Swarthmore Lecture is one of a series of lectures, started in 1908, addressed to

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, S ...

of the Religious Society of Friends (

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 ...

). The preface to the very first lecture explains the purpose of the series.

“This book is the first of a series of public addresses to be known as the Swarthmore Lectures. The Lectureship was established by the Woodbrooke Extension Committee, at a meeting held December 9th, 1907. The Minute of the Committee provides for “an annual lecture on some subject relating to the Message and Work of the
Society of Friends 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 abili ...
.” The name “ Swarthmore” was chosen in memory of the home of Margaret Fox, which was always open to the earnest seeker after Truth, and from which loving words of sympathy and substantial material help were sent to fellow-workers. “The Woodbrooke Extension Committee requested Rufus M. Jones, M.A., D.Litt., of
Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, to give the first lecture on the evening preceding the holding of the Friends’
Yearly Meeting Yearly Meeting is a term used by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, to refer to an organization composed of constituent meetings or churches within a geographical area. The constituent meetings are called Monthly Meetings in ...
of 1908. In accordance with this decision, the lecture was delivered in the Central Hall,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, on May 19th. “The Swarthmore Lectureship has been founded with a two-fold purpose: firstly, to interpret further to the members of the Society of Friends their Message and Mission; and secondly, to bring before the public the spirit, the aims and the fundamental principles of the Friends. This first lecture presents Quakerism as a religion of experience and first-hand reality—a dynamic, practical religion of life.”

Transcripts and recording of some of the lectures are available from the

Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre Woodbrooke Study Centre is a Quaker college in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. The only Quaker Study Centre in Europe, it was founded by George Cadbury in 1903 and occupies his former home on the Bristol Road. Woodbrooke's first Director of S ...

website.

List of Swarthmore Lectures

For further details see th
list of lectures at the Woodbrooke Centre

References

{{Reflist

External links

Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre
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Recordings of some of the lectures

Nayler.org has reviews of some of the lectures
British lecture series Christian theological lectures Quakerism in the United Kingdom Religious education in the United Kingdom 1908 establishments in the United Kingdom