In April 2024 QUG held its third blended annual conference, our first time at High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire. We had good numbers, both in person and online.  We had four speakers, three at High Leigh and one online.

Tony Philpott introduced our topic on the Friday evening, looking at why the future of religion is so important to us all. At the end of his talk he showed some graphs from the Pew Research Centre predicting what the world might be like in the decades to come. These were followed up and critiqued by Peter Varney in his talk on Saturday morning.

Later on Saturday we were delighted to welcome Robert Wafula online from Kenya who spoke about the future of religion and Quakerism in Africa. Finally, on the Sunday morning, Jan Arriens brought the conference to a close with an address which set out his views on what the religion of the future should be and how Quakerism might fit into this vision.

The contributors:

Tony Philpott is presently the Clerk of the QUG Committee. His book, From Christian to Quaker, was sent to all the local meetings in Great Britain.

Peter Varney is a Quaker, a member of the QUG Committee and a retired, but active, Anglican priest. He wrote about the future of religion in the Friends Quarterly, February 2024.

Robert Wafula has been the Principal of Friends Theological College in Kaimosi, Kenya, since October 2014. Robert was educated in Africa and the USA.

Jan Arriens is a well-known Quaker and the author of QUG Pamphlet No. 17. He has many interests, most recently being a co-founder of QTIG, the Quaker Truth and Integrity Group. 

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