Quaker Life is a central department of the Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, the national organisation of

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

and the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

. Its work is to develop the spiritual life of Quakers in Britain, and the running of Quaker Meetings within Britain.

Work

Its work is divided into six main areas: * ''faith and practice'' * ''diversity and inclusion'' * ''children and young people'' * ''meeting house staff'' * ''outreach'' * ''pastoral care'' This department complements the work of

Quaker Peace and Social Witness Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), previously known as the Friends Service Council, and then as Quaker Peace and Service, is one of the central committees of Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends – the national organisa ...

: Quaker Life mainly being an inward-looking department mainly working for members of the Yearly Meeting; whilst

is an outward-looking department, mainly working for peace and social action outside of the Yearly Meeting membership. There is a permanent secretariat who works in the central offices of

Britain Yearly Meeting The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, also known as Britain Yearly Meeting (and, until 1995, London Yearly Meeting), is a Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in England, Scotland, ...

Friends House Friends House is a multi-use building at 173 Euston Road in London, England. The building houses the central offices of British Quakers and a conference centre. The building is also the principal venue for North West London Meeting and the Bri ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Their work is governed by the ''Quaker Life Central Committee'', which is a central committee of

. Ultimately, their work is governed by

, which meets once a year, and in between sittings of

, by

Meeting for Sufferings Meeting for Sufferings is an executive committee of Britain Yearly Meeting, the body which acts on behalf of members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Great Britain and the Crown Dependencies. It has about 200 members who meet five ...

History

''Friends' Home Mission Committee'' was set up by

London Yearly Meeting The Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, also known as Britain Yearly Meeting (and, until 1995, London Yearly Meeting), is a Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in England, Scotland, ...

in 1882, to ''promote the growth of home mission work in the Yearly Meeting''. It was decided in 1893 that this committee should be appointed by representatives serving each of the Quarterly Meetings, each of whom would serve for three years. The work of this committee widened, and the committee's name was therefore changed to ''Friends' Home Mission and Extension Committee'' (in 1906) and then ''Friends Home Service Committee'' (in 1927). There was a reorganisation of all the central standing committees of

in 1981, and this resulted in a change of name again, to ''Quaker Home Service''. The function of Quaker Home Service was to ''support and strengthen the life of local meetings, the individuals within them and the yearly meeting as a whole''. In 1998, there was a further reorganisation of the central committees of

, with most of the work of ''Quaker Home Service'' being taken on by a new central committee called ''Quaker Life''.

References

{{Religious Society of Friends Quaker organisations based in the United Kingdom