Quaker Life is a central department of
the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain,
the national organisation of
Quakers in
England,
Wales,
Scotland, the
Isle of Man and the
Channel Islands. Its work is to develop the spiritual life of Quakers in Britain, and the running of Quaker Meetings within Britain.
Work
Its work is divided into six main areas:
* ''faith and practice''
* ''diversity and inclusion''
* ''children and young people''
* ''meeting house staff''
* ''outreach''
* ''pastoral care''
This department complements the work of
Quaker Peace and Social Witness: Quaker Life mainly being an inward-looking department mainly working for members of the Yearly Meeting; whilst
Quaker Peace and Social Witness is an outward-looking department, mainly working for peace and social action outside of the Yearly Meeting membership.
There is a permanent secretariat who works in the central offices of
Britain Yearly Meeting at
Friends House in
London. Their work is governed by the ''Quaker Life Central Committee'', which is a central committee of
Britain Yearly Meeting. Ultimately, their work is governed by
Britain Yearly Meeting, which meets once a year, and in between sittings of
Britain Yearly Meeting, by
Meeting for Sufferings
Meeting for Sufferings is an executive committee of Britain Yearly Meeting, the body which acts on behalf of members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Great Britain and the Crown Dependencies. It has about 200 members who meet five ...
.
History
''Friends' Home Mission Committee'' was set up by
London Yearly Meeting
The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, also known as the Britain Yearly Meeting (and, until 1995, the London Yearly Meeting), is a Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in England, Sc ...
in 1882, to ''promote the growth of home mission work in the Yearly Meeting''.
It was decided in 1893 that this committee should be appointed by representatives serving each of the
Quarterly Meetings, each of whom would serve for three years.
The work of this committee widened, and the committee's name was therefore changed to ''Friends' Home Mission and Extension Committee''
(in 1906) and then ''Friends Home Service Committee'' (in 1927).
There was a reorganisation of all the central standing committees of
London Yearly Meeting
The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, also known as the Britain Yearly Meeting (and, until 1995, the London Yearly Meeting), is a Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in England, Sc ...
in 1981, and this resulted in a change of name again, to ''Quaker Home Service''. The function of Quaker Home Service was to ''support and strengthen the life of local meetings, the individuals within them and the yearly meeting as a whole''.
In 1998, there was a further reorganisation of the central committees of
Britain Yearly Meeting, with most of the work of ''Quaker Home Service'' being taken on by a new central committee called ''Quaker Life''.
References
{{Religious Society of Friends
Quaker organisations based in the United Kingdom