

Among the people who visited the open day were Beryl and Colin Bell, now of Walhamstow meeting.

After the formalities were over, tea and cake was made available and there was time for a chat. As David remarked, we were extremely lucky with the weather as both open days were bright and sunny.

History of Uxbridge Quakers

2008-08-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

There are now two separate blogs for the history of Uxbridge Quakers. These are currently under construction. One deals with the history of the meeting, with pages for each century, and the other deals with the people who came to or were associated with Uxbridge Meeting.

Please let me know if you find any bad links, or require more information.

What happens at our meeting for worship

2008-08-15T01:48:00.000-07:00

At Uxbridge, our meeting for worship is held on Sundays at 10.30am at the Meeting House in York Road (opposite Sainsburys). You are welcome to join us then, or if you would prefer to meet us over a cup of tea, at around 11.30 am.

It may help to give you some idea of what to expect. At Uxbridge the side door is the one which is always used on a Sunday morning... I'm not sure why, apart from the fact that the front door opens onto a narrow hall which is between the large Meeting House and the Small Meeting House (which are actually all part of the same building) and so it would be a bit awkward and confined to greet people there. A sign is put up outside the building to direct people to the side entrance, to the right of the main door.

Usually there will be someone to greet people coming into meeting, and they will know whether someone is a member of Uxbridge meeting or not. It is customary for everyone to shake hands with the person who is acting as doorkeeper.

The room where the meeting for worship is held is straight ahead. There is usually a table with a vase of flowers upon in the middle of the room, and chairs and benches are arranged around it in a circular pattern. There will be bibles and a book called Quaker faith and practice around the room. You can choose to sit wherever you like.

The meeting begins when people gather together, rather than at the stroke of 10.30am. Quaker meetings are said to be silent, but in fact, people often speak at meeting. There is no programmed worship, no hymns or readings or sermon. Instead people wait in silence, and when someone feels moved to stand up and talk, everyone listens. Sometimes they read the bible, or Quaker Faith and Practice. Sometimes they close their eyes.

Quakers have a little booklet called Advices and Queries, which contains a set of numbered questions and things to think about. Often someone will have been asked to read one of the Advices and Queries in meeting.

It isn't usual to speak more than once in a meeting, and it is definitely not usual - in fact definitely frowned upon and not really allowed - to comment on or argue with anything anyone says in meeting either at the same time, or later. Sometimes people mention the fact that someone else's ministry reflected what they were thinking about, or prompted them to think about something else, but that's really as far as it goes. People practise open listening, trying to discern the meaning for them of the things that people say in meeting.

In some meetings - which are rare - no-one says anything. Usually two or three people will get up and say something in the course of an hour. Sometimes more people will speak.

An hour passes amazingly quickly, and the elders signal that the meeting is over by shaking hands with the people closest to them, and so you hear a rustle as everyone shakes hands with the people closest to them.

The clerk of the meeting will then get up, welcome everyone, and make any announcements that have come in, and then a cup of tea and biscuits is brought in and shared by everyone.

Sometimes you will hear people thanking someone for their ministry. Then people simply chat over their cup of tea. Occasionally there is a shared lunch or a business meeting after meeting for worship, but usually everything is over by midday.