Cheadle Hulme, Crewe and Nantwich, Disley, Frandley (Northwich), Macclesfield, Marple, Stockport, Wilmslow
Welcome to East Cheshire Quakers.
Quakers believe that there is that of God in everyone, and that there is Light within each of us.
At the core of our faith are our values - simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality. We have no creed that states our beliefs. Rather, we try to live our lives in such a way that we are each living examples of the Spirit.
This is a place of seeking, of finding, of sharing, of experiencing, and of being together - not unlike our meetings.
Crewe & Nantwich Meeting for Worship takes place from 3.00 - 4.00pm on the second and fourth Sundays of each month and is followed by tea and biscuits. In the winter months, however, Friends find the journey home in the dark difficult and on 10 December, 14 and 28 January, Meeting for Worship will be preceded at 2.30pm by a half-hour opportunity for tea and chat. Friends will then be able to journey home at 4.00pm.
Marple Quakers were represented at the Memorial Gardens (Marple park) on remembrance Sunday (12/11/23) and contributed a wreath of mainly white poppies with a few of the usual red poppies. Churches Together and others also brought wreaths which included some white poppies. (see the pictures following).
Our representative joined with Stockport for Peace and both laid wreaths composed of white poppies in remembrance of those who had fallen in war.
In addition to hymns, prayers were said including for the current wars in Ukraine, Gaza and also for those engaged in seeking and maintaining peaceful resolution.
For background to red and white poppies, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_poppy and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_poppy
Disley Meeting are planning to read Helen Minnis’s Swarthmore lecture 2022 called ‘Perceiving the Temperature of the Water’ (cost £10). The idea is to host 4/6 sessions on a weeknight at the end of January through February 2024 on Zoom. Disley hope it will be open to all Friends in ECAM. Details to be sent to all clerks as soon as dates have been confirmed.
Friends can purchase the Swarthmore lecture from the Quaker bookshop here: https://bookshop.quaker.org.uk/Perceiving-the-temperature-of-the-water_9781739226008
Helen Minnis' Swarthmore lecture is also available to watch on YouTube.
‘He never hid himself’: the incredible life of gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/nov/21/bayard-rustin-movie-lgbt-civil-rights-netflix
On Sunday 12 November white poppies were placed along with all the red poppies at the Stockport War Memorial. The Stockport Quaker wreath is on the left and the Stockport for Peace wreath is in the centre.
Quakers in Buxton meet at ‘The Green Man gallery’ on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month at 7.15pm. All welcome.
The first time I attended a Quaker Meeting, I was impressed at the cake that was offered along with the mugs of tea after the meeting. Crewe and Nantwich Meeting makes frequent opportunites to eat together: conversations flow and relationships are strengthened. The shared lunch held recently was a great success. Over lunch the suggestion was made that they journey down to Friends House in London to visit the Loving Earth Exhibition - and check out the cake!
This is an opportunity to find out more about Quakers. Everyone is very welcome.
On Sunday 6th August, six members of Crewe & Nantwich Meeting gathered beside the river on Water Lode then proceeded to the pedestrian bridge over the river. Howard Hilton then reminded the gathering that we were there to commemorate the thousands of civilians killed by the dropping of the first Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. He then asked if anyone would like to speak, and Linda spoke extemporarily on the Quaker Commitment to Peace from the earliest years of the Society, shortly after the Civil War, at the Restoration of the Monarchy. Howard then asked if he might speak, and began by recalling that he had just started “big school” at the time, as, no doubt, had many Japanese girls and boys, but they, together with their younger brothers and sisters, and their Mums and other relatives, were vaporised or left with dreadful injuries and radiation sickness. It was not necessary, as the Japanese were already negotiating the terms of peace, but scientists like to see their experiments (now commemorated in the film “Oppenheimer”) through to The End.
Some have argued that the Japanese had treated their opponents and prisoners with extreme brutality and deserved what they got, but war exaggerates everything: ordinary people do acts of great heroism, and those of a brutal nature have opportunity to indulge themselves. The artist and cartoonist Ronald Searle (famous for his “St Trinians” creation) left Art College to join the Royal Engineers and endured the war in Burma and the “Bridge over the River Kwai” in reality. Like all true artists he never stopped making drawings, even in captivity somehow, and eventually published a book of them. However, he tells the story of how when the war was ended he was in Changi Jail, still under Japanese control, waiting for arrangements to be made for repatriation. He was one of a party of men given the job of maintenance tasks on a building used as an Officers’ Mess. One day the Camp Commandant, an officer called Takahashi, came in for a morning drink, took off his officer’s sword, relaxed and looked around at what was going on. He saw that Searle was drawing (as usual) and went over to look over his shoulder. He then reached down, took up a pencil, and with a few quick strokes drew a beautiful mother and child, which could be a Madonna. He then said, in his careful English, “I too am an artist, a painter, and when this business started was studying in Paris. I was recalled to Japan.” He gathered his belongings and turned to go, then went back to Searle and said “I almost forgot - you may find these useful” reached into a pocket and gave Searle a handful of pencils. He too was a member of the human family.
Finally, Hiroshima was not the end but the beginning: ever since then we have all lived under the shadow of nuclear weapons - the arms race, the Cuban Missile Crisis and so on. And it distorts our priorities. The Government plans to spend, 2021-2025, on military affairs £201.6 billion, whilst on reducing UK carbon emissions £27.7 billions.
We then turned to the bridge parapet, and threw into the river below the white flowers we had brought. As the ever-rolling stream took them away, it seemed appropriate to recall the words of the Anglican General Confession: Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have offended against thy holy laws, we have done those things we ought not to have done, and we have left undone those thing which we ought to have done, and there is no health in us, but Thou . . .
After that we needed a cup of tea - and a place on Welsh Row provided it, so that we could sit in the sunshine and enjoy companionship
After Meeting for Worship on Sunday 13 August, Crewe and Nantwich Friends reflected together on their understanding of membership.
Attenders asked what membership involves and asked, ‘Do I know enough? Would I do it right?’ Some described concern about being expected to take on roles of responsibility.
Members shared their own journey into membership. Two Members who had visited people discerning whether to seek membership described the process.
It was clear that there were a number of people keen to consider membership further. All were reassured that, ‘if you’re a Member or an Attender, you are welcome.’.
Here is an article explaining why Quakers should protest against the Defence and Security Equipment Arms Fair taking place in September.
https://www.quaker.org.uk/blog/why-should-we-protest-against-dsei-in-2023
Crewe and Nantwich Attender, Joan Sharples, recently attended a workshop, Seeking Kinder Ground in which Gerald Hewitson and Anne Wilkinson of the Quaker Truth and Integrity Group (QTIG) spoke of the fundamental importance of the values of truth and integrity in our lives.
Workshop participants readily named examples from personal experience and political life of signs of light - and of its absence. Gerald and Anne described the group’s determination to ensuring the Nolan principles continue to govern public life through writing letters of encouragement to those who have acted with integrity in difficult situations and through its new Truth and Integrity Award.
The workshop, which took place at a Catholic-based Conference on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, was well attended and enthusiastically received and opened up possibilities for further cooperation. Do take a look at the Quaker Truth and Integrity Group website.
Photo: l to r - Joan Sharples with Anne Wilkinson of QTIG.
This page provides links to videos, podcasts and articles by Quaker organisations and others who have created content about Quakers.https://discoveringquakers.org.uk/links/
Friends and family enjoyed a very social afternoon of tea, cake and games on Saturday 10th June 2023
A new venture for Wilmslow Meeting, this was a really successful afternoon, welcoming Friends past and present, including young people. Conversation, tea and much cake were enjoyed. There was also time to play dominoes, snakes & ladders, boggle, scrabble, skittles and more! We thank those who worked behind the scenes to make this a memorable event.
The Foodbank based at Chelwood Baptist Church in Stockport (https://chelwoodfoodbankplus.org/) is supported by Churches Together in Cheadle Hulme by collections of food etc twice a week at local churches and financial contributions. It is one of the projects Cheadle Hulme Meeting supports from our Quaker and Local Projects Fund. We heard at our most recent business meeting that additional support is urgently needed because of increased demand for their services and so are encouraging Friends in our Meeting to consider supporting the Foodbank if they are able to. Others in the area may be interested in helping too.
Whilst Frandley Meeting has children and young people’s activities every Sunday, all our meetings welcome families. We have an Area Meeting Children Young People’s Committee keen to promote events like pantomime trips, picnics, walks, that draw in more children and young people.
As usual Cheadle Hulme Quakers have joined with members of other churches in Cheadle Hulme to deliver during Christian Aid Week (14 - 20 May) a Christian Aid collection envelope to every house in Cheadle Hulme.
We no longer call back to collect the envelopes (which was the part of the job that nobody enjoyed) but provide a number of collection points around Cheadle Hulme where people can drop off an envelope with cash contribution and also provide a website for online contributions.
Last year Cheadle Hulme churches raised £11,045 for Christian Aid from this envelope collection and other activities.
