NFPB

Northern Friends Peace Board

The Peace Papers - what the reviewers said

From a review in The Friend, 2 March 2001

The peace papers make clear the many-sidedness, interdependence, and unity of the different expressions of the Peace Testimony. They will provide ideas and inspiration both for individuals and for Meetings on a variety of projects for active witness. The parts of the papers describing the personal testimony of people involved in the work are moving.

Suggestions for reading and action help complete an admirable production. As the Quaker poster quoted in the text says, 'World peace will come about through the will of ordinary people like yourself.

Cecil Evans, Jordans Monthly Meeting

From a review in Quaker Monthly, December 2000

It is wonderful to receive the gift of a book that I can't put down and that immediately demands to be read from cover to cover. The Peace Papers, from Northern Friends Peace Board, is just such a book. It is brimming over with gripping stories from individual Friends, telling how and why living their peace testimony is a spiritual and moral imperative for them -the only way they can live their lives.

These are not litanies of perfection, but tales of struggle and tenacity, of being driven to obey inner promptings, of revelation and of gradual discernment.

What all these stories have in common is real engagement by the Friends concerned with the meaning of their peace testimony in the year 2000. Some contributors are well known among Friends, others not. Some have complied brilliantly with the given format of head-heart-hands, others find their issues easier to explain than their personal commitment. Each writer first gives readers a simple explanation of the issue to which they are committed (the head), then a personal testimony (heart) and then pointers for action from readers who may find themselves drawn to their particular area of witness (hands). A contact list completes each contribution.

I found the A4 ring binder format a bit of nuisance at first because I like to read in the bath and it is too big and heavy. But when I saw the beautifully designed pages inside and discovered that this is a gift that will go on and on coming to me I saw the logic of it. There is a form in the front to fill in and post off to receive updates for the next few years, which I hope will occasionally include indexes, an irritating omission.

This book is well thought out, deserves a place in every meeting house library and would make an inspiring personal gift. It is also a perfect reflection of the aim of Northern Friends Peace Board, formed in 1913 'to advise and encourage Friends in the active promotion of peace in all its height and breadth'. As the introduction to the book reminds us: 'It [NFPB] exists to remind Friends that the peace testimony reflects what we know experimentally to be true about God and to support Friends wherever that knowledge may lead them.'

Jennie Levin

From a review in Young Quaker

So what is at the core of our being as Quakers? No doubt there are as many answers as there are Quakers, but the role of The Peace Testimony is quite remarkable in the way that it shapes our understanding of and commitment to the world.

So how do we put such a witness into practice? On what current issues can our historic pacifist zeal be focused? Many of the answers are in The Peace Papers.

Laid out brilliantly well in a ring binder (so that new information can be added) The Peace Papers focus on three themes: Building a Culture of Peace, Challenging Militarism and Tackling the Roots of Violence. It is good to see a resource with such a strong focus. Often such resources can be let down by visionary waffle. Within each theme 6 or so individuals share their area of knowledge. These are subdivided into Head Heart and Hands. This is a beautiful way of indicating which is an outline of the work or issue, which is an account of the author's calling to that work, and which is the action section.

Such a resource has many uses. The personal testimony of Ffriends is worth using as a basis for discussion. The action section can be looked up if there is a concern in a Meeting or YF group and they want to "do" something. Every section has a comprehensive reading list and contact addresses for useful organisations. Joint action for the common good can build up links and make action more dynamic. My one hope for this resource is that it does not get put aside on a shelf but is worn and battered from constant use.

Sarah Piercey