Quakers have been worshipping in Newcastle without a break since 1698, for most of that time in Pilgrim Street, but since 1961 in the present building in Jesmond. A history of the Meeting, Beyond the Blew Stone by Ruth Sansbury was published to mark the tercentenary in 1998 and is still available. The passage of years has seen major changes in the Society, both locally and nationally, but there has been continuity too.
With no ordained clergy or ministers, we are a Do-It-Yourself body. Individual members serve as elders or overseers, take part in business meetings including a variety of committees, provide links with national Quaker activities, or take their turns at practical service such as preparing refreshments. Thus we are a living community of folk who know each other in many ways. Keynotes include seeking the right course of action together, informality, and enjoying one another's company. This can go much deeper - into supporting one another in times of trouble or distress, or seeking guidance from one another in difficult decisions. At the same time we welcome newcomers and what they have to offer us and possibly gain from us.
We invited a number of members to describe how they came to Quakers, or something of what they value in Quakerism. Click here to read their responses.
We are also strongly linked with the wider local community. Many of us teach in one context or another, and many are engaged in the health or social services, but a variety of other occupations are also represented. Also in the last few years, members of the Meeting set up a support service for young, homeless people which has met a clear need and has grown through attracting financial support from other sources. Currently there is an active Green Group who keep before us ways in which we might reduce the damage we inflict on the Earth as we go about our daily lives
At Newcastle Meeting House we can provide rooms to hire to meet a wide variety of needs in an easily accessible location. Our premises are also used during the week for activities of voluntary and other bodies. A playgroup for both physically-handicapped and able-bodied children, which the Meeting helped to establish, uses a ground floor room every weekday morning.
Quakers and Peace
There is natural interest in where Quakers stand on the issues of international terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the rule of international law and the role of the United Nations, and the possibility of peaceful solutions to situations of conflict and attacks on human rights. The Quaker stand on peace and war in general is well known. The Society of Friends (Quakers) officially stated in 1660 "we do utterly deny ... all outward wars and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end. ... The spirit of Christ ... will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons." William Penn added: "a good end cannot sanctify evil means, nor must we ever do evil, that good may come of it. ... Let us then try what Love will do: for if men did once see we love them, we should soon find they would not harm us. Force may subdue, but Love gains."
This absolute pacifism does not deny the existence of evil and enmity, but holds that they should be overcome by spiritual power rather than 'outward' weapons. In practice it has led Quakers into humanitarian and relief work, into social work in seeking to remedy the causes of wars, and into reconciliation work at all levels, as well as into representations and protests in public and in private, seeking to "speak truth to power".
Quakers recognise the legitimacy of civil authority. From the earliest days of the UN they have had recognised status with it as a Non-Governmental Organisation and have played a non-official role in its processes of "parliamentary diplomacy". They insist on the rule of law in international affairs, as set out in the UN Charter and other international agreements.
Through the Quaker UN Program in New York and Geneva, the Quaker Council for European Affairs based in Brussels, and other ways, Quakers over many years have supported efforts to monitor and control weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Partly arising out of mass campaigns for nuclear disarmament, there has been some progress in arrangements to control nuclear tests and prevent nuclear proliferation. Less well known treaties cover chemical and biological weapons. Particularly since 11 September 2001, some Quakers have also worked on the most effective responses to terrorism.
Quakers have long been concerned with the Middle East affairs. There is a Friends School in Ramallah, Palestine, and Quaker Peace and Social Witness run a programme in Israel/Palestine, in which Quakers and others accompany Israelis and Palestinians in their nonviolent actions and concerted advocacy efforts to end the occupation.
Whilst Quakers have their distinctive position, the danger of an attack on Iraq brought them together with a wide range of people in seeking to prevent it. The Newcastle Stop the War campaign was partly initiated by Quakers, and its first and some subsequent meetings were held in the Meeting House.
So long as the situation in occupied Iraq remains critical, and a peaceful settlement between Israel and Palestine seems remote, many Newcastle Quakers will continue to do what they can to influence the authorities and provide support to those at risk.
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Last update: 2 December 2007