Quaker Life is a central department of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, the national organisation of

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

and the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. 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 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 ...

Friends House Friends House is a multi-use building at 173 Euston Road in Euston, central London, that houses the central offices of British Quakers. The building is also the principal venue for North West London Meeting and the Britain Yearly Meeting The ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Their work is governed by the ''Quaker Life Central Committee'', which is a central committee of

. Ultimately, their work is governed by

, which meets once a year, and in between sittings of

, 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

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

, 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