Category: Quakers in London

Quakers in London welcomes Jane-Eve Straughton as new Executive Secretary

We’re delighted to announce that Jane-Eve Straughton has been appointed Executive Secretary of London Quakers Property Trust (LQPT), and will become Executive Secretary of Quakers in London (QiL) from January 2027. She joins us on 14 September, and Friends will have the chance to meet her at JLAM on 12 September.

Some of you will already know Jane-Eve. She’s a member of NETAM, where she serves as a Local Meeting clerk, and many will have encountered her through her work heading one of the governance teams at Quakers in Britain.

Jane-Eve brings a wealth of not-for-profit leadership experience, including as Executive Director of English Touring Opera and in other opera administration roles. Across her career she has built staff teams, managed substantial budgets, served as Company Secretary, supported strategy development, and ensured good governance. She holds a Diploma in Law and a degree in French and Russian, and while living in Norway was part of the clerking team at Oslo Monthly Meeting.

As Executive Secretary, Jane-Eve will lead the staff team, oversee the maintenance and development of our meeting houses, and support trustees and the network of committees that keep London Quaker life running.

A thorough and considered process

This appointment followed a rigorous and carefully run recruitment process, with many strong candidates including Quakers, people from other churches, other faiths, and of no faith.

We’re grateful to the Friends who gave their time to the recruitment panel, drawn from across London Quakers: six Area Meetings, LQPT trustees, Young Adult Quakers, the London Development Group, BYM trustees, QiL Nominations, QiL Arrangements Committee, and QiL Clerks (several wearing more than one hat).

As Beth Allen writes in Quaker faith & practice 8.24, “We need to be an ordinary well-run organisation, with good structures, and sensible practices, which we then make extraordinary by transcending not discarding them.” We believe Jane-Eve will help us do exactly that.

Caroline Nursey, Clerk LQPT Trustees and Member of London Development Group

23 June, 2026
Be Part of Creating Quakers in London!
Nominations Committee are looking for Friends to fill essential roles which will shape the future of Quakers in London

The Committee would particularly like to hear from more friends who haven’t yet become involved, especially younger friends.

Each of us has valuable skills, and a unique perspective which could enrich the Quakers in London community and help make it a more vibrant, creative, and inclusive Area Meeting. Ask if you feel called to serve, or if you know a Friend who may be well placed to do so.

Nominations Committee are currently looking to fill the following roles:
- Treasurer
- Interfaith Interchurch Representatives
- Children and Young Peoples Representatives
- Outreach Committee
- Finance Committee
- Property Committee
- Employment Committee
If you would like to offer service yourself fill in an Offer of Service form!

You can make suggestions for Friends to be considered for the different roles using the QiL Nominations Suggestions Box.

The latest information, including terms of reference, is available on the Quakers in London Website: https://quakersinlondon.org/am-nominations/.
23 June, 2026
News from JLAM: Latest Steps in Creating Quakers in London

On Saturday 13 June, the Joint London Area Meetings met at Westminster Meeting House to agree more steps towards becoming a single AM: Quakers in London (QiL), slated to take place in just over six months time.

With the help of QiL Co-Clerk Kate Green, we provide a summary of the morning and afternoon sessions and the thoughtful, creative, and constructive ministry that was heard.

The minutes are also available to read and download here.

Morning Session: How Should QiL Use its Money?

The morning session was an open exploration around money. This is how one of our Clerks, Kate Green, summarised the lively discussion:

“We asked ourselves the question, “How should QiL use its money?”

As single spiritual and financial body, how may we make the strongest impact in our Quaker, and the wider London, community?

Are we still as adventurous and far-sighted as earlier
Friends were in using money for community benefit?

It was a time for exploring our joys, fears and hopes for QiL’s use of money, held in a spirit of worship. For the first time in London our meeting houses and our financial resources will be united. We need to discover our shared vision and what we are led to do, even when economic prospects are poor. Ministry started with references to Marie Kondo’s philosophy. As we gradually evolve into Quakers in London, we need to examine all we do, all our traditions. Does this bring us joy? If it doesn’t, thank it for its service and let it go.

With the seven London AMs pooled resources, we hope to be able to more ethically manage our investments. Using the model of the Quaker Housing Trust, QiL could give grants, or lend money to other charities who share our testimonies and are doing the work we are led to do but aren’t able to. We need to use all our connections with like-minded groups of people to discover what we may do together. We may also be led to contribute more than the minimum QiL quota, and to offer more service.

Friends ministered about supporting Quaker children and young people (which may be as simple as giving them their own room in a Meeting House) and the need for a London Quaker Centre which is accessible to all.

We also heard ministry about Reparation, the Climate Crisis, the Quaker Prison Ministry and the needs of London’s young people in relation to violent crime.

At the end of our session, we were all moved by the realisation that we’re living in a historic time for Quakers in London. After the hard work of moving towards the merging of the seven London AMs, it was a discovery of our fundamental unity, and great hope for our future.”

You can read more detail about this ministry in the document below:

Notes of ministry taken at JLAM morning session 13 June 2026 (LC)
Download

The Afternoon Session: Appointments, Membership, Discernment.

In the afternoon session, key appointments were made, seven members of our community came into membership, and crucial financial decisions were taken.

This meeting appointed JLAM’s interfaith representative, the QiL Membership Clerk, and a new member to the Elders and Pastoral Carers Committee. We also appointed six QiL “trustees in waiting”, who will begin their trusteeship on the first of January 2027.

To get to know our community better, we are publishing introductions of trustees in waiting, role holders and community members over the course of 2026. This edition, we get to know two future trustees: George Barrow and Mary Stiasny.

We also heard how the QiL finances will work and made the decision to maintain AMs existing designated funds for five years, then review.

Additionally, two upcoming events which will help us continue our journey toward QiL were highlighted – one for Elders and Pastoral Friends on 11 July at Friends House and another on zoom on 29 July open to everyone to explore gaps in our present structure and how to fill them.

We give our heartfelt thanks to all those who helped to make the day a success!

Read and download the minutes below:

JLAM Minutes June 2026 Download

22 June, 2026
Getting to Know: George

Name: George Barrow

Role: currently assistant clerk of London Quaker Property Trust and nominated as a trustee of QiL on its creation as a charity

Local Meeting: Having worshipped at Hampstead for about 15 years, I’ve recently moved my membership to Stoke Newington, which is considerably closer to home. Originally I was a member of a meeting in Birmingham, where I grew up.

What parts of your service are you looking forward to? Before retirement I was very successful in keeping below the radar in Quaker terms but I’ve enjoyed the last four years as an LQPT trustee – particularly working on the development of the Better Homes strategy. The creation of QiL seems like a logical extension of this work. I believe it is something that will present us with possibilities and opportunities, with the dividend of releasing and redirecting our energy as Quakers into more rewarding work and witness.

What is something you would like people to know about you or your role? I know that LQPT has from time to time been viewed with a bit of suspicion but I’ve found that the trustee group has brought together some really committed, caring people who want to support meetings (with or without Meeting Houses) and see them flourish, while shouldering the real responsibilities that running a charity brings

What’s your favourite quote from QF&P?The extract from QF&P I most commonly use is Isaac Pennington’s “helping one another up with a gentle hand”. The message is not just about helping, it’s how “one another” recognises that any of us might be the helper or the helped, depending on where and when, and what we have to offer.

To get to know our community better, we are publishing a series of posts introducing Quakers in London including (but by no means limited to) “trustees in waiting” and role holders! If there is someone you would like to learn more about, or you would be interested in introducing yourself, please email us at quill@quakersinlondon.org.

22 June, 2026
Getting to know: Mary

Name: Mary Stiasny

Role: I am a relatively new member of the London Development Group, having been asked to join it fairly recently. I have also just been appointed to be a Trustee of the new QiL.

Local Meeting: I am a Member of South East London Area Meeting; I attend Forest Hill Meeting – and have done so for a very long time!

What parts of your service are you looking forward to? I see this as the service I can give to London Quakers, having had so much given to me as a lifelong Quaker. My Quakerism is at the centre of my being. I hope we can together build a vibrant Quaker community across London which is outward looking and appeals to non-Quakers – not just to ourselves! It is time for us to grow as a community and as a religious group.

What are you getting up to outside of Quakers? Outside the Society I am retired from working in universities, yet still very involved with higher education in various ways, and I like to spend lots of time with my husband, children and grandchildren.

What’s your favourite quote from QF&P? My favourite piece from QF&P is Advice 17, and I especially love that last sentence; ‘think it possible that you may be mistaken’, because it reminds us that we need to be open to the meanings others bring; that we are not ourselves infallible.

“Do you respect that of God in everyone though it may be expressed in unfamiliar ways or be difficult to discern? Each of us has a particular experience of God and each must find the way to be true to it. When words are strange or disturbing to you, try to sense where they come from and what has nourished the lives of others. Listen patiently and seek the truth which other people’s opinions may contain for you. Avoid hurtful criticism and provocative language. Do not allow the strength of your convictions to betray you into making statements or allegations that are unfair or untrue. Think it possible that you may be mistaken.”

To get to know our community better, we are publishing a series of posts introducing Quakers in London including (but by no means limited to) “trustees in waiting” and role holders! If there is someone you would like to learn more about, or you would be interested in introducing yourself, please email us at quill@quakersinlondon.org.

22 June, 2026
Regional coordinators needed for peace gathering
Can you help?

September 19^th 2026 – London

Plans are underway for a National Quaker peace gathering in London on Saturday 19 September 2026. This date has been chosen for its proximity to the United Nations International Day of Peace. The event will take the form of a Silent Walking Vigil. Key details are available at: https://quakervigilforpeace.org/. The website includes core information about the vigil and an opportunity to express interest and sign-up for updates.

Might you be interested in getting involved as a local organiser?
- Local organisers would tell everyone about the Vigil.
- Explore having a local Vigil for Friends who can’t travel to the event
- Be a point of contact with the organisers
If this would interest you, please contact Josh at joshs@quaker.org.uk
15 June, 2026
University Meetings as a Gateway to the Wider Quaker Community

Agnes Sales reflects on her experience of the University of Bristol Quaker Meeting

Following the event on the 21^st July about outreach to universities, Agnes Sales, a Friend involved in the Quaker work at Bristol University has shared the following reflections.

If you would be interested in joining with other friends across London in talking about university work in the city, please email Josh (joshs@quaker.org.uk) to be connected.

The meeting at the University of Bristol has been an integral part of my Quaker faith and weekly routine. Before joining, I was already a regular at the Multifaith Chaplaincy and had attended Central meeting a couple of times that year. One day in October, I saw a couple of people sitting in silent worship in the quiet room, decided to join them.

Initially, there were only three of us, but I invited my friends and we steadily grew – I think our biggest meeting had 17 people! Some people came and went and a few of us turned up consistently every Wednesday lunchtime. We started doing ‘Quaked potatoes’ and a few of us started attending Redland meeting and joining the Becoming Friends course. The University meeting has provided a gateway to the wider Quaker community, enabled me to make new friends of all ages and have a consistent way of engaging with my faith when I cannot come on a Sunday morning.

I have always appreciated the more casual nature of our meetings, where we have afterword, food and conversation and where some people move around and minister in ways that they don’t feel comfortable to do elsewhere. We have developed a real community that feels strong and fulfilling.

The chaplains of other faiths in the Multifaith Chaplaincy have also provided great company and support, whether that be pastoral support or simply making tea. I’m sure that a Quaker chaplain would be appreciated not only by the students who regularly attend the Quaker meeting but also other students who who may have questions about Quakerism or need pastoral support.

11 June, 2026
Reflections on Yearly Meeting: Bunhill Fields

A member of Bunhill Fields Meeting attended Yearly Meeting and kindly provided this report. Are you still reflecting on Yearly Meeting? We’d love to hear your thoughts quill@quakersinlondon.org.

Yearly Meeting session in May 2026 had main sessions on ‘What unites us as a Spirit-led community?’ and a following one ‘As a Spirit-led community, how can we handle conflict well?’.

There was a lot of ministry both in Friends House and online. The main aspects I picked up were the need for us to be open minded, kind (without condescension), accept everyone’s views, listen attentively, recognise that there are language difficulties with other Quakers and other faiths, know that the Spirit moves through us (but isn’t us), recognise that we can feel battered and vulnerable, and that the fruits of the Spirit are action. We need to find opportunities to describe our feelings on God (which could involve singing). A wonderful analogy was given that when we look up through the tree canopy God is the light flowing through the leaves – we and the leaves are finite, but God is infinite light and indescribable.

What I took away from these sessions is that language for all of us is so important, but slippery and difficult, and doesn’t always communicate well. By chance in the Bookshop I found Jane Pearn’s 2017 booklet on The Language of Leadings, a reflection on faith, action and concern. It is the result of an Eva Koch scholarship looking into the important Quaker idea of Concern. This is a wonderful introduction to slippery language and investigates Quaker thinking on the two main Yearly Meeting sessions. I have bought three copies for Bunhill Library which I hope newcomers will find helpful.

Paul Parker, Recording Clerk, serves as the most senior staff member for the Britain Yearly Meeting, managing staff and supporting meetings. He acts as the senior staff member, often representing the Quaker community on public and social issues. He gave a comprehensive report on the many recent challenges Quakers have faced on the right to protest. Most recently on 21 April 2026 Quakers warned a parliamentary committee that sweeping restrictions on protest are putting British democracy at risk and preventing people from acting on their faith. Several Friends have been charged and imprisoned, with a peaceful Just Stop Oil protester still in prison. This is ironic in the year that we have laid down Meeting for Sufferings (because now we need to tackle this work at Yearly Meeting level). But the hundreds of years old record of Quaker sufferings will continue to be recorded.

3 June, 2026
Goodbye London Quakers – Hello – What?

Submitted by Fred Ashmore – Clerk to London Quakers

At the Close of the JLAM meeting of 13th June, London Quakers (LQ) will hold its final AGM after 15 years of serving The Quakers of London and lay itself down. The London Quakers Steering Group hope that Quakers in London will take over everything that London Quakers has been doing. Of course, the recruitment of Josh Selfe as our local Development Worker has been a huge vitaliser for all of us in London and the Being Quaker courses he has created are a great resource, long needed. QiL has decided
to appoint two Friends to look after interfaith and interchurch work, which is another aspect of the LQ work that will otherwise be missed.

At present the Arrangements Committee are looking after the website and issuing The Quill which replaces (rather better) the monthly LQ mailings that shared news, announcements and events. We don’t yet have settled arrangements for handling
the miscellaneous queries that come in through the website and facebook and email of the Clerk of London Quakers (We‘ve had rather surprising requests, and suggestions believe me). In future staff will help with that but they will need to know who to go to for decisions.

The most important thing that LQ Steering Group hopes as it lays itself down is that there will be a group to help create, organise and support community events for Quakers in London. You can’t dump this on Josh Selfe. It’s got to be us, Friends. There have been regular events for the past decade. Supporting older Friends,
Housing Inequality, gender diversity, Refugee matters, Death and Dying, Assisted Dying. Someone made these happen. Who will do that for the next decade? We hope to pull together a thriving community of Quakers in London. We hope to cater
for varied interests and groups. But none of it just happens.

Over to you QiL!

Fred Ashmore

3 June, 2026
Getting to Know: Tim

Name: Tim Heath

Role: Co-Clerk of QiL

Tim worships at Hampstead, but where is he looking?

The role of the QiL clerks was formulated to be more than the servants of the meeting, and to be servant-leaders.

As leaders we are seeking a point on the horizon to which all Quakers might aspire.

One of Tim’s enthusiasms is the London visionary, William Blake who once asked ‘Where shall we take our stand to view the infinite and the unbounded?’ Blake knew it would be in London – ‘a human awful wonder of God’. Tim believes it will be in QiL, where everything that lives is holy.

29 May, 2026