QUAKER UNIVERSALIST GROUP NEWSLETTER MAY 2022
Britain Yearly Meeting
Our next QUG events are at Britain Yearly Meeting towards the end of this month. Both of these events will be via Zoom.
Our Faith in Action Meeting is on Monday 23rd May, starting at 7 p.m. We will be looking at some of the issues raised at our recent annual conference on ‘Health and Healing’ and we will be previewing next year’s conference on ‘Universalist Creativity’. Do join us if you can. You have to register first for Britain Yearly Meeting at https://www.quaker.org.uk/ym
We will also be present at the two Groups Fairs, when you can have a chat with other people interested in QUG and ask members of the committee any questions. The Groups Fairs are on Saturday 21st May from 5.00 to 6.30 p.m. and on Sunday 22nd May from 2.00 to 3.30 p.m. Again you have to register for BYM to attend the Groups Fairs.
Our Conference in April – Health and Healing
Our Annual Conference on ‘Health and Healing’ took place between April 1st and 3rd. It was our first ever ‘blended’ conference with about 30 people at Woodbrooke and 30 online. Two of our speakers were at Woodbrooke and two online.
The conference was well-received and we were delighted that, with only a few minor technical hitches, it worked well. Our four speakers covered a wide range of approaches. Dr Monica Janowski spoke about a traditional approach to health and healing in the longhouse communities of the Kelabit people in Sarawak. Staying in Asia, we had an overview of Chinese medicine by Ranald Macdonald. Coming nearer home, Gervais Frykman introduced us to the Friends Fellowship of Healing, whose work can be traced back to George Fox. Our conference was rounded off by Dr Neil Morgan, who was given the topic of ‘Physical, mental and spiritual health’: he named his talk ‘From Division towards Wholeness’ and he spoke about integration in a variety of ways.
We will be putting the talks on our website https://qug.org.uk/ and we will be publishing a conference pamphlet with all the talks in it, plus a universalist summary article. This will be sent free to all QUG members and will also be available for sale. For further details see our website or email contact@qug.org.uk.
QUG Membership
We do encourage you to join QUG if you have not already done so. Our journal Universalist is well worth a read, as is the pamphlet we produce in the summer following our conference. E-copies of Universalist cost £12.00 per year and hard copies £18.00 per year. Hard copies of the pamphlet are sent to all members.
Renewals for QUG membership for 2022 are due on the anniversary of when you last paid.
Full details of membership (including our bank details and a standing order form) are at the end of this newsletter.
Our annual conference in 2023 – Universalist Creativity
We are at the early stages in planning our next annual conference which is a year away. We have booked Woodbrooke from Friday May 12th to Sunday May 14th 2023 – and we intend, like this year, to run a blended conference.
It must be a universalist event, so it has to cover different world views or religions. We will concentrate on creativity through one or more of the arts, for example painting, architecture, music, dance and poetry. Art can touch the soul in any place and at any time: it is a way into the Spirit; it can open the door to a different world.
If you think you have something to offer along these lines, or know of someone else who might be able to help, please contact us, by replying to this email, or by emailing contact@qug.org.uk.
Monthly meeting for worship and discussion
We have been learning from other Quaker groups and we are delighted to be able now to run a monthly meeting for worship and discussion. This would be by Zoom and would probably be in the evening. We have a small team willing to organise this, but we would love to have new members to join this team. Please let us know if you would like to help by replying to this email, or by emailing contact@qug.org.uk. We hope to start up these meetings soon and we will advertise them through this newsletter and on our website.
October 2022 Universalist
We would be delighted to receive some more articles for our October 2022 journal – and, if we receive too many, for our February 2023 edition! Any articles will be welcome, as long as they are of a universalist nature. We define universalism as recognising that ‘spiritual awareness is accessible to everyone of any religion or none’ and that ‘no one person and no one faith has the final revelation or monopoly of truth.’
Articles should ideally be between 1000 and 2000 words, and usually not more than 3000. Shorter articles are also acceptable on occasions. If you write poetry, that would be very welcome too.
Apart from conventional articles we welcome reviews, not just of books, but also plays, films, music, etc.
If you have an article please reply to this newsletter or contact us at contact@qug.org.uk.
Contacting us, questions and unsubscribing
If you have any questions or wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter please send an email to contact@qug.org.uk.
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QUG MEMBERSHIP – APPLICATION / RENEWAL
To join QUG for the first time please complete the membership form and pay your subscription. We will send you all the literature for the calendar year in which you join if it is available. Also, to welcome you to QUG, new members will receive two free pamphlets of their choice.
To renew your subscription for this year please pay it on the anniversary of when you last paid. Please make it clear who is paying when you pay. You only need to use the membership/renewal form if you are making changes to your membership.
As a member you receive two free issues of our journal Universalist each year plus a free copy of the QUG pamphlet which contains the written papers/articles from the conference.
While most members choose to receive these publications as hard copies, the option is available to receive them in e-form, at a reduced membership rate (see below). Please note that if you are receiving a paper copy of Universalist you may request to receive it in e-form as well, at no extra cost.
If you include an email address on the application/renewal form we will put you on our e-list to receive additional e-newsletters and information unless you request otherwise.
Please note these are annual rates – you only need to pay once per year.
Subscription rates for 2022
e-mail copy paper copy
UK member £12 £18
Extra paper copy of publications n/a £12
There are three ways of paying:
1. By standing order. This is very helpful in reducing the work for your volunteer committee. A standing order form follows the membership form.
2. Directly into our bank account by Giro or electronic transfer. Please make sure the Treasurer can identify your payment. Our bank details are: TSB. The Quaker Universalist Group. Sort Code 30-97-35, Account No 00016421.
3. By a cheque made out to ‘QUG’ sent to the treasurer.
The membership form follows below: