Our conference in 2023 had the title ‘Universalism and Creativity’ and its main themes were visual art and poetry.  That conference could not cover all the arts, and one glaring omission was music, especially given the large role music and sound play in the religions of the world.  So, we began to plan to make amends and this 2026 conference is the result.

We wanted to make it participatory, hence the many contributions from people who attended the conference, both in person and online.  Our two external speakers reflected our title ‘Quaker Universalist Group’.  We were delighted to welcome Christine Richards, with her extensive knowledge of world religions, and Jennifer Kavanagh, a well-known Quaker writer.

Ideally, this pamphlet would come with accompanying music and sounds, but we hope readers will be encouraged to search online to listen to the examples mentioned in the text.

The contributors

David Jenkins is an Emeritus Professor of Pathology at the University of Nottingham.  He has always been interested in the philosophical and moral issues of science and medicine and their relation to religion.    

Stuart Prince is a British Wheel of Yoga Teacher, Nada (sound) Yoga practitioner, Kirtan performer and Folk Musician.   

Peter Varney is a Quaker and a retired Anglican priest.  He is interested in universalism around the world, and the emerging ideas of human potential and noetic consciousness. 

Christine Richards was a teacher, then music advisor in the Inner London Education Authority.  Her special interest has always been world music, especially in relation to the major world religions. 

Jennifer Kavanagh is a member of Westminster Local Quaker Meeting, a trained singer, a writer and an Associate Tutor at Woodbrooke.

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