QWRC 17-19 April 2026

What is this committee responsible for?

Quaker World Relations Committee (QWRC) helps Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) keep in contact with other Quaker meetings and groups abroad, understand their witness, communicate ours, and maintain mutual support. QWRC liaises with the worldwide Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC), and in particular with its Europe and Middle East Section (EMES).

What did it do at this meeting?

We finalised plans for welcoming overseas Friends to May's Yearly Meeting (44 registered to attend in Friends House and 30 online). Our committee tasks at Yearly Meeting included supporting two early morning worships, and an opportunity for British Friends to meet with visiting Friends.

We were pleased to learn that there would be an opportunity for British Friends to learn how Friends in Cuba are facing the current economic and energy crisis. We considered the question “How can Friends in the Middle East be spiritually supported?" Both Cuba and Middle East YMs have had to be cancelled this year: see this news item on the FWCC-EMES website..

We spent time getting to know each other, holding in our hearts part of Qf&p 13.27.

“As we often do not know the personal theologies of members of our own meetings, how can we prepare our own Friends to listen to others? Yet we must. If Friends world wide are to be a world family of Friends we have to learn to hear and to understand each other."

As we were in the wonderful welcoming surroundings of Swarthmoor Hall, we were delighted to have a tour of the Hall and a visit to Sunbrick Burial Ground, where many local Friends, including Margaret Fell, are buried.

We shared news of our contacts with Friends around the world, and of international Quaker organisations. We learned something about the history of the practice of Yearly Meetings exchanging epistles, which is one way that helps connect Friends around the world.

Our opening worship included a quote from On These Islands I runga i ngā motu nei Quaker Faith and Practice in Aotearoa New Zealand : “History teaches us that darkness and death take different forms in every generation, but the challenge of gathering the forces of love and light to oppose them remains the same" (section 8.48).

How can I find out more?

You can find out more about the work of international Quaker organisations by signing up to their email newsletters

FWCC sign up at bottom of this page.

FWCC: EMES complete this page.

Quaker United Nations Office sign up at bottom of this page.

Please keep an eye on the QWRC page of the Quakers in Britain website here.