Tag: quakers

Fr Dominic Robinson Signs Letter of Protest over Police Raid on London Quaker Meeting House

Photo: Quakers UK

A group of West End Christian church leaders from different denominations have written a letter to the government and Mayor of London expressing their grave concerns over the violent police raid on the Westminster Quaker Meeting House. The full text of their letter follows:

Rachel Blake MP
Sir Keir Starmer, MP
Yvette Cooper MP, Home Secretary
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan

As Christian clergy responsible for parishes and churches in the West End of London, we are writing to you as our two constituency members of Parliament, Home Secretary and Mayor to express our deep concerns about the police raid at the Westminster Quaker Meeting House on 27 March.

We lead work in buildings that, like the Quaker Meeting House, include a variety of activities: worship, meals for those in need, mental health counselling, classes, community group meetings, 12-step programmes, rehearsals, private staff residences, and commercial hires. We also host, whether as a part of our expression of faith or an act of hospitality, conversations and meetings on issues of social justice and global concerns.

The actions of the police at the Quaker Meeting House on 27 March could have happened to any of us.

Without knocking or ringing the bell, the police forced entry into the Meeting House, causing property damage to a historic building. Into a community space deeply committed to non-violence and pacificism, officers armed with tasers entered to control and intimidate. After showing unnecessary force toward a meet-up for people exploring non-violent social action, police then intruded upon and disrupted other events happening simultaneously at the Meeting House, including a life-drawing class, therapy sessions and staff working and living on site, seizing property such as phones and computers.

This incident has caused great fear and alarm in the Quaker community, who have historically represented a voice for peace and compassion for all. We stand with them in their sense of shock and violation. We share their distress, knowing that the same force could be directed against our own ministries and the community groups hosted in our buildings.

This is not an acceptable police response to a peaceable assembly of any kind, whether in church, mosque, synagogue or community centre.

We ask you to clearly condemn the police actions on 27 March, and reassure us that clear measures will be taken to ensure there are no future incidents of disproportionate and inappropriate police responses in places of worship and community centres.

Faithfully,

Rev Simon Buckley, Rector, St Anne’s Church Soho
and Area Dean of Westminster (St Margaret’s) Deanery

Rev Jared Jaggers, Associate Minister,
American International Church

Rev Jennifer Mills-Knutsen, Senior Minister,
American International Church

Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Parish Priest,
Farm Street Church of the Immaculate Conception.

Rev Dr Simon Woodman, Minister,
Bloomsbury Baptist Church

Faith leaders urge David Lammy to show leadership on climate

Faith leaders hold vigil outside Foreign Office, calling on government to show leadership on climate justice

Source: Quakers in Britain

At a vigil outside the Foreign Office on Tuesday, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh, and Buddhist representatives handed in a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy. Catholic signatories included Bishop John Arnold (Salford), spokesman on the environment for the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, and Colette Joyce, the Westminster Justice and Peace Co-ordinator.

The letter asks the foreign secretary to take the initiative at upcoming COP29 by contributing new funding to the International Loss and Damage Fund.

It’s time for the UK – and its wealthiest polluters – to pay our fair share- faith leaders

It must do this in the form of grants not loans and by taxing pollution and wealth, rather than repurposing official development assistance, the letter, co-ordinated by Quakers in Britain and the Faith for the Climate network, says.

The 21 signatories call on the UK government to champion a new “collective quantified goal” for climate finance for developing countries, including sufficient funding to respond to loss and damage.

“Our call to Make Polluters Pay is partly about our history,” the letter says. “When we factor in Britain’s colonial past, the UK is the fourth largest contributor to climate change.”

It is also about our present, faith leaders including Paul Parker, recording clerk of Quakers in Britain, write.

Two fossil fuel giants, Shell and BP, are based here, enjoying record-breaking profits.

“Meanwhile, many British households are struggling to heat their homes. At the same time, communities all around the world are being devastated by extreme weather events, such as flooding, super storms and forest fires.

“These inequalities need to be redressed, to acknowledge the intrinsic value of every living being on our precious and finite earth.”

The faith leaders conclude, “It’s time for the UK – and its wealthiest polluters – to pay our fair share.”

Read the full letter here